Okonkwo: Sympathetic Or Unsyopath

Okonkwo can go both ways, he would be considered a sympathetic or unsympathetic. In my personal opinion, I believe that Okonkwo is a very sympathatic character. Him being a sympathetic character is apart of their culture, which to show love or empathy is considered weak. Okonkwo wanted to hold himself up as a mythic warrior and leader. By being cold and ruthless to his family, he felt that he was projecting a constant state of strength and power. Of course other readers are going to consider unsympathic because we certainly see the unfairness and abuse rather than strength. We, however, have to keep in mind that this is a completely different culture relatively untouched by the West.
Okonkwo has a son named Nwoye and he treats him less than …show more content…
He treats his son like a failure becuase he’s lazy. He is so disappointed to even have him as a son and he makes it so clear. “That was the kind of story that Nwoye loved. But he now knew that they were for foolish women and children, and he knew that his father wanted him to be a man. And so he feigned that he no longer cared for women’s stories. And when he did this he saw that his father was pleased, and no longer rebuked him or beat him. So Nwoye and Ikemefuna would listen to Okonkwo’s stories about tribal wars, or how, years ago, he had stalked his victim, overpowered him and obtained his first human head.”
A sympathetic character is a character in a story whom the writer expects the reader to identify with and care about, if not neccessarily admire. That’s why Okonkwo is a sympathetic character, his motives are easy to read. He treats women the way he does because it’s a sign of power. He tries to turn his son into a man because it would be a disgrace is he let his son be like his grandfather. He treats people like crap in general just to show power.Okonkwo’s motives are easy to identify because it’s apart of their