Okonkwo's Failure

Okonkwo is a strict by the book and rules kind of person. He was raised by a man named Unoka whom he doesn't like to refer to as his father because he was lazy; in his own words that man was a woman. "Unoka was a failure... People laughed at him because he was a loafer", as said in the book things fall apart page five. He was a coward, he didn't like to see blood or be the cause that blood was spilled, he enjoyed music and his best memories were of him playing the flute. Unoka was always in debt, and he would never pay back. It got to a point where everyone decided to stop giving him money but somehow he would always fool someone into doing it. Okonkwo was extremely embarrassed by him and his actions, he didn't have any title but that's what gave Okonkwo the strength to be a successful man and set his life apart from his fathers. He …show more content…
Okonkwo is strongly willed by wishing that she was boy instead of a girl, due to masculine qualities. The author describes her as a boy and the qualities she has as one. The author explains how she sits and takes on tasks that boys would, he suggests that she acts this way because of how her father raised her, in a way that she doesn't know how girls would naturally act. She throws tantrums just like her father, she's traditional like him and shows the qualities that her father wishes Nwoye to have. The theme I’m discussing is costumes and traditions. Due to the way that Unoka raised Okonkwo, Okonkwo tries his best to do the exact opposite and tried to show his children and people around them that only woman show emotion and that man are only allowed to show anger and power. That's the way he is raising his children and throughout the book you can see how blinded he is by this, he expects his daughter to act like a boy and shows her to do so. He wants everyone to follow the same path he did, to set a difference in the community and prove themselves by being