Paper 2 Practice

Children often inherit their values from their parents. Explore to what extent this is true of Okonkwo

   Okonkwo is the protagonist of Things Fall Apart. His personality, demonstrated behavior, and decision making is all influenced by his unchanging resolve. His resolve to be nothing like his father. Okonkwo rejects any compassion or friendly traits that could be associated with any hint of femininity from his lifestyle. This all stems from his father's way of living. Okonkwo's father is described as a failure who was very lazy. This fear of failure and laziness eventually are comprehended by Okonkwo as a rejection of any feminine behavior in order to be a successful man. In this way, though Okonkwo did not inherit his father's values, his values still come from his father.
   The entirety of Okonkwo's character arc builds upon this major contribution to his life choices which lead to both his success and his flaws. Okonkwo, opposite to his father, was extremely successful and respected by everyone in his village. He had three wives, each of which had their own hut. Striving agriculture and land under his name. He had even proven his worth as a warrior by defeating "The Cat" who was the best wrestler in the tribe. However, his drive to succeed also leads him to face many hardships as Okonkwo is the creator of his own hardships. Okonkwo desires victory and refuses to change. His stubborn resolve to be as manly as possible often puts him into conflict. Okonkwo would much rather fight than talk as a man does not back down from a fight. When his adopted son Ikemefuna runs to him for protection he cuts him down, fearing that if he didn't, he may be less of a man. This also causes a great inner-struggle that Okonkwo faces when he goes into a depressive state afterwards. Almost resembling his father as he sits around drinking. When his friend Obierika tells him he shouldn't have come with them to kill his son, Okonkwo refuses to admit his contribution to his situation. Instead he says that he had to go. He claims he couldn't run like a coward and claims that "If everyone feared blood on their hands, who else would have done it". 
   Though Okonkwo doesn't inherit his father's values directly, his personality and decisions are all directly influenced by his father's way of life and values.

Things Fall Apart Context + Adding Context to Context Assignment

Why would Achebe choose to set his novel prior to and during the arrival of the colonial administration as opposed to during the context of production?

I believe a factor contributing to Achebe's choice of setting in his book "Things Fall Apart" is h

3 Important TFA Moments

One of the three most important events in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, is Okonkwo's suicide. I believe this is one of the most important events in the novel as in a way, it shows us Okonkwo's stubborn resolve. He will not change from his ideals and ways. Throughout the novel we see Okonkwo power through strife, doing his best to stick to his ideals and be unlike his father in every way possible. He resents weakness and is strong through the whole story. So to see Okonkwo give into despair and take his own life is a complete twist, a great sin to his culture and to many a sign of weakness. An interesting note however, is that it can also be seen as an act of strength. The strength of Okonkwo's resolve to remain on his own path. We see his final act as the novel's tragic hero as he refuses to allow the influence of foreign powers to influence his lifestyle.

The second important moment, is the moment Okonkwo cuts down Ikemefuna. He has agreed to have him killed after some internal struggle when the boy becomes more important to Okonkwo. The Oracle advises against Okonkwo committing the murder himself. In their culture, listening to the Oracle is crucial but as Ikemefuna runs in fear to his father figure for protection, he is betrayed and he is cut down by Okonkwo. Okonkwo afterwards says that even though he disobeyed the Oracle, he did so out of the fear of being considered weak. Though we see Okonkwo's dedication to his culture, we also show the development of our tragic hero as he is still human. Regardless of the weakness he suppresses, the events still have an effect on him. 

Finally, is Okonkwo's youth. I feel as though this is a crucial part of the story to take note of. Although it is not a focus of the novel, it is mentioned in the story for a reason and it gives us insight to Okonkwo's behaviour. The lack of a powerful figure and success Okonkwo saw in his father brought him to resent him. This hatred fueled Okonkwo's success and results in many plot points and conflict in the story. Okonkwo's hate of being weak or sentimental like his father drives him to be the character he is in the novel.