How Does Okonkwo Overcome His Father's Failure

Even at birth you can be dealt the wrong hand and expected to become nothing in this world. Some people will eventually succumb to these thoughts, but others will use this as motivation. In the novel, “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe, the main character decides to use his father’s failure as a method to triumph over adversity. It takes the judgement of others and one bad example to drive someone to become successful.
For Instance, Okonkwo -the protagonist- was raised in the tribe of Umuofia where respect and leadership was highly important as well as required by a man. However, his father, unfortunately lacked these traits which made him into the laughing stock he was. It didn't help that his father was also a man of many unpaid loans, leaving his family normally with no food on the table. He was described by his own people as a worthless man; he had the same if not less honor than a woman in his village. This persona followed him up until his final breath. He did not receive a proper village funeral as he died from a sickness that was not tolerable to their earth goddess- Ani. He had a shameful life as well as a disgraceful death and was dumped in the Evil Forest. Okonkwo was not pleased with his father’s image and chose to become greater than he would ever be; he made it his ultimate goal.
As a result, he became a tireless worker and …show more content…
He was banished from his land and everything except his yams had been destroyed to cleanse the village. In fear of becoming his father, he began his journey once again in a different scenery. Okonkwo flourished in his new setting and gained everything he had lost in an unfortunate mishap. He ventured back to his land once his banishment was over and proceeded to regain everything once again. Despite every hardship Okonkwo was able to dwindle it with great motivation he had