Okonkwo and Big Ideas

In the novel, “Things Fall Apart”, we see the main character Okonkwo as a brave leader of Umafia. His motivation to work as hard as he does comes from the built up guilt within him, due to he failures of his father. Due to how the novel ends, Okonkwo’s character is considered to be a tragic hero. He has great influence on Umafia. He is known for his heroic actions as he right at the beginning of the novel, we see him defeat the Amalinze Cat. With this piece on information given to us, Achebe characterises Okonkwo to hold much power and prestige. Although we see that the strengths in Okonkwo we can also understand his weaknesses. As every tragic hero, there is a weakness that eventually leads to his downfall. In OKonkwo’s case this was his fear of being known as weak and as a failure. This all branches from his fear to turn out like his failure of a father. Okonkwo very much represent the people of Umafia and their traditions. Even though throughout the novel we see him break tradition,  for example when he goes against the igbo people and their traditions by killing Ikemefuna when he was advised not to, we do see great remorse in doing so. Okonkwo is very much dedicated and quite stubborn about keeping the Igbo culture living, we see this with the cracking of the Kola nut. When Obierika tried to disregard that tradition Okonkwo thought he was crazy and said it was wrong to break the sacred tradition. From this we can see how Achebe was trying to symbolise the igbo people and culture through Okonkwo.  

Okonkwo is very significant to this novel, as he is the one to carry the plot along, and create tension throughout the book. Without his character the reader would have a hard time understating the beliefs and customs of the igbo people. Furthermore, through him we are able to understand the suffering and the hardship that came along with colonisation. We see how tough it was for Okonkwo to accept the english and christianity. This is another time where we need Okonkwo in order to see that. Also, realising that this novel is going to be read and anaylized by readers all around the world, not just the igbo, it is very crucial that we have a character in the book that will give us that understanding and help us relate to a culture that we are not familiar with. By being able to relate to the novel and feel sympathy towards Okonkwo and Umafia, Achebe’s purpose of raising awareness is carried out. 

One of the big themes in this novel is destiny. We see this with Okonkwo’s tragic fate as the arrival of a new culture comes upon Umafia. This occurs because of Okonkwo destiny to self-destruction, due to his inflexible nature. Through his thick skull and his inability to accept change he drives himself to commit suicide.