What type of character is Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart?
Character Analysis Okonkwo. The protagonist of Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is also considered a tragic hero. A tragic hero holds a position of power and prestige, chooses his course of action, possesses a tragic flaw, and gains awareness of circumstances that lead to his fall. Okonkwo's tragic flaw is his fear of weakness...
What is Okonkwo's tragic flaw?
A tragic hero holds a position of power and prestige, chooses his course of action, possesses a tragic flaw, and gains awareness of circumstances that lead to his fall. Okonkwo's tragic flaw is his fear of weakness and failure.
What kind of person is Okonkwo?
Okonkwo is the head of his family and a clan leader in an African tribe called the Ibo. Okonkwo has multiple wives and is extremely strict. Okonkwo sees his son Nwoye as weak and is extremely hard on him.
How does Okonkwo treat his son Nwoye?
Okonkwo has multiple wives and is extremely strict. Okonkwo sees his son Nwoye as weak and is extremely hard on him. Okonkwo tries his hardest to keep his way of life but when white men from across the sea come he starts to hate them for changing his culture.
What is a title in Things Fall Apart?
The title Things Fall Apart refers to the fact that without proper balance, things do fall apart. The notion of balance in the novel is an important theme throughout the book. Beginning with the excerpt from Yeats' poem, the concept of balance is stressed as important; for without balance, order is lost.
How are titles earned in Things Fall Apart?
Titles are something that are earned over a man's lifetime, based on his successes. The privilege of having a title is the gained respect. Having a title shows that you're an accomplished citizen of Umuofia.
Where is the title taken from the Things Fall Apart?
The title of the book was taken from a poem called “The Second Coming” by W.B. Yeats. The very first stanza of this intense work draws the reader in to a world of chaos, which can be easily tied to the experience of Okonkwo and his tribe.
Did Okonkwo lose his titles?
Out of the community for seven years, Okonkwo lost his status among the village elders and the other egwugwu, and he has fallen behind in obtaining titles in the clan.
How did Okonkwo get his title?
Okonkwo is a respected leader within the Igbo (formerly spelled Ibo) community of Umuofia in eastern Nigeria. About twenty years ago, Okonkwo distinguished himself and brought honor to his village when he wrestled and threw to the ground Amalinze the Cat, a man who had not been defeated for seven years.
What was Unoka's community title?
During his life, he never took a title and, therefore, never gained status or respect from the villagers. Instead, they called him a loafer, and he was the laughingstock of the community.
What type of person is Okonkwo?
Okonkwo is a self-made, well-respected member of the Umuofia clan. Though outwardly stern and powerful, much of his life is dictated by internal fear. His greatest, overwhelming worry is that he will become like his father – lazy, unable to support his family, and cowardly.
Is Things Fall Apart a true story?
"Things Fall Apart" is not a literally true story; it may be considered allegorical or perhaps closer to historical fiction.
What is Okonkwo's tragic flaw?
Okonkwo is a tragic hero in the classical sense: although he is a superior character, his tragic flaw—the equation of manliness with rashness, anger, and violence—brings about his own destruction.
What was the great sin that Okonkwo committed?
Okonkwo commits a sin against the earth goddess by beating his wife during the Week of Peace.
What happens to Okonkwo at the end of the novel?
Okonkwo dies an outcast, banished from the very society he fought to protect. The novel's second tragedy occurs on the broader level of history. Achebe signals this second tragedy by ending the novel with a shift from an African to a European perspective.
What does Okonkwo and Obierika think of the Ozo title?
Okonkwo and Obierika disapprove of this lack of manly quality. They also discuss with regret the loss of prestige of the ozo title. Feeling renewed by the conversation, Okonkwo goes home and returns later to take part in a discussion of the bride-price with the suitor of Obierika's daughter.
What is Okonkwo's flaw?
Okonkwo's tragic flaw is his fear of weakness and failure. In his thirties, Okonkwo is a leader of the Igbo community of Umuofia. Achebe describes him as "tall and huge" with "bushy eyebrows and [a] wide nose [that gives] him a very severe look.".
Why is Okonkwo ashamed of his father?
He is quick to anger, especially when dealing with men who are weak, lazy debtors like his father. However, Okonkwo overcompensates for his father's womanly (weak) ways, of which he is ashamed, because he does not tolerate idleness or gentleness.
How does Okonkwo isolate himself?
Instead, he isolates himself by exhibiting anger through violent, stubborn, irrational behavior. Okonkwo demands that his family work long hours despite their age or limited physical stamina, and he nags and beats his wives and son, Nwoye, who Okonkwo believes is womanly like his father, Unoka.
What happens when Okonkwa kills a messenger?
When Okonkwa rashly kills a messenger from the British district office, his clansmen back away in fear; he realizes that none of them support him and that he can't save his village from the British colonists. Okonkwo is defeated. He commits suicide, a shameful and disgraceful death like his father's.
Why does Okonkwo kill Ikefemuna?
Okonkwo is advised not to participate in the murder of Ikefemuna, but he actually kills Ikefemuna because he is "afraid of being thought weak. ". When the white man brings Christianity to Umuofia, Okonkwo is opposed to the new ways.
How many wives does Okonkwo have?
Okonkwo is renowned as a wrestler, a fierce warrior, and a successful farmer of yams (a "manly" crop). He has three wives and many children who live in huts on his compound.
What is the tragic flaw in Things Fall Apart?
A tragic hero holds a position of power and prestige, chooses his course of action, possesses a tragic flaw, and gains awareness of circumstances that lead to his fall. Okonkwo's tragic flaw is his fear of weakness and failure.
What type of villain is Okonkwo?
Type of Villain. Murderous Xenophobe. Okonkwo is the main protagonist of the classic novel Things Fall Apart. Even though he is the story's protagonist, he commits countless villainous acts over the course of the story and has no redeeming qualities. Despite this, he is considered a tragic character though a number of readers have ...
Who is Okonkwo's son?
Okonkwo has multiple wives and is extremely strict. Okonkwo sees his son Nwoye as weak and is extremely hard on him.
How did Okonkwo end his life?
Unable to live in or accept the new way things are and having given upon his people, he hangs himself. This action is considered disgraceful in his culture and Okonkwo ultimately ruins his reputation with this final act. In trying to escape the change in his culture he commits a grave taboo against the very traditions he wanted to fight for. The novel ends with an irony that a Caucasian posse leader sent to get Okonkwo for murdering a white man thinks Okonkwo is worth a chapter or two for his biography, never mind the fact that the author of the novel wrote an entire book about Okonkwo.
Why does Okonkwo murder his adopted son?
The reason for this is shallow and completely unjustified, Okonkwo goes along with the innocent boy's murder because he does not want to be seen as unmanly. What is worse is that the boy was murdered for something that his previous father did and that he had nothing to do with.
Who is Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart?
Things Fall Apart. Okonkwo, the son of the effeminate and lazy Unoka, strives to make his way in a world that seems to value manliness. In so doing, he rejects everything for which he believes his father stood. Unoka was idle, poor, profligate, cowardly, gentle, and interested in music and conversation. Okonkwo consciously adopts opposite ideals ...
What is Okonkwo's opposite ideal?
Okonkwo consciously adopts opposite ideals and becomes productive, wealthy, thrifty, brave, violent, and adamantly opposed to music and anything else that he perceives to be “soft,” such as conversation and emotion. He is stoic to a fault. Okonkwo achieves great social and financial success by embracing these ideals.
How many women does Okonkwo marry?
Okonkwo achieves great social and financial success by embracing these ideals. He marries three women and fathers several children. Nevertheless, just as his father was at odds with the values of the community around him, so too does Okonkwo find himself unable to adapt to changing times as the white man comes to live among the Umuofians. As it becomes evident that compliance rather than violence constitutes the wisest principle for survival, Okonkwo realizes that he has become a relic, no longer able to function within his changing society.
Is Okonkwo gruff?
Okonkwo is gruff, at times, and usually unable to express his feelings (the narrator frequently uses the word “inwardly” in reference to Okonkwo ’s emotions). But his emotions are indeed quite complex, as his “manly” values conflict with his “unmanly” ones, such as fondness for Ikemefuna and Ezinma.
Is Okonkwo a tragic hero?
Okonkwo is a tragic hero in the classical sense: although he is a superior character, his tragic flaw—the equation of manliness with rashness, anger, and violence—brings about his own destruction. Okonkwo is gruff, at times, and usually unable to express his feelings (the narrator frequently uses the word “inwardly” in reference to Okonkwo ’s emotions). But his emotions are indeed quite complex, as his “manly” values conflict with his “unmanly” ones, such as fondness for Ikemefuna and Ezinma. The narrator privileges us with information that Okonkwo ’s fellow clan members do not have—that Okonkwo surreptitiously follows Ekwefi into the forest in pursuit of Ezinma, for example—and thus allows us to see the tender, worried father beneath the seemingly indifferent exterior.