Events which leads to okonkow's downfall.
Uploaded by Mukuka on Nov 13, 2012
The aim of this essay is to analyze the novel “Things fall apart” and show the events that lead to Okonkwo’s downfall.
The down fall of Okonkwo began when he first beat his wife during the week of peace; Okonkwo accused his younger wife ojiugo of negligence and severely beats her up and therefore breaking the sacred week. This was an event which first contributed to the downfall because Okonkwo knew that this week was not to be broken and if one had to do it, he or she was supposed to be punished. Another event was when he had beaten his second wife during a new yam festival; moreover, he had suppressed anger and was looking for an outlet. This happened when Okonkwo’s second wife merely cut a few leaves off banana tree to wrap some food, Okonkwo came to the site of that and according to page 34 “He gave her a sound beating and left her and her only daughter weeping.” This was the beginning of Okonkwo’s downfall; he had too much anger in him in that he made mistakes due to his suppressed anger.
Okonkwo had fear of failure and being called weak as his father, thus, it caused trouble in his life when ikemefuna the prisoner who stayed at Okonkwo’s house was killed .Okonkwo considered ikemefuna as one of his own sons. However, in chapter 7, the oracle of the hills and the caves pronounces that ikemefuna should be killed, and the oldest member of the clan informs Okonkwo of this. Okonkwo has an obsessive fear of anything that can be associated with the image of his weak, lazy and gentle father whom he always considered a failure .But Okonkwo as an ambitious man who has become a successful, respectable warrior of the clan by his own triumph because of this obsession he wanted to take part in the killing of the boy but this older clan member forbids him to do so. However, he persisted and he himself killed the poor boy. Obierika predicts that such action will lead to Okonkwo’s downfall by saying “what you have done will not please the earth .It is the kind of action for which the Goddess wipes out whole families .There were quite a few effort on Okonkwo from that horrible event at first Okonkwo was not able to sleep for days. He also kept on getting drunk,...