Characterization of Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart

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Analysis of Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart

The final sentence in Things Fall Apart would suggest that the District

Commissioner viewed the tribal characters as simple and incapable of deep understanding.




However, Achebe’s portrayal of the characters give each one great depth and complexity.

The perfect example of this contradiction would be the Okonkwo. The intricacy that

Achebe used in creating Okonkwo was astonishing. If the reader were to meet Okonkwo

in person, he or she would perceive Okonkwo as primitive. However, with Achebe’s

story of Okonkwo in the book, the reader can see that Okonkwo is a man that is struggling

to overcome everything he fears becoming. Okonkwo is terrified of being associated with

any resemblance of his father, Unoka. It is this single fear that pushes Okonkwo to lead

the life he does. Inner turmoil is constantly surrounding Okonkwo, but it is his disgust for

his father that ultimately determines the characteristics that Okonkwo will develop.

Though there are many characteristics providing depth to Okonkwo, I see him as an

insecure, chauvinistic, violent, and stoic man. All of these characteristics can be seen in

direct correlation with the other.

The largest contributor to Okonkwo’s character would be his insecurity, and it is

this insecurity that drives Okonkwo to be the man that he is. Okonkwo’s father is the

reason for Okonkwo’s insecure feelings. Unoka is a poor, cowardly man who never gets

anything accomplished. Okonkwo consciously adopts opposite ideals from his father, and

becomes the exact paradox of Unoka. Okonkwo’s ambition to become everything his

father is not eventually provides him with social and financial success. He is able, by

means of his own efforts, to attain a position of wealth and prestige, even though his father

dies, penniless and titleless, of a shameful illness. Although Okonkwo is able to achieve

social and financial acclaim, he is insistent to having an antagonistic personality to the

“soft” disposition that is his father’s. Okonkwo’s actions, through out the entire story, are

performed to continually preserve his masculinity. His masculinity is his way of proving

that he is a great warrior, and nothing like his cowardly father. Okonkwo, often,

overcompensates his actions for his insecurity, skewing his true feelings. This is evident in

his murder of Ikemefuma. Okonkwo’s actions are too close to killing a kinsman, which is

adamantly against his tribal culture. He is so afraid of looking weak that he is willing to

come close to breaking Igbo law in order to prove that he is a strong man. Okonkwo

performs many other actions to prove his strength, but it is with the entrance of the

European religion that the reader sees Okonkwo’s power begin to subside. Many of the

weaker tribesmen begin to involve themselves with Christianity, and the loss of these tribal

members diminish the importance of the tribal elite. The strong are unable to measure

themselves against the weak if the weak are no where to be found, being detrimental to

Okonkwo because much of his pride is base on the significance of his titles. Additionally,

Nwoye’s adoption of the Christian beliefs further undermine Okonkwo’s status and

prestige. It is at this point where Okonkwo’s hard work to distance himself from the

legacy of Unoka has been destroyed. Never the less, Okonkwo keeps his focus to

distinguish himself from anything resembling weakness. However, the church has changed

much of the Igbo culture, and Okonkwo fails to incite the interest of the clansmen with his

masculine behavior. In the end, despite his great success and prestige, Okonkwo dies

without recognition like his titleless, penniless father.

Okonkwo’s insecurity can be directly linked with his chauvinistic view of life.

Okonkwo associates Unoka with weakness, and with weakness he associates feminity.

Because his personality and behavior is so different from his father’s, he believes that his

actions constitute masculinity. In Okonkwo’s perception of life, to be strong, one must

exude masculinity. Unfortunately this is a very poor and chauvinistic way of life. With

this way of thinking, Okonkwo views things such as compassion, affection, and simple

conversation as feminine characteristics. Living by such beliefs will definitely result in a

poor relationship with family and friends. Even the lone successful relationship that

Okonkwo possesses with one of his children is tainted by chauvinism. Okonkwo wishes

that Ezinma, his favorite child, were a boy instead of a girl. It is unfortunate that the

relationship can not achieve its full potential because Okonkwo, with his ideals, must

associate Ezinma as a woman with feminine characteristics, characteristics that he forces

himself to despise. An extreme instance of chauvinism is seen when Okonkwo is exiled to

his motherland. The thought of being in his motherland, which represents femininity,

greatly upsets him furthering his unwillingness to admit to the feminine side of his

personality. Okonkwo shows no signs of changing his practice of his ideals. He lectures

his sons about the rash and violent nature of true masculinity, showing a refusal to believe

that such behavior is not a defining characteristic of a man. For many people, the persona

of a man is to be a loving and protecting father and husband. It is sad to see that

Okonkwo, with his skewed vision, is not capable of having a true relationship with anyone

because of his opinion of what a man is supposed to be.

Another characteristic of Okonkwo that ties closely into the prior two is his violent

nature. Many of Okonkwo’s violent actions stem from his insecurity and his ideals of

masculinity. Okonkwo’s accidental murder of the 16-year old boy may be paralleled with

his own violent nature. The gun that killed the boy represents Okonkwo. At one moment,

the gun is perfectly calm and steadfast, and explosive and unruly the next. This instability

is much like Okonkwo’s volatile nature. Okonkwo is very quick to act on his violent

feelings. This is seen with the abusive nature. He frequently beats is wives, and the only

emotion he allows himself to display is anger. His rash behavior affects his relations in the

Igbo community. The Igbo tribe tries hard to resolve problems with peace, but Okonkwo

often breaks the peace only to preserve his masculinity. When a rumor begins that a

convert has killed a sacred python, the clan comes to a peaceful solution rather than

retribute against the Christians. However, Okonkwo is unsatisfied with the resolution and

is adamant about a violent reaction. Many of Okonkwo’s actions are to preserve his

values and traditional way of life. This is his justification for the slaying of the Christian

messenger. Unfortunately, he is destroying his cultural laws in order to maintain them,

further exemplifing his volatile nature.

Okonkwo uses a stoic apearance to hide his true emotions. Again, he would view

any form of emotion as being feminine. Two characters contribute to paint a picture of

Okonkwo’s efforts to hide his feelings. The first would be his daughter Ezinma.

Although she is his favorite child, he refuses to show her any form of affection in order to

maintain his masculinity. However, Okonkwo secretly desires to have an affectionate

relationship with his sons, but he avoids admitting his desires because he fears affection as

a weakness. The second instance of Okonkwo hiding his feelings would be the murder of

Ikemefuma. Although Okonkwo views Ikemefuma as a son, he proceeds with the murder.

If he did not, he would be viewed as being weak. The sole purpose for Okonkwo’s stoic

nature is to hide the feminine characteristics he would show if he were to express his true

feelings.

Okonkwo is a much deeper character that would be inferred by the District

Commisioner’s book title. However, it is probably the characteristics that Okonkwo

portrayed that led the District Commissioner to the assumption that the Igbo people were

primitive. Okonkwo’s sheltering of his feelings and actions to hide his insecurity are the

characteristics that lead the District Commissioner to his opinion, Achebe is able to show

the reader the depth of Okonkwo. The reader is able to see that Okonkwo is so

emotionally torn to become everything that his father was not, that his unwilling to altar

from his values. It is this unwillingness to alter his personality that ultimately leads to

Okonkwo’s demise.

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