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    Role of Okonkwo

    Uploaded by

    Ashwin Pradhan

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Role of Okonkwo

    Uploaded by

    Ashwin Pradhan
    0 views1 page

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

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    Copyright:

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    0 views1 page

    Role of Okonkwo

    Uploaded by

    Ashwin Pradhan

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 1

    Okonkwo, the son of the effeminate and lazy 

    Unoka, strives to make his way in a


    world that seems to value manliness. In so doing, he rejects everything for which
    he believes his father stood. Okonkwo achieves great social and financial success
    by embracing ideals that make him the perfect man in the eyes of his clan and his
    culture. Okonkwo is practically a hero according to his culture, but, this very
    aspect of being a cultural hero leads to his tragic downfall.

    Throughout the entireity of the story, we observe

    Okonkwo’s self-realization starts when he comes back to Umuofia after his seven
    years exile with a great plan. However, after his arrival, he realizes that Umuofia is
    much changed and he is not as important and famous as he used to be before his
    exile. His arrival doesn’t attract as much as attention as he expect and he loses his
    place in the Egwugwu to the another man as soon as he leaves the clan. Moreover,
    he also has to wait for another two years to imitate his two sons into the ozo
    society. But most important, Okonkwo discovers that the white men have settled
    down in the village. The white men establish a church and a school in the village,
    and then start converting Igbo people into Christian and attacking Igbo customs
    and faith. Okonkwo is strongly unhappy with this situation and by his violent
    nature; he persuades his clan to use violence to drive the white men out of the
    village. However, the clan disagrees and reminds Okonkwo that the white men also
    have some of the clan members supporting them. Although there is no war
    between white men and Igbo people, the conflicts between these two groups still
    often occur, including the unmasking of Egwugwu, the burning of the church and
    the deceptive meeting held by the white men which results in the capture and
    humiliation of the five clan members, including Okonkwo. However, despite these
    failings, it is not until when Okonkwo kills one of the five British court members,
    who are sent to stop the clan meeting that he discovers his tragic fate. When
    Okonkwo beheads the messenger during the clan meeting and sees that none of his
    clan members go after the escaping white men, “He knew that Umuofia would not
    go to war” (Achebe, 144). He realizes that he will never be able to drive the white
    men out of Umuofia because his clan will not fight with him. Realizing that he is
    defeated and cannot save his village from the white men influences, Okonkwo
    decides to hang himself, which is consider as an abomination in Igbo culture.

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