TFA+Literary+Essay+Sara

 In the novel __Things fall apart__ written by Achebe you can see how people used to live in another culture a long time ago. Achebe was born in Nigeria in 1930, perhaps this is why he writes a whole book on a Nigerian village and introduces to us the ways of life for the Nigerian people. Achebe shows the reader how Okonkwo feels like and how he thinks through the whole book. Okonkwo is the leader of his village and he is also very respected for what he has made out of his life. Even though Okonkwo just want to make things good for his village some of his decisions are very bad and they lead to the bad ending that he has lost everything for ever. Okonkwo is known as a man who is very masculine which means that he is strong, makes the decisions and also that he had many wifes. He never shows if he is scared of something or if he is not sure about a decision that he has to make. This is because Okonkwo promised himself he would be the complete opposite of his father Unoka. Unoka had died ten years before the story takes place but everybody always remembered Unoka as a weak, lazy, poor man who could hardly feed his family. He always borrowed money from other people but he never gave it back, if he would have been able to play his flue all day long he would have done so. "People laughed at him because he was a loafer, and they swore never to lend him any more money because he never paid back" (5). Everybody in the town laughed at Unoka and Okonkwo would never let himself be like his father used to be. In the novel, Okonkwo does many things to prove that he is a real man and not like his father. Okonkwo's second wife was prized with a beating by Okonkwo when she cuts leaves off from a banana tree. Okonkwo over exaggerated about the condition of a banana tree and took his anger out on his second wife. He bet her and then he walked away without excusing for what he had done to her. His next plan was to go hunting and when he asked Ikemefuna to fetch his gun, the wife who had just been beaten mumbled something and unfortunately for her, Okonkwo heard her. He went into his room where he got his loaded gun and held it into his wifes direction. There was a loud noise that left his wife luckily unhurt, but very scared. "He heaved a heaved a heavy sigh and went away with the gun" (39). Okonkwo thought that everything that he had done was very masculine and therefore it was right and he did not have a reason to apologize from her. Not only does Okonkwo beat his wives, he beats his son Nwoye as well. Because he fears weakness, Okonkwo is very demanding of his family. He seems to think his son is more like a woman than a man and finds him to be very lazy. Nwoye was more like his grandfather and that was something that Okonkwo could not deal with. On many reasons Okonkwo would hit his son and if Nwoye was lucky, Okonkwo just tried to scare him of. On one day, Nwoye was cutting up yams and Okonkwo was upset that the pieces that he cut where not good enought. He said to his son "if you split another yam of this size, I shall break your jaw" (32). After reading more of the book I got more and more the feeling that Okonkwo tried too hard to be masculine that he did not even take care about the people around him. Ikemefuna is a boy from a neighboring clan who was sent to live with Okonkwo for three years because his father had killed a daughter of Umuofia. During those three years a strong relationship was built between the two of them, but of coarse Okonkwo showed no affection. Okonkwo would consider himself weak and a failure if he did so, so his only emotion would be anger. "His whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness" (13). This fear prevented Okonkwo from opening up to others, especially his family, and accepting reality. He believed his 'manly' ideas of what should be done in the village was what all the villager's should think. Surprisingly though there were times that Okonkwo allowed Ikemefuna to accompany him to feasts, like a son, and Ikemefuna did call Okonkwo father. In chapter seven, Okonkwo learns that Umuofia has decided to kill Ikemefuna. Ogbuefi Ezeudu, the oldest man in the quarter of Umuofia, is the one who breaks the news to Okonkwo. He also tells Okonkwo that since Ikemefuna calls him father he must not take any part in his murder. Obviously, Okonkwo would not listen to Ezeudu's orders. Okonkwo went along with a group of elders through the forest where they were leading Ikemefuna to his death. When the time was right, one of the elders drew his machete and Okonkwo looked away. Ikemefuna fell to the ground and yelled "my father, they have killed me!" (61). Once again, Okonkwo was afraid that he would not seem masculine enough so he ended the life of boy who really loved him.  The final incident that makes Okonkwo suffer most occurs during Ezeudu's funeral. Ezeudu was very much respected in the village and so all of the clan attended his funeral. The service was unlike all others because the "one-handed spirit" made an appearance. He made his way over to Ezeudu's body and spoke: "if your death was the death of nature, go in peace. But if a man caused it, do not allow him a moment's rest" (123). All of a sudden the most impossible thing happened. There were cries and shouts of horror. In the center of the cluster of people laid the dead body of Ezeudu's sixteen year old son. It just so happens that Okonkwo's gun had exploded and a piece of iron had gone through the boys’ heart. Everyone was confused. Deaths were common in the village but nothing like this had ever happened. This accident was definitely meant to happen so Okonkwo's life would be ruined. It was as if he was being punished for all the bad things he had done to people in the past, like his wives and son. It is from here on out that we see the life of Okonkwo is taking a very bad way for him. Okonkwo would come face to face with his fear. His dream of becoming one of the lords of the clan was shattered. He had to leave his clan for seven years until they forgave him what he did. He had no choice. That night he took everything that belonged to him and he also took his family and they went to his motherland together. During Okonkwo's absence from Umuofia, many things happened that Okonkwo would never have expected. White men came to Umuofia. After two years of Okonkwo being in exile, Obierka had went to visit Okonkwo and told him stories about what was going on back in his fatherland village. He told him that a group of white man had destroyed a village called Abame and almost everyone in it. Two years after this, Obierka returned with even worse news. White missionaries had now found a new place to stay in: Umufoia. They had built a church there and had many villagers were following them. Worse than that, Obierka told Okonkwo that Nwoye was indeed one of the followers. Okonkwo wished to not speak about it. Okonkwo had to have known this was going to happen. He treated Nwoye with no respect and looked down upon him. Okonkwo could not do anything about the white men because he was miles away from Umufoia and still had a few years left before he was allowed to return. For once, he was unable to use his masculinity and take charge. If only he knew what was really going on in his village. The white men were spreading Christianity all over his culture. They were getting the villagers to break their traditions, escape their culture, and even make them believe their gods were dead. They even demanded that the villagers attend church every seventh day to worship their god. They were destroying the Evil Forest and building houses for themselves. Surprisingly, no one was stopping them. It was as if the villagers did not care that their lives were being taken over and would soon be changed forever. By the time Okonkwo would return, everything would be different. When it was time, Okonkwo and his family returned to their homeland. He had regretted not being able to be in Umufoia the past seven years. He knew he lost everything. He lost the chance to lead his clan against the white man's religion and lost the chance to win the highest title in the clan. "But some of these losses were not irreparable. He was determined that his return should be marked by his people. He would return with a flourish, and regain the seven years wasted" (172). Had Okonkwo not thought this, the reader would be shocked. It is obvious that Okonkwo would want to take charge in his village again. After all, if he was not determined, could we not consider him weak and a failure" He gathered his clansmen in the marketplace and to his surprise they listened with respect. Although they did not agree to kill the missionary or turn against the Christians like Okonkwo wanted, they agreed they would do something. For the next few days, the men in Umuofia went about their business armed with weapons. They promised Okonkwo they would not be naive and unaware like the men in Abame. Then one day the District Commissioner returned to Umuofia from his tour. He sent his messenger to the leaders of Umuofia to tell them to meet him in this headquarters to chat. Obviously, Okonkwo was among one of the six leaders. Okonkwo thought that the other leaders be armed and ready for anything. He told them "an Umuofia man does not refuse a call. He may refuse to do what he is asked, he does not refuse to be asked" (193). It is clear here that the only thoughts running through his head were manlike thoughts. He needed to show the men that he was not afraid and he would be willing to go to war even if they were not. The six off them did as what they were asked and went to the courthouse where the District Commissioner was waiting. He told them the reason he had gathered them was because he wanted to discuss things that happened while he was gone. Without further a due, he surprised the six leaders with appearances from his own men and before anyone can do anything, Okonkwo and his friends were handcuffed and led into the guardroom. Although the court messengers were told to treat the six of them with respect, they did not. For the next few days the men were deprived of food and water. Okonkwo consistently told the men "we should have killed the white man ..." (195) and finally they got fed up with what was going on that they agreed with him. It is unfortunate though that Okonkwo only wanted to kill the white man because he was afraid they would succeed in changing the traditions of Umuofia. Maybe if Okonkwo was willing to accept change, the six of them would not have been locked up like criminals. Days after, the messengers were going into town and telling the people of Umuofia that their leaders would not be released until they paid a fine of 250 bags of cowries. The news spread quickly throughout the village. One night the village crier beat his instrument and called every man of Umuofia to a meeting in the marketplace. After the meeting, the men of Umuofia decided to collect the 250 bags of cowries to give to the white men. The men were pleased and set the six men free. The next day there was another meeting, this time with the six leaders. Okonkwo didn't sleep that night. All he thought about was revenge. He couldn't believe how he and his men were treated by the white men. If Umuofia decided to go to war, he would be very happy. But if not, he would take things into his own hands and go to war alone, like any real man would do. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Morning came and the marketplace was filled with the non-converts. The first person to speak was Okika, one of the leaders locked up by the white men. He told the listeners that they must go to war even though some of the strangers they would be fighting might perhaps be their own kind. He says "we must root out this evil. And if our brothers take the side of evil we must root them out too" (204). It is unfortunate that the villagers were turning on one another. At this point, everyone became silent. Out of no where appeared five court messengers. Okonkwo was very close to them. He immediately stood up when he saw them and greeted the head messenger with feelings of strong hatred. The messenger told Okonkwo that the white men wanted the meeting to stop. Within seconds, Okonkwo drew his machete, cut the messenger's head off, and walked away. That was the last time anyone would see Okonkwo. He took his own life and hung his lifeless body to a tree. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">How can someone think that Okonkwo is nice or even a hero? His obsession with his man- like side made him get a bad person. He did it all alone. If he was not so caught up on the idea that if you weren't violent and brave then you were a woman, perhaps he would still be alive at the end of the novel. He takes his own life because he realizes everything he has done to be that powerful leader he has always wanted to be was a waste. When he comes back from exile, everything is different. He realizes that the people in the village do not need him. They are content with change and adapting to a new way of life, unlike him. They do not want to go to war and have bloody battles like he does. Okonkwo realized his village was able to survive without him. By Okonkwo taking his own life, he proved his misery and the idea of him being truly weak at heart were affirmed.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 20pt;">Okonkwo **