Okonkwo

Okonkwo
'Things Fall Apart' character
Created by	Chinua Achebe
Information
Gender	Male
Spouse(s)	3 wives
Children	9
Relatives	Unoka, father
Nationality	Nigerian (Umuofian)

Okonkwo is the protagonist of Chinua Achebe's 1958 novel Things Fall Apart. A rash warrior who acts upon impulse, he is the first in a series of tragic heroes appearing in the novels of Chinua Achebe.

Character information

Okonkwo, the son of the effeminate and lazy Unoka, strives to make his way in a world that seems to value manliness. In doing so, he rejects everything for which he believes his father stood. Unoka was idle, poor, profligate, cowardly, gentle, and interested in music and conversation. Okonkwo consciously adopts opposite ideals and becomes productive, wealthy, thrifty, brave, violent, and adamantly opposed to music and anything else that he perceives to be "soft," such as conversation and emotion. He is stoic to a fault. To him, any sign of softness of features or any sign of emotion shows weakness. He is also the hardest-working member of his clan. Okonkwo's whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness, and the fear that he will resemble his father. Ironically, in all his efforts not to end up like his father, he commits suicide, becoming an abomination to the Earth and rebuked by the tribe just like his father (who died from swelling and was likewise considered an abomination). Okonkwo's suicide represents not only the culture rebuking him, but him rebuking the culture, as he realized that the Ibo culture that he loved is not the same one it was before the Christians arrived. His name means "baby boy born on Nkwo (a market day in Igbo)". His tragic flaw is impatience and lack of gentleness. He had 3 wives and 9 children he is also a clan leader in Umuofia.

Okonkwo's rise

"With a father like Unoka, Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. He neither inherited a barn, nor a title, nor even a young wife. But in spite of these disadvantages, he had begun even in his father's lifetime to lay the foundations of a prosperous future." (Pg 17) Okonkwo's reputation in the village was formed when he brought honor to his village by throwing Amanlinze the Cat, and through other personal achievements. "...and during this time Okonkwo's fame had grown like a bush-fire in the harmattan." (Pg 3) "He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams, and had just married his third wife." (Pg 7)

He is also prone to not following one's orders. When told not to have a part in the death of Ikemefuna, he doesn't listen, and instead, cuts him down and kills him.^[1]

References

1. ^ Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor, 1994. Print.