Okonkwo's characteristic (top and bottom) values

Top 3 values:

• Success + power

“He had no patience with unsuccessful men. He had had no patience with his father.” (pg. 3)

“Whenever the thought of his father's weakness and failure troubled him he expelled it by thinking about his own strength and success.” (pg. 48)

Through explicitly alluding to Okonkwo’s repulsiveness to failure and his strong abhorrence to unsuccessful men, Achebe directly constructs Okonkwo’s character to be one who immensely values success and within the Igboland. Furthermore, the drive for success based on his excessive fear of being a failure like his Father, further propels Okonkwo’s initial character development at the onset of the novel.

• Achievement & prestige

Chapter 1. (pg. 1)

“As a young man of eighteen he had brought honour to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat.” p.1

“He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams, and had just married his third wife. To crown it all he had taken two titles and had shown incredible prowess in two inter-tribal wars. And so although Okonkwo was still young, he was already one of the greatest men of his time. Age was respected among his people, but achievement was revered.” p.6

Analysis- direct characterization. The narrator is telling the audience what the personality of the character (Okonkwo) is.

• Religious Faith/ Loyalty to his clan

“Why, he cried in his heart, should he, Okonkwo, of all people, be cursed with such a son. He saw clearly in it the finger of his personal god or chi.” (chapter 17)

-- direct characterization- Okonkwo does not specify whether he is religious or not, only his reaction to Nwoye’s conversion suggests that he is very fond of the Igbo religion

The quote suggests that Okonkwo felt ‘cursed’ to have a son like Nwoye who would betray him and his religion for Christianity

Bottom 3 values:

• Laziness

“He had had no patience with his father. Unoka, for that was his father's name, had died ten years ago. In his day he was lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow.“ (pg. 3)

“Okonkwo's first son, Nwoye, was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness.” (pg. 10)

“Okonkwo wanted his son to be a great farmer and a great man. He would stamp out the disquieting signs of laziness which he thought he already saw in him.” (pg. 24)

Much like Okonkwo’s great trepidation of failure, one other element that Okonkwo truly detested was laziness as this was one significant characteristic that Unoka, his father exhibited. Okonkwo’s primary purpose as an Igbo man was to contrast with nearly every character trait of his father. This is established and revealed through direct and indirect characterization, accordingly.

• Morality

“He walked back to his obi to await Ojiugo's return. And when she returned he beat her very heavily. In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace. His first two wives ran out in great alarm pleading with him that it was the sacred week.” p.21

Analysis- This evidence from the text is an example of indirect characterization. This is indirect characterization because the narrator of the book is presenting the audience with actions performed by Okonkwo which accentuates his brutality and immorality towards women and sacred events in the book.

• Altruism

“He heard Ikemefuna cry, “My father, they have killed me!” as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.” (chapter 7)

--indirect + direct characterization- Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna (indirect) whom he treated like a son because ‘he was afraid of being thought weak’ (direct)

This quote shows how Okonkwo thought of himself before anyone else and in this case he took his own son’s life to get himself a better reputation

Okonkwo- Tragic Hero

In many ways Things Fall Apart is considered a tragedy. Why would Achebe, taking into account the cultural context, choose to characterize Okonkwo using the tragic hero archetype?

In the novel 'Things Fall Apart', Okonkwo is believed to be the protagonist of the novel, however we can also describe him to be a 'tragic hero'. A tragic hero is a character who highly honoured, however they have a tragic flaw, which eventually leads to their own downfall. Okonkwo's tragic flaw is the fear of becoming like his father, Unoka, and the fear of failure and weakness. It is argued that this particular fear Okonkwo had, was what drove him towards a horrible downfall. Moreover, Okonkwo tragic flaw helped him succeed and earn respect from the people- "Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements"; this is an advantage, however his tragic flaw came with many other disadvantages and issues- Okonkwo's fear resulted in him acting violent and aggressive throughout the novel; one of the most significant moments is when he distraught by Nwoye's conversion to Christianity; essentially, violence is his answer to everything.It is possible that Achebe wanted to characterise Okonkwo in a way that all Igbo people could possibly relate to and perhaps even identify with. Okonkwo, like many other Igbo people, is independent and self-sufficient at the beginning of the novel, however towards the end of the novel (when the british send their first missionaries), the Igbo people are less patient and lash out on the simplest matters.

Speech [on behalf of the Igbo culture]

Culture. Unity. Peace. These three words, as well as many others, perfectly describe the people of Igboland, or the Igbo people; this can also be assimilated from their name 'Igbo' which directly translates to 'the people' and it is certainly obvious from their name that unity is everything to them.
The Igbo culture differs from any other culture, it is unique. It's name is unique and everything about it is unique, its people are unique and its traditions are unique.
The Igbo people form one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa, meaning that Africa would not be the same without them, neither will the world. Why would you want to take that away from them? Why would you divide such a unique culture? Why would you want to cause disharmony? Why would you take away from them the only thing they have? Imagine you were in their position, would you want someone to take your home away and leave you stranded?
Yes I agree that colonising Nigeria will supply you with more power and yes it does expand our (already colossal) empire, but more importantly colonising Nigeria will very much impair it and cause huge amounts of distress amongst it's people.
Taking the Igboland and Igbo culture and Igbo everything from it's people, is like removing fish from water- they will not be able to function properly.
The Igbo world is a world whose survival depends on the amount of cooperation given within the culture's members, in other words, the Igbo culture is a collectivistic culture which will not survive without mutual effort given by all of its members and for this reason it would be extremely unfortunate to separate Igbo people from one another and grant them their independence.
Therefore, I, as well as many other humane and sympathetic British citizens, believe that it would be immoral and miserable to colonise Nigeria for the sake of colonisation and dominance but rather abandoning it for the sake of humanity and compassion.
So let us better ourselves and allow the Igbo people to retain their unique culture.

Chinua Achebe Interview

Today, we had a shared discussion about Achebe's interview with An African Voice, where Achebe gives the audience and readers of Things Fall Apart some background and insight into his inspiration and the reason why he wrote the novel and what impact the novel had on his after life
Achebe explains that he 'had no idea' whether Things Fall Apart would be 'accepted or even published'- we all agreed that this shows exactly Nigerian citizens were viewed at the time the British were invading; this is further reinforced with the following quote:
"We realize and recognize that it's not just colonized people whose stories have been suppressed, but a whole range of people across the globe who have not spoken. It's not because they don't have something to say, it simply has to do with the division of power, because storytelling has to do with power. Those who win tell the story; those who are defeated are not heard"
 -- My group agreed that this quote was most definitely one of the most meaningful quotes in the interviewed, this is because it can be seen from different perspectives 
1) Achebe could be challenging this idea that only 'the winners' get to tell theirs story and he wants to speak up and tell his and Nigerian citizen's story
2) Achebe could be attempting to raise awareness for Nigeria's ongoing struggle and how much their culture and country was destroyed 
3) Achebe could try to be gaining power for his hometown by belittling the British 
~ perhaps this is why he decided to move to the Western world- to 'tell the story' ? 

Shared Inquiry Discussion [Questions]- Chinua Achebe interview

Do you believe that colonisation play a key role in shaping a country's history? (e.g. in Africa and Korea) How and why?
- they all grew from that and that made Nigeria what it is today

Does this interview show that Achebe's patriotism? How?

Why do you think Achebe says "I had no idea when I was writing Things Fall Apart whether it would even be accepted or published" 
Africans were viewed as 'lower' and 'less' than the English 

Why do you think people choose to identify with people in literature? Is there a benefit for this?
They might begin to see themselves in the story even if on the surface it's far removed from their situation; they just want to belong 

Do you think that it would've been as easy for Achebe to write about a different culture/country? Why?
No, because he says Maybe I make it sound as if it's impossible for me to write outside of Nigeria. That's really not true. I think what I mean is that it is nourishing for me to be working from Nigeria, there's a kind of nourishment you get there that you cannot get elsewhere. But it doesn't mean you cannot work. You can work, you can always use what's available to you, whether it's memory, hearsay, news items, or imagination. I intend to write a novel in America. When I have done it, perhaps we can discuss the effect of writing a novel from abroad. It's not impossible.

How does Achebe show that he was very effected by the British colonisation? 
He blames everything on them, not directly, but he keeps mentioning them 

How does Achebe show how much Nigeria was effected in this interview + book

Do you think that there were any benefits of the British invading Nigeria (learning English..)?

What do you think Achebe means when he says that that European side said "Okay, we'll stop telling this story, because we see there's another story."
A single story= the only story