Okonkwo Gender Quotes

My essay is about one character gender matters to. I choose Okonkwo for this essay because the book specifies how gender matters a lot to him. The book mentions he doesn’t have tolerance for unsuccessful men. His father Unoka was unsuccessful and this shamed Okonkwo and made him inpatient with his father. A quote about Unoka is “In his day he was lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow.”(Archebe, 4). This bothers Okonkwo because he sees this as unsuccessful and he has no patience for that in men. Okonkwo himself is very successful being the greatest wrestler in the nine villages, a wealthy farmer, had two barns full of yams, and just married his third wife. Okonkwo’s father, Unoka was also in debt with many neighbors. “If any money came his way, and it, seldom did, he immediately bought gourds of Palm-wine, called round his neighbors and made merry.”(Archebe,4)“Unoka was, of course, a debtor, and he owed every neighbor some money, from a few cowries to quite substantial amounts.”(Archebe,4). These are two examples of why Okonkwo doesn't respect or have patience for his dad. He believes that men are supposed to be rich and successful and his father isn't. This is one …show more content…
He is stern when it comes to his household and the rules in it.”His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children.”(Archebe,13). He believes that men are supposed to have a heavy hand and mean about the house rules. Okonkwo also fears that he is going to be like his dad which he doesn't think is a true man. “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 him that his father was agbala.”(Archebe,13). His fear is to be like his father who Okonkwo has no patience for and doesn’t think he is a real man because he's