Okonkwo's Flaws

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In every culture, every religion, family is a huge part. Your family shapes you to be who you are and it will either turn out to be healthy or very cruel. Everyday people are incessantly judged by who they are and by the actions they take. In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe the main character, Okonkwo was constantly judged. As a child, and also growing up Okonkwo was always judged by who his father was. Everyone always thought that since his father was not a successful man, he wouldn't be either, but he showed otherwise. His father's failures in life is what pushed him to strive for his dreams and be a victorious man. Since Okonkwo turned out to be extremely successful and had became a clan leader, he was given a virgin fifteen …show more content…
Nwoye would always get thrilled when he would get told to do chores that were meant for men and chores that were to be done with Ikemefuna. Ikemefuna was like a role model to Nwoye, he wanted to be more and more like him. “He was like an elder brother to Nwoye, and from the very first seemed to have kindled a new fire in the younger boy,” (Achebe, page 52). This quote demonstrates how Ikemefuna affected Nwoye’s life in positive ways and made Okonkwo a proud father of a boy who was developing into a man. Ikemefuna was also a very great help to Okonkwo because he would help get lots of work done on the farm. Okonkwo and Nwoye formed a very strong attachment to Ikemefuna, but Okonkwo never showed any type of affection for …show more content…
He regretted the decision he made every single day of his life. Okonkwo didn’t want to kill Ikemefuna because he was just like another son to him and did things that made Okonkwo very proud. He was forced to kill him or else he would come off as being called a woman. He would also lose all of the admiration that he built over the years of being a leader. Okonkwo was told to kill Ikemefuna by that men of Umuofia and had to or else he would be called weak. “As soon as his father walked in, that night, Nwoye knew that Ikemefuna had been killed, and something seemed to five way inside him, like the snapping of a tightened bow,” (Achebe, page 61). Nwoye was extremely downhearted when he saw his father walk in that night without Ikemefuna. Okonkwo was disappointed at himself at how he could have agreed with such a decision. Ikemefuna was one of the only people that Nwoye enjoyed doing manly work with. Now that he was gone he would be all
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