Okonkwo in Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart Essay -- Things Fall

Okonkwo in Chinua Achebes Things Fall apart Okonkwo, as presented by Chinua Achebe in the novel Things Fall Apart, wished to be idolize by all as a hu military man beings of great wealth, indicator and control--the antithesis of his father. Okonkwo was driven by the need to exhibit utmost control oer himself and others he was an obsessive and insecure man. Okonkwos father, Unoka, was a failure, a loafer, and People laughed at him (1426). This would bring great shame to any man as it did for Okonkwo. In Umuofia a man is judged according to his worthy and not according to the worth of his father (1427). In Umuofia achievement was revered. Okonkwo became ghost with the need to prove to everyone that he, foreign his father, was a man worthy of respect. Okonkwo worked hard and in clock time his prosperity showed in his household (1429). Okonkwo had a large compound, three wives (1429), two barns proficient of yams and two titles (1427). Okonkwo had become a wealthy and respecta ble man. Still he feared that all would fall apart if he were to allow any slim deviation, any narrow of weakness. Weakness could be a slight noncompliance of a wife, as happened during the Week of Peace. Ojiugo was not home in time to prepare Okonkwos meal and though it was unheard of to beat someone during the tabu week (1435), Okonkwo beat Ojiugo unmercifully. Likely, Okonkwo feared that others would view Ojiugos indifference to her responsibilities as a sign of Okonkwos inability to control his wife. Okonkwo was just as demanding upon his children and he wanted his word of honor to be a great farmer and a great man (1437). Okonkwo would become overly angry if Nwoye made small mistakes while learning. When Nwoye and Ikemefuna were ripping yam... ...ch so that he chose evil and took his own life. Achebe, for the most part, does seem to come the Western formula for tragedy and the tragic hero. Okonkwo, while not born(p) into wealth or privilege, does become a wealthy and po werful man in Umuofia. Okonkwo is neither good nor thoroughly evil yet does suffer a tragic flaw that leads to a series of tragic events. Okonkwo begins in poverty and rises to the height of wealth and prestige among his people. He is so obsessed with control, control at all costs, that he begins to make tragic mistakes lace his wife during Peace Week, killing Ikemefuna, having to flee Umuofia, killing the messenger and then himself. This fits the criteria of disregard of divine law and trying to escape his fate, as sketch in the study guide. Works CitedAchebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York Ballantine, 1969.