Okonkwo is an influential Clan leader in the land of Umofia. He is shown as what a male should strive to be depicted at that time. From a young age he wanted to be honorable and strong. He is even given the nickname "Roaring Fire" to describe his masculinity, power and life. He represents the anomaly Igbo male at that time. Okonkwo rose up to power by his own doing. His father Unoka was a failure to his family and a drunk. Okonkwo wanted to be the opposite of his father, so for that reason he focused in becoming full masculine, without any sense of sensitivity shown towards the public, because he didn't want to be shown weak in the faces of his clan members.
What is the purpose of Okonkwo’s character within the text?
Okonkwo throughout the entirety of the novel stays with his values, them being that he is masculine and strong with no compassion and lack of respect his the people under him. He disregards orders although faithful to tradition because he wants to disprove the tragic flaw the follows him around and that is the fear of weakness. If the people believe that their leader is weak and soft they won't follow and believe him, and for that reason he does what is not advised to him in order to show that he is not weak, one being killing Ikemefuna. Okonkwo is an anomaly. He follows most of the traditions that the Ibo people have set but sometimes he chooses to do his own thing, because he might thing that his choice is the correct one or because he doesn't want to show fear and weakness. Okonkwo is a protagonist with antagonistic features. He loves his family but he doesn't want to show it public and although he thinks his son's are lazy, he wishes the best for them. Achebe shows Okonkwo as the tragic hero, because although the greatness that Okonkwo has in him at the end of the day he will fail due to his own doing, "tragic flaw", which is his fear for failure and inability to change.
How does Okonkwo’s character contribute to big ideas?
In context to the main ideas of the novel Okonkwo's character embodies all the values that the Igbo people have. He refuses to accept the change that occurs in his home country where the colonizers have come and taken over Nigeria and Okonkwo refuses to accept the changes that will occur in his country. He refuses to accept Christianity and when his son Nwoye joins the church he gets furious. He wants to fight back and fight for freedom, because he believes that his people are going to be oppressed by the white men. In the context that Things Fall Apart was written two years before Chinua Achebe gives a bit of his personality in Okonkwo. The sense of patriotism and freedom is burning in Okonkwo like it was burning in Achebe and for that reason while everyone of the villagers wanted to surrender to the British, Okonkwo couldn't stand the cowardice that this portrayed so for that reason he took his own life which was a big NO-NO in the Igbo culture.
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