Okonkwo and larger ideas in TFA


What is the significance of Okonkwo’s character? What does he represent or is symbolic of? 

In the novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is portrayed as a respected and determined individual whose fatal flaw eventually works against him. Throughout the novel the readers are shown that Okonkwo has many of these Characteristics because he is obsessed with the idea of not becoming like his father. This becomes his flaw in the novel that puts him into exile and makes it hard for him to adjust to the changes that were made with in his village. 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." This is reflected towards his stubbornness and inflexibility, for instance, he decides to go with the delegation that is to kill Ikemefuna, despite his emotional instinct and Ezeudu’s advice. This stubbornness with the ultimate purpose of not being shown as weak is also directly reflected in Igbo society.

What is the purpose of Okonkwo’s character within the text? 
Okonkwo’s character could be said to serve the purpose of providing an opposing perspective to who the Igbo is. From the previous arguments, it is seen that Okonkwo strictly externalises his society’s values and he is inflexible in allowing for deviations from the original societal expectations. Nevertheless, it is seen that he is not the only accurate representation of the Igbo and Achebe is warning the reader of making generalisations. This is seen in Obierika’s character as he is constantly questioning the decisions the Igbo make– he questions the treatment of twins, and Okonkwo’s punishment when he shoots a 1 year old boy by accident. It is thus seen that not all Igbo comfort unrelentingly to societal expectations and norms. 

How does Okonkwo’s character contribute to big ideas?

Okonkwo’s character contributes to the main hence big ideas of societal conformity and the dangers of being inflexible. Okonkwo, unlike the rest of his tribesmen, refuses to accept the arrival of the new religion (the whites). The reason why the rest of his tribesmen to an extent, are not violent with the missionaries. Nevertheless, Okonkwo chooses to not apply this principle because he does not want things to change. However, this is seen as a double-edged sword because his inability to adapt to change is being replaced by his suicide. When he comes back from exile, his values have stayed the same but those of his tribe have been transformed after welcoming the new religion and Western ways with more open arms. Okonkwo won’t and can't change. Achebe therefore warns us, through Okonkwo’s fate, of the importance of being flexible in our values because culture is never stationary but rather, constantly fluctuating. Finally, His final act of suicide is the ultimate demonstration of things falling apart exhibiting excessive pride because it is the first and only time that Okonkwo purposefully breaks the clan laws.

Comments

  1. UnknownApril 22, 2018 at 11:06 PM

    This is a very analytical blog post! I agree with the mention of the theme of Okonkwo's inability to change. You could also mention how this is ridden from the shame that he holds of his fathers failures. I also agree with the fact that Okonkwo, "provides an opposing perspective to who the Igbo is.", I feel as though that was the target that Achebe was trying to hit when coming up with this character. Why do you think it is so important for Achebe to be representing the igbo culture through Okonkwo. I can see similarities between this post and our last lesson. We talked about how we could connect the characteristics of Okonkwo's fear of change to Coriolanus. Overall, good job!

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  2. UnknownApril 22, 2018 at 11:07 PM

    I really like your blog post, it is very well organised :) For the "What is the purpose of Okonkwo's character within the text", as I wrote in my blog, he has aggressive and opposing personality with his father and his first son Nwoye. From the differences, the conflict occurs in the novel and I think that is the purpose of the aggressive characteristic of Okonkwo to get conflicts between each characters in the novel to make the reader gets more interesting and story flows in the natural way, similar as our real world. I think Chinua Achebe have well developed each characters in the novel which easily composes conflict with the main character, Okwonkwo, and that made this story sounds more realistic and more interesting. Good job!

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