Summer essay

Angel Han
Ms. Clapp
AP Lit
21 August, 2008
The Meaning Behind Okonkwo’s Violence
Throughout Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, there is a constant element of violence that surrounds the main character, Okonkwo. He shows his aggressive behavior through his harsh discipline and abuse among is family. The violence that comes from Okonkwo eventually leads to his downfall and his own death, through suicide. Achebe uses Okonkwo’s violence to develop his character and to connect the beginning of the novel to the end. There is always a meaning behind Okonkwo’s threatening gestures and at times irrational actions.
Okonkwo’s violence originated from his fear of becoming a failure like his lazy father, Unoka, who died in debt and without a title to his name. Achebe explains Okonkwo’s hatred towards his father on page 13, “even as a little boy he had resented his father’s failure and weakness, and even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told that his father was agbala.” In Okonkwo’s village, Umuofia, the word for “woman”, agbala, is also used to describe men without titles. In order to dissociate himself from being feminine and weak, he uses brutality to show his manliness. On page 29 Achebe writes, “Okonkwo was provoked to justifiable anger by his youngest wife, who went to plait her hair at her friend’s house and did not return early enough to cook the afternoon meal. . .And when [Ojiugo] returned he beat her very heavily.” When Okonkwo’s wife fails to complete her duty, Okonkwo uses force to punish her. Since, women in Okonkwo’s village are treated as property, for a man to not have control of his wives shows that he is weak. Therefore, Okonkwo uses violence as a method of control and a scare tactic to keep his family in line. Achebe uses Okonkwo’s violence among his family as a symbol for masculinity.
One of the villager’s wife is killed by a man from another village, and the murderer’s 15 year old son, Ikemefuna, is taken captive as a punishment to his village and ends up killed by the hand of Okonkwo. Ikemefuna is forced to live in Okonkwo’s household, where he quickly bonds with the family. After three years of living with Okonkwo’s family, the elders of the nine villages of Umuofia decides that Ikemefuna must be killed, but Ezeudu state that since Ikemefuna is like family to Okonkwo, Okonkwo cannot take a part of Ikemefuna’s death. However, Okonkwo disregards their orders and “drew his machete and cut [Ikemefuna] down.”, because “he was afraid of being thought weak” (61). Okonkwo’s willingness to kill Ikemefuna, who is like a son to him, emphasizes his self-consciousness of appearing weak. Not only that, but Okonkwo’s violence also leads to the downfall of his relationship to his actual son, Nwoye. Nwoye views Ikemefuna as an older brother. Achebe writes, “Ikemefuna had an endless stock of folk tales. Even those which Nwoye knew already were told with a new freshness and the local flavor of a different clan.” (34) Nwoye is deeply impacted that his father killed Ikemefuna, and Achebe describes his feelings as “…something had given way inside him. It descended on him again, this feeling, when his father walked in, that night after killing Ikemefuna” (62). Previously, Nwoye would try his best to be strong, masculine son his father wanted, but he had interests that would not please his father, such as enjoying “the stories that his mother used to tell. . .But he knew [the stories] were for foolish women and children.” (53-54). However, Nwoye’s loyalty to his father ends as he feels betrayed by his father, to take away a brother so dear to him. After Ikemefuna’s death, Nwoye later on turns against his father by leaving him to join the newly settled missionaries. Achebe portrays Okonkwo as selfish; being prone to protect his image rather than restraining himself from killing basically a family member, and uses his violence as a symbol of betrayal to both Ikemefuna and Nwoye.
The fame and success, that Okonkwo worked hard to gain in his village, dissolves when he and his family are banned from his village. During a funeral for the oldest and respected man of the village, Ezeudu, “Okonkwo’s gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced [the son of the Ezeudu’s] heart.” (124) Since, Okonkwo did not intentionally kill the boy; his crime is seen as female. For a female crime, the punishment for killing a clansman in Umuofia is being banned for 7 years. As a result of being banned, Okonkwo and his family flee to his mother’s land. In Umuofia, Okonkwo “won fame as the greatest wrestler in the nine villages…was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams, and had just married his third wife. To crown it all he had taken two titles and had shown incredible prowess in two inter-tribal wars.” (8). As a result of Okonkwo’s violence, he becomes powerless in his village and helpless, like a child, in his mother’s village. Okonkwo shifts from being known as a successful, and masculine to becoming his worst fear of being associated with female traits.
The downfall Okonkwo experiences, such as losing his sons and pride, comes to a crashing end when he commits suicide. Okonkwo works hard, throughout the novel, so he would not become like his father, but ironically he ended up suffering the same fate as his father: dying shamefully. Unoka died without any titles and “heavily in debt” (8), bringing shame upon Okonkwo. Okonkwo dies by hanging himself from a tree behind his home. According to Obierika, “‘it is against [their village’s] custom for a man to take his own life…[Okonkwo’s] body is evil, and only strangers may touch it.’” (207) Obierika goes on to say, “‘That man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself; and now he will be buried like a dog. . . .’” (208). Okonkwo shows his weakness by ending his life rather than continuing to fight for his village against the missionaries. The violence that Okonkwo uses as a tool for power, turns Okonkwo to become his worst fear of becoming weak as his father.
Achebe’s use of violence is effective in the development of Okonkwo. Early in the novel, the author uses Okonkwo’s violence to emphasize his drive to succeed and become prosperous, unlike his father. Violence is also a way for Okonkwo to control his family. However, Okonkwo’s violent actions lead him to the loss of a boy who he views as a son, his own son’s loyalty, and being banned from his own village. In the end, Okonkwo turns his violence on himself and commits suicide, where he is left to be buried like animal. The downfall of Okonkwo can be seen through the transition of consequences that follow Okonkwo’s brutality.