Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Essay Example for Free

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Essay This is the story of Okonkwo, a renowned warrior and wrestler, who lives in the Ibo village of Umuofia in Nigeria, Africa. Respected by the elders of his clan, he hopes to become an elder himself someday. Due to his relationship with his father, Okonkwo has a hardened heart and thus, his actions throughout the novel are governed by anger and fear. Okonkwo, (per African tradition), has three wives and many children. He is prosperous and successful at the beginning of the story, but his heart does not soften. As a result, he makes many mistakes and is eventually exiled from his clan for seven years. While Okonkwo is away from Umuofia, white missionaries settle in his clan’s village and begin to preach Christianity. The tribe begins to change, especially its younger members, and when Okonkwo returns from exile, he sees the changes and attempts to reverse them. He struggles against the new laws of the white man and relations between the clan and the whites deteriorate until things finally reach a crescendo. Okonkwo’s fear Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, is a story of a man whose life is dominated by his fears. There are many subtle themes throughout this book. One theme that cries out over the rest is Okonkwo’s, the main character, fear of weakness as seen through his childhood, his oldest son, and eventually his death. Since his childhood, Okonkwo was ashamed of his father, â€Å"In his day he (Unoka) was lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow†(p.4). By the standard of his clan, Unoka was a coward and squanderer. When he was a child, a boy called Okonkwo’s father an agbala. This word means â€Å"woman† as well as a man who has no title. His carelessness left numerous debts unpaid at his death. Ashamed of his father, Okonkwo worked hard and fought well to gain a reputation of high status and influence in his clan. He acquired three wives, one whom gave him his first son. Okonkwo’s first wife, whose name is never mentioned, gave birth to his first son, Nwoye. Okonkwo saw Nwoye weak and lazy from an early age. For this, Nwoye was beaten constantly. Okonkwo was highly demanding of his family because of his obsession not to be like his father. He mistook this behavior as masculinity. He wished his son were a promising, manly son like his friend Obierika’s son, Maduka, who was also a great fighter. One night the town of Umuofia was told that someone in Mbaino had killed one of their â€Å"daughters†. The woman was Ugbeufi Udo’s wife. The blood price for the murder was a virgin and young man to Umuofia. The virgin was given to Ugbeufi Udo as his wife. They did not know what to do with the young boy, Ikemefuna. Okonkwo was asked on behalf of the clan to take care of the boy. Secretly, Okonkwo grew fond of Ikemefuna, â€Å"Even Okonkwo himself became very fond of the boy-inwardly of course. Okonkwo never showed any emotion openly, unless it be the emotion of anger†(p.28). Ikemefuna lived with Okonkwo and his family for three years until the time came when the Oracle said that Ikemefuna had to be killed. Okonkwo was warned not to have any part in killing the boy who called him father. He ignored this and upon returning sank into a deep depression which kindled the affliction inside of him. Not only the death of Ikemefuna, but also the accidental killing of Ogbeufi Ezeudu’s son, which gets Okonkwo and his family exiled for seven years, aides in his depression. To atone for the killing of his clansmen’s son, Okonkwo and his family were cast out of Umuofia and were forced to go live with his mother’s clan in Mbanta. In their second year a group of six missionaries traveled to Mbanta and tried to persuade the people from their false gods of wood and stone to the one true God. They captured Nwoye and he later joined their congregation. When Okonkwo was informed of the news he strangled Nwoye in anger. He questioned how he could have fathered such a weak son. At the end of the seven-year exile, Okonkwo was able to return home. However, the church had taken over Umuofia also. Nothing was the same. Okonkwo refused to integrate with the new visitors. He thought that the clan’s failure to remove them was â€Å"womanly†. Almost happy again, Okonkwo began to accept the new Umuofia. Then the leaders of the clan, including Okonkwo, were taken for ransom by the church. Deeply angered by what was happening, Okonkwo killed one of the leaders at a meeting. The pacification of Okonkwo’s clan is what depressed him. He knew his clan would not go to war. This desire to act violently all goes back to his father’s lack of desire. In the end the violence settled on Okonkwo, when he hung himself. In conclusion, all these aspects: his childhood, his first son and Ikemefuna, and his death contribute in explaining Okonkwo’s fear of weakness. Okonkwo’s life was controlled by his fears. He valued the success of his family and the community with his own success. If Nwoye was weak it was because he had failed as a father. The pacification of the town was a reflection of Okonkwo’s failures, he thought. Not being able to control those events, Okonkwo, out of desperation or either out of the pride in his manhood or perhaps both, killed himself. In spite of Okonkwo’s beginnings in poverty and misfortune, he has risen as one of the most respected elders of the clan. Yet others remark on how harshly he deals with men less successful than himself. For example, at a meeting to discuss the next ancestral feast, Osugo—a man without titles—contradicts Okonkwo, who in turn insults Osugo by declaring the meeting are â€Å"for men.† When others at the meeting side with Osugo, Okonkwo apologizes. Okonkwo’s hard-earned success is evident because the clan chooses Okonkwo to carry the war ultimatum to their enemy, the enemy treats him with great respect in the negotiations, and the elders select Okonkwo to care for Ikemefuna until they decide what to do with him. Once the young man is entrusted to Okonkwo’s care, the rest of the clan forgets him for three years. At first, Ikemefuna is very unhappy—he misses his mother and sister, he tries to run away, and he won’t eat. After Okonkwo threatens to beat him, Ikemefuna finally eats, but then vomits and becomes ill for twelve days. As he recovers, he seems to lose his fear and sadness. Ikemefuna has become very popular in Okonkwo’s house, especially with Nwoye and the other children. To them, he seems to know everything and can make useful things like flutes, rodent traps, and bows. Even Okonkwo has inwardly become fond of Ikemefuna, but he does not show affection—a womanly sign of weakness. He treats Ikemefuna with a heavy hand, as he does other members of his family, although he allows Ikemefuna to accompany him like a son to meetings and feasts, carrying his stool and his bag. Ikemefuna calls Okonkwo â€Å"father.† During the annual Week of Peace just before planting time, tradition permits no one in the village to speak a harsh word to another person. One day during this week, Okonkwo’s youngest wife, Ojiugo, goes to a friend’s house to braid her hair, and she forgets to prepare Okonkwo’s afternoon meal and feed her children. When Ojiugo returns, Okonkwo beats her severely. Even when he is reminded of the ban on violence, he doesn’t stop the beating. Because Okonkwo’s violation of peace can jeopardize the whole village’s crops, the priest of the earth goddess orders Okonkwo to make offerings at his shrine. Although Okonkwo inwardly regrets his â€Å"great evil,† he never admits to an error. His offensive breaking of the peace and the priest’s mild punishment are talked about in the village. After the sacred week, the farmers of the village begin to plant their harvest. Okonkwo allows Ikemefuna and Nwoye to help him collect, count, and prepare the seed-yams for planting, though he continually finds fault with their efforts. He believes that he is simply helping them learn the difficult and manly art of seed-yam preparation. Soon, the rainy season begins and the planting takes place, followed by the intense period of care for the young plants. During the resting time between planting and harvest, the friendship between Ikemefuna and Nwoye grows even stronger. Reference * Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe