Okonkwo and Creon are characters that share multiple similarities. Okonkwo, the hero of Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, and Creon, the antagonist of Sophocles’ play Antigone. Both establish strict beliefs when their family member goes against civil law. In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s father is lazy and does not work in the community to provide for himself. This image is frowned upon in the Igbo tribe and is very much uncivil. Throughout the book, Okonkwo tries to avoid his father's footsteps by using his beliefs of civil laws. In Antigone, Creon’s brother commits the crime of innocence and is considered a disappointment to his community. Creon and Okonkwo see their family members break civic laws, so they focus on trying to uphold civic laws which creates an authoritative force, a high expectation for others and a fear of failure.
Like most African homes, Okonkwo’s household is merely dictated by man. Okonkwo, the man of his house, takes this to a whole new level. His physical presence can be felt when a mistake …show more content…
Okonkwo’s thinks that everybody should be as great as himself. This includes his son, Nwoye, who is very different from Okonkwo. Okonkwo’s high expectations for Nwoye are very different than what kind of person Nwoye is. Nwoye, a passive character, is expected by his father to be a “tough young man capable of ruling his father’s household when he (Okonkwo) was dead” (Achebe 52). This seems unrealistic for Nwoye’s characteristics. This unreasonable expectation is very similar to Creon’s expectation of noone burying Polyneices’ dead body. He believes this decision is a good one as “you can see the wisdom behind it”(Sophocles 197). This law is very unreasonable and not wise as the man who died had a family. This would obviously lead to a problem in the future. Similar to Okonkwo, Creon believes all of his decisions are correct because they follow civil
Like most African homes, Okonkwo’s household is merely dictated by man. Okonkwo, the man of his house, takes this to a whole new level. His physical presence can be felt when a mistake …show more content…
Okonkwo’s thinks that everybody should be as great as himself. This includes his son, Nwoye, who is very different from Okonkwo. Okonkwo’s high expectations for Nwoye are very different than what kind of person Nwoye is. Nwoye, a passive character, is expected by his father to be a “tough young man capable of ruling his father’s household when he (Okonkwo) was dead” (Achebe 52). This seems unrealistic for Nwoye’s characteristics. This unreasonable expectation is very similar to Creon’s expectation of noone burying Polyneices’ dead body. He believes this decision is a good one as “you can see the wisdom behind it”(Sophocles 197). This law is very unreasonable and not wise as the man who died had a family. This would obviously lead to a problem in the future. Similar to Okonkwo, Creon believes all of his decisions are correct because they follow civil