Okonkwo's Tone

Improved Essays
How does the author use diction to achieve this passage’s tone?
This quote has significant meaning because of how Okonkwo’s life was “dominant by the fear of failure and weakness” (13). Dismay is able to solidify the tone of this quote due to his family's fear of Okonkwo and his fear of himself. The word “temper” is able to reveal an abstract side toward Okonkwo as throughout the book, Okonkwo had a whirlpool of emotions and his temper always got the better of him. Overall, this quote sounds cacophonous because of how it depicts Okonkwo throughout the book, a irritated and indignant leader.
How does Achebe use imagery to create tone in this passage?
This quote is able to show a dark side of Okonkwo as he is cruel towards his family throughout the book. The author’s tone is seemed more as restrained due to his focus on Okonkwo’s feelings.“It was not external, but laid deep within himself” (13). These feelings create stress and anger toward his family as his father was an agbala. Due to his father being an agbala, his people looked at him differently as his religion is based on hard work rather than laziness. Okonkwo wanted different for his family as he doesn’t want to remember the past thus bringing fear into his wives and children.
What details does the author use to create tone here?
…show more content…
His wives living in “perpetual fear of him” shows a lot about the tone. You can justify your mindset towards the way his wives and children feel about him. This can give us a sign on how the men were towards their wives and children. Some examples the author excluded was how he was towards his people as he could be seen to others as a tyrant. Okonkwo’s religious beliefs justified that as the leader, he needed to have full control and attention upon his people. These details have a pessimistic mood on me because of how this quote shows the worst in

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    He is not only a fearless warrior; he is a begrudging son, an uncompromising man, and a caring father, when he feels the urge to be one. In all honesty, he is more a man to be pitied than to be respected. The reader is able to see these traits only through the examination of Okonkwo’s relationships with those around him. In the end, it was Okonkwo that truly fell…

    • 551 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This especially includes his son Nwoye. Okonkwo looks at his son being very womanish. He thinks that Nwoye is weak and unwilling to do things that Ikefuma can do, for example. Okonkwo looks at Nwoye to be the opposite of what Okonkwo himself is, as a result, he creates a toxic relationship with him. Nwoye is simply too kind, and being too kind in an environment with Okonkwo, a relationship with no virtue at all is formed.…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Okonkwo's Savagery

    • 870 Words
    • 4 Pages

    His life is turned upside down when is exiled from his village and with the arrival of the Christian missionaries, that starts to rip apart Okonkwo’s life in pieces, and eventually drives him to commit suicide. The story reflects through how emotions like fear can make a person…

    • 870 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Is Okonkwo Sympathetic

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In chapter 2 it stated that “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear.” (Achebe 13). This shows that he is dominating and that he could pretty abusive to his wives and children. Okonkwo has a temper with his family and it is not a pretty site because he is very aggressive in his household.…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Okonkwo was a man who had many great achievements, his fellow clansmen respected him for the great man he was. Okonkwo felt he could use his influence to make his entire tribe accomplish as much as he could, however, his morale gets to his head, and he starts to feel invulnerable. Power is very important…

    • 2203 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Every year,” he [Unoka] said sadly, “before I put any crop in the earth, I sacrifice a cock to Ani, the owner of all land. It is the law of our fathers. I also kill a cock at the shrine of Ifejioku, the god of yams. I clear the bush and set fire to it when it is dry. I sow the yams when the first rain has fallen, and stake them when the young tendrils appear…” (3.6)…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Okonkwo And Nwoye Analysis

    • 1456 Words
    • 6 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited

    Okonkwo thought that by doing this he could turn Nwoye into his idea of what a real man was. While Ikemefuna was part of the family, Nwoye and him were inseparable. Okonkwo was pleased with the direction his son was headed in. He had an active interest in hunting and farming. “Nwoye overheard it and burst into tears, whereupon his father beat him heavily (53).”…

    • 1456 Words
    • 6 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Okonkwo Change Quotes

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In this book it represents tradition and change. The character I choose was Okonkwo because he went through the most changes. He was also the one who reacted the most to these changes. The book was pretty much on why he didn’t want to be anything like his dad, why he got sent out of his village and how the unknown group showing up to his village was a big change. The first thing the book focused on being how Okonkwo didn’t want to be anything like his father.…

    • 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
  • Superior Essays

    Okonkwo’s sense of failure is evident in the fact, that work which in the past has given him focus, no longer holds any pleasure for him as his exile has destroyed this ambition. This further shakes his sense of stability as he now believes that his chi is not destined for greatness. Another factor in Okonkwo’s downfall is the loss of his son Nwoye to the missionaries. When Nwoye declares that Okonkwo “is not [his] father”(Achebe 144), it is seen by Okonkwo as a betrayal on a cultural and personal level. The separation of a father from son leads Okonkwo to lose control and become even more violent by lashing out at the missionaries.…

    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The text asserted, “And so Okonkwo was ruled by one passion – to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved” (13). He made the gender roles impact him by making sure he was not seen as a weak person, but one full of masculinity. To be seen as the best in this village that focuses on hegemonic masculinity, Okonkwo wins a battle. Achebe stated, “Okonkwo was well-known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievement.…

    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Okonkwo grew up with a fear of becoming like is father. His father was not a respected warrior, in fact, he had not earned any titles during his life. “But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (2.12 Achebe). This fear would sometimes take over his mind and would control his actions. An example of this is when he killed his stepson, Ikemefuna.…

    • 1233 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    1. Okonkwo is physically large with a severe looking face. Okonkwo was loud and quick to use his fists as when he got angry he couldn’t get his words out fast enough. Okonkwo didn’t like people who were unsuccessful and weak. He was a powerful leader, who wasn’t afraid of war or conflict.…

    • 1713 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great 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
  • Improved Essays

    In the novel “Things fall apart” by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo was a brave, respected, intimidating, and wealthy man. He had a severe look, with a wide nose and bushy eyebrows, and “seemed to walk on springs”(4). Although Okonkwo was highly respected by the villagers they still thought he was unsympathetic. Okonkwo believed that anyone who was not succeeding was doing. So due to the lack of trying he did not believe those people deserved very much respect because of all the hard work he had to put in, in order to become much greater than his “lazy and improvident”(4) father.…

    • 269 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays