Things Fall Apart Essay example

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Okonkwo characteristics

Strong- Having or marked by great physical power
Example- Shown by how he is always is described as a powerful, big, muscular, and masculine man. He even beat the reigning wrestling champ in his youth.
Egocentric- Having or regarding the self or the individual as the center of all things
Example- “He had no patience with unsuccessful men” (4). Okonkwo is showing that he is so self-centered that he doesn’t care about other men that maybe less fortunate then himself. He also sees unsuccessful men being similar to his father because Unoka was unsuccessful at least that’s what Okonkwo believed.
Confident- Sure of oneself; having no uncertainty about one's own abilities, correctness, successfulness
Example- “Only a week ago a man had contradicted him at a kindred meeting which they held to discuss the next ancestral feast. Without looking at the man Okonkwo had said: ‘This meeting is for men.’” (26) The man who had contradicted him had no title. That was why he had called him a woman. Okonkwo had a lot of confidence of himself to call another man a woman. This accusation is very offensive to a man.
Proud- Feeling or showing pride: as a: having or displaying excessive self esteem
Example- Shown by how he drinks from his enemy skull and thinks of himself very high and powerful because of his wrestling, farming, and clan achievements.
Violent- 1. Marked by extreme force or sudden intense activity. 2. Notably furious or vehement. 3. Emotionally agitated to the point of loss control. 4. Prone to acts of violence
Example- Throughout the book he beats his wife’s violently. He even tries to shoot his wife, Ekwefi in complete rage.

Part two Okonkwo is a respected clan leader in Umuofia. Since early childhood, Okonkwo’s embarrassment about his lazy father, Unoka, has driven him to strive for power and to make his life count. The only thing that scares him from his power crave is the threat of becoming his weak and lazy father. Okonkwo believes that the best way to gain power was to do so with violence and action. Do to this he beats his wife to show dominance over all women. He even tries to shoot his second wife, Ekwefi. “Unfortunately for her, Okonkwo heard it and ran madly into his room for the loaded gun, ran out again and aimed at her…. He pressed the trigger….” (29). He would do anything to require power and respect among the clan for himself. An example of this is when, “He was a man of action, a man of war…. On great occasions such as the funeral of a village celebrity he drank his palm-wine from his first human head“ (10).
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