Essay On The Mental World In Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Improved Essays
The mental world of every person is shaped by their environment and experiences in life. Everyone has a special outlook that may share some similarities with others. But, each mental world is unique to one person. The mindset of Okonkwo in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is very similar to his grandson Obi Okonkwo’s in No Longer at Ease. The difference in their mental world comes from the time period of Nigeria. Okonkwo developed his mental world during the transition period into British rule in Nigeria. Obi’s development, however, is the transition out of British rule. The experiences that Obi and Okonkwo had during their time in the British rule shows how the life of Nigeria was in their eyes. During Okonkwo’s time, Nigeria was very simple at first. Okonkwo was a very strong and independent man who was well known in the village of Umoufia. His personality stems from resenting his father Unoka way of wasting his life in drinking and by not paying back his loans. Okonkwo hated every aspect of Unoka that his mental world was everything that his father was not. His …show more content…
Both lived by the ideal of not showing any kind of weakness. For Okonkwo, showing weakness is not strong and is similar to how his father lived, which he loathed. Obi did not show weakness by not taking bribes in times of debt. Both also had titles or positions that made them appear strong. Okonkwo had many wrestling titles received from winning. Obi also held a good work position and was sent by his village to learn to benefit them once he returned. Unfortunately, both shared a fragile mental world that could be broken when it the world outside was changing. The British arrival and the assimilation into Christianity drove Okonkwo into suicide. Obi broke down from the pressure and losing his girlfriend and mother. Both men showed that despite Nigeria changing between generations, it still could produce similar

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Okonkwo Culture Collision

    • 1055 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In his culture, being anything but a strong, titled man was a disgraceful thing to be. Due to his fear, he became an established warrior who acted towards the overall good of the tribe and did everything he could to be an ideal Ibo tribe member. This is shown when the author says, “Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements” (3). Okonkwo’s happiness came from his status in Umuofia because he was incredibly insecure about his position in society.…

    • 1055 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Okonkwo Eulogy Analysis

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages

    He started with eight hundred yam seeds and some land loaned to him, and ended with three wives and a huge barn full of cowries. We all know the hard working side of Okonkwo, but we also know the rageful side as well. His temperament problems even once broke the Week of Peace. In his defence, Ojiugo should’ve been back in her obi with his dinner ready.…

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Okonkwo Change Quotes

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Okonkwo thought of himself as an independent leader of the Umuofia clan. He looks at his father to be lazy, not being able to support his family and a coward. The reason why Okonkwo acted the way he did is because he didn’t want to resemble anything his father did. Okonkwo…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo was a man who upheld high standards and a high place in the society of Igbo. Okonkwo was the man who all the other men looked up to and wanted to be, until christian missionaries and ruined his life. At least that’s what Okonkwo believes. After they “ruin” his life he changes into a man who doesn’t take responsibility for his own actions and wrong doings. He blames the destruction of his life on the actions of others.…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Many stories in literature portray tragedies that occur to unsuspecting characters rather frequently. Even more peculiar, some stories show that tragic events happen to characters when it’s noteven their fault. In the story Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe tells of a story in which a young Nigerian Okonkwo rises to power and nobility through persistence. His desire to work assiduously isinspired from his hatred of his father’s laziness as he strives to earning the highest title in the village of Umuofia. Unfortunately, his efforts are disturbed by the introduction of “White men” and he eventuallycommits suicide when he realizes his village no longer supports the ambitions…

    • 108 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages

    He is a warrior, farmer and a leader in the Igbo clan known as Umuofia. He is well respected by his clan members because of his hard work and service to his clan. Okonkwo has three wives and several children. His determination to not be like his lazy, poor father lead to his success. Unoka is the father of Okonkwo.…

    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This shows that Okonkwo had to rebuild his father’s destruction and start from scratch. This made Okonkwo a stronger man, but also put a great fear inside of him. This fear was to not resemble or be like his father in any way, shape , or form. This is why he was very strict and harsh to his son and wives, making him look stronger, preventing him from looking weak. This slowly pushed his first son, Nwoye, away from him.…

    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Ibo culture clashes against Christian Missionaries in the middle of the story. Back during the 19th century, Christian Missionaries spread their culture through European Colonialism, which, even though brought modern technologies and ideas, it left native African cultures permanently damaged. This is portrayed with the views of an African native, Okonkwo, who was once famously known. After his seven-year exile, he came back to a changed Umuofia. Since Okonkwo despises western ideas, Nwoye converting to Christianity and other members of Umuofia not doing anything about Christianity, he is the most affected person to this change.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    A disappointment to his father, Nwoye finds solace in the hymns of the Evangelists. For him, his father represented the masculine ideals and traditions of Ibo society, and so, in his failure to reach his father’s standards, he also failed to feel at home within the culture he was born to. The evangelists presented a society that would accept him, one whose own hymns appealed to the doubts he had about his clan 's traditions, describing, “brothers who sat in darkness and in fear seemed to answer...the question of Ikemefuna who was killed” (Achebe 147). By his fear of what Nwoye might fail to become, Okonkwo ended up ensuring Nwoye’s failure. And so, Nwoye become a Christian and Okonkwo disowned…

    • 1089 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Is Okonkwo Honorable

    • 143 Words
    • 1 Pages

    In the novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe , Okonkwo is responsible, respectful, and honorable. First Okonkwo is responsible for working hard and making sure everything alright according the the text , he work daily to taking care of his family. Second, Okonkwo is respectful. He has shown it by the way he life to Nwakibie himself.…

    • 143 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Okonkwo grew up to be a great farmer and warrior who seemed to only have one fear which was failure which he had so much despised his father for “… But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fearsome of failure and weakness”(Achebe p.10). He did not tolerate any sign of laziness from his wives or any of his children especially his oldest son called Nwoye “Okonkwo ruled his house with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of fiery temper…” (Achebe p.9).…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What is a tragic hero? According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is a literary, noble character who makes a judgment mistake that eventually leads to his/her downfall. In the book Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is our tragic hero. Okonkwo is considered a tragic hero due to his leadership and eventual nobility, his big reverse as a character, and his tragic flaws that lead to his downfall. First of all, Okonkwo starts off as a poor child as shown when the book states “Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men usually had, he did not inherit a barn from his father.…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Okonkwo was a rich and respected warrior who brought honor to the Umuofia clan. He was very different from his late father, Unoka, who was weak, sensitive, and ultimately a failure. Okonkwo never wanted to be like his father, and even “as a little boy he had resented his father’s failure and weaknesses” (Achebe 13). This was his tragic flaw, he under no circumstances wanted to be a failure or “resemble his father” in any way (Achebe 13). Among the Umuofia clan “a man was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father” (Achebe 8).…

    • 1327 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Lost Fruits The delusional concept of world domination has been dreamed of by every nation, from the Nazi’s conquest to the New World Order conspiracy, this perception satisfies the thirst for control as well as superiority. The colonization of Africa first began in the late nineteenth century and extended into the late twentieth century, when the British wanted holdings on more land. During this period of time, people, especially the native Africans, faced imperialist aggression, diplomatic pressures, and military invasions from the Europeans.…

    • 1145 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The title of Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart suggests tragedy which the novel clearly portrays in relation to what happens to Okonkwo, the main character. Okonkwo has ongoing issues coping with his life because of his father’s past, he experiences the pain of his Igbo tribe falling apart because of government and the coming of missionaries, and he suffers with guilt over the death of the son he took in and accepted as his own. Okonkwo faces many trials and tribulations throughout his life, and much of this is due to his father. He tries hard his entire life to be totally opposite of his father. He wants to be seen as strong, but his mind oftentimes tells him that he is weak.…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays