Ronald Williams
Mrs. Bosch
English 10
9 August 2008
In the novel Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe, is an exact motivating and precise delightful novel. This novel demonstrates a man’s compassion for his culture, and his family. The protagonist of the novel Okonkwo demonstrates a man’s compassion for his culture, language, and life. During the course of the novel he shows that nothing is more important than his pride in his life. This novel is about how Okonkwo takes his pride in his family, heritage, memory, and religion. This novel makes it distinct that Okonkwo is a courageous combatant who will stand until extinction for his culture and religion. When you contemplate how significant it genuinely is to have a culture, language, and a life, it sparks a huge amount of confidence in your soul to yield some extraordinary pride in your family, heritage, and language.
When we take a look into the novel we figure out how much Okonkwo had a love, yonder all compassion for his culture. Unoka, Okonkwo father was a gentleman with a flawed reputation in all of Umuofia. Unoka perished without any title or positive reputation. When Okonkwo was eighteen years old, he defeated the great unconquered Amalinze. This was a very substantial manner how he brought pride to the village. Okonkwo was amended out of opportunities in his lifetime. He was a young man that Umuofia predestined to develop unknown in his lifetime. He went from poverty and misfortune to the superior wrestler in all the land. Pg (27). The novel demonstrates how Okonkwo grew to become a superior warrior, by Umuofia using him as a message of war. The enemies were well alarmed that without hesitation, they gave Umuofia a young lad, and a virgin woman. Pg (27) Umuofia placed Lkemefuna under the guardianship of Okonkwo, while under the care of Okonkwo the young lad developed a serious relationship with his new Father. Okonkwo would take his new son at heart to conference and visiting tribes. Okonkwo developed an attachment to his new son at heart. The novel demonstrates this case by displaying before the audience how Okonkwo punished his wife with his fist during the week of peace. Pg (29-30) Okonkwo was known for his fierce anger problems. The Week of Peace is a special event when you abstain from all wickedness; Okonkwo broke this sacred week by bringing his firearm into the compound, and punishing his wife with a dangerous fist. When this happened, every one in the village knew what Okonkwo had accomplished.
Within a couple of years the young lad had forgotten all about his mother in the enemy’s tribe. Lkemefuna began to develop a brotherly kind of relationship with Nwoye. Then a decision came into the vision by the Elders of Umuofia. The Elder’s of Umuofia decided to destroy the young lad within a couple of days. Pg. (57). When the heart breaking news flash came about, it crushed Okonkwo heart, an Elderly man by the name of Ezeudu reasoned with Okonkwo that he should not lay a hand on the young lad’s execution. The officials of Umuofia came to capture the young lad with heavy laughs and scolding. Okonkwo was a gentleman with so much emotion, but he wouldn’t let anybody behold them because he knew that would capture his manly pride away from him. On the way to the forest to execute the young lad, an official hit Lkemefuna on the head with a deadly weapon. Lkemefuna escaped from the official and ran to his comfort his dad at heart. This was a very ignorant decision by Okonkwo; he didn’t want to proclaim any signs of weakness, so he assassinated Lkemefuna to maintain his pride. This decision brought sleepless nights, and burdens upon his life. Okonkwo was depressed and he didn’t nourish his flesh, the family of Okonkwo was so concerned for their leader. These outcomes lead him to continuously cling to the memories of Lkemefuna. This emotional breakdown let us see that even the strongest, purest combatant have a breaking point.
Loud commotion filled the evening to declare that someone has passed away. It was very surprising to figure out that Ezedu was pronounced dead. Pg(121). The latter moment when Okonkwo had seen him was when we said “Do not lay a hand on the young lad’s death.” It grieved him so much to come to realization that this gentleman was decreased. Umuofia held a funeral for Ezeudu for the whole community to view. While attending the funeral there was a traditional farewell being celebrated. While celebrating the death of Ezeudu Okonkwo firearm exploded, and a piece of iron pierced Ezeuda’s heart. The boy laid face down in a puddle of red innocent blood. Pg(124). A cry of horror filled the atmosphere, and it was heard all over the funeral. This incident was an accident, but Okonkwo brought indignation upon the goddess of earth which led him no choice but to flee to his mother land. Pg (124-125). That night he gathered all of his belongings and set on his way to his mother land, his wives and children not understanding why he had to flee wept bitterly. After he left, the gentlemen of Umuofia destroyed his barn, compound, animals, and remaining property. Theses gentlemen didn’t have hatred in their hearts; they were only cleansing the land from all which Okonkwo had polluted. Okonkwo geared up in his war gear and adventured off to his motherland. Okonkwo knew in his heart that he had lost everything, and would have to work hard to reclaim all of his processions. He left the village of Umuofia with one thing in mind, his pride, culture, heritage, and language. It was very difficult for him to leave every thing that he had loved far beyond all compassion behind and adventure to a strange village. When he arrived to his motherland he was greeted with open arms, by his kinfolks. Several months have slipped away and Okonkwo was doing well in his motherland. Abame a relative village was attacked by white men, the white men killed every one at the market that day. Pg (138-140). Obierika came to visit Okonkwo with some alarming news, nwoye denies Okonkwo as his father and he became involved with the white’s man God, and the missionary. When he received the awful report his heart was filled with grief. This must have disappointed him so much to have his son turn against him and serve another God. He became furious at his son and was determined to get back to Umuofia as soon as he could. Pg (143-144). The white men sent out evangelist and missionaries all over Umuofia. Pg (144-147). The missionaries reasoned with the elder’s of Umuofia to purchase some property in the village, it was hard for Umuofia to give the white men some property, but eventually they gave them some land at the mouth of the Evil Forest. The Evil Forest was home for undesirable people. They believed that the church wouldn’t survive long in the jaws of the Evil Forest. Okonkwo cousin Amikwu told him that he had seen his son among the Christians. There were three new converts that was prideful proclaiming that all the non converts should destroy their gods and to serve the true God. The three men were arrest and sent to the priest of Umuofia. “Go and burn your mother’ genitals,” said one of the priests. The men were captured and beaten until they streamed blood. This violent act was caused by the three men professing their faith publicly and with disrespect towards the non converted gods. I believe this is a very ignorant choice by the three converts, why should we disrespect other people religion. The white men brought with them a Christian religion along with a government. This government was set up to bring justice and protection for the Christians. If any man were to lay a hand on a Christian then that man had to deal with the government punishment. Pg (154)
This is one of the most evidential scene from the novel which proves that men take pride in his culture, and religion. The hair of a man in Umuofia represents his heritage, culture, tradition, and everything that he is. The men hair represented devotion as a member of Umuofia. When a man gets his hair shaved he is leaving everything behind and that’s when things fall apart. The adherents of the new faith were excluded from the life and privileges of the clan. Okonkwo had a going away Feast to celebrate his return back to his father’s land. When he arrived back to Umuofia he found out that it was falling apart. Okonkwo didn’t care he wanted to go to war with the Christians to get his religion, memory heritage, and family back into Umuofia. Okonkwo was blocked from going to war because he would be fighting mainly against his on village. This is a quote from the novel which demonstrates how things fell apart.
“Does the white man understand our custom about land? How can he when he does not even speak our tongue? But the white man says that out customs are bad; and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad. How do you think we can fight against our own brothers who have turned their backs on us? Now the white men have won our brothers and we are no longer. “He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.” Pg (176).
This quote from the novel clearly shows how things fell apart when the Christians came into the land. The religion, heritage, family, and memory started to collapse like a building that has been torn down. This is a very disgraceful thing for Okonkwo to endure. This show’s the audience how okonkwo took a considerable amount of pride in his family, culture, heritage, memory, and religion. This caused okonkwo to become indignant. So when he came across a messenger of the Christians he murdered him. Okonkwo then fled and hung himself which he was found dead hanging from a tree on pg (207)
The novel clearly demonstrates the author’s pride in his family, his heritage, his memory, his language, and his life, by using Okonkwo as a primarily example. During the course of the novel Okonkwo demonstrates how a man takes pride in his family, heritage, memory, lives, language, and religion. Okonkwo is a man who takes pride in the things that he loves the most. Okonkwo was a man that stood till his extinction to keep the white man from stealing everything which he took so much pride in. This grieved him so much to see that the white man had stolen his family, heritage, memory, language, and life. Surely without a doubt the author takes pride in his family, heritage, memory, language, religion, and his life.
Work Cited
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart : A Novel. New York: Broadway Books, 1994.
