Okonkwo’s Relationship With Nwoye, Essay Example

Introduction

Written by the West African literary maestro, Chinua Achebe, things fall apart is a novel to behold. It is rich in style and themes and presents a pre-colonial life of native West Africa. It is a novel that portrays conflict. In this masterpiece of a renown writer, conflict is portrayed between the neighbouring clans, between father and son (Okwonko and his father Unoka and later his son Nwoye), and a conflict between lifestyles (that of the natives and that of the arriving westerners).

The Relationship Between Okonkwo and Nwoye

The story of Okonkwo and his son Nwoye is intriguing. It is necessary to look at a brief synopsis of the characters before discussing their relationship. Okonkwo is born as a shrewd leader. He is born to a father whom he considers a failure. To him, a true man should be the own who moves out into the neighbouring and warring tribes and participate in the defence of his tribes autonomy. This is in stark contrast to what Unoka presents to us, a character that is always to be found around the homestead playing the flute and taking peoples debts that he is not able to pay promptly. True to his beliefs, Okonkwo cherishes war. No wonder he has accumulated five skulls of his war victims that he has hacked to death and uses one as a drinking container during serious ceremonies. His son Nwoye has taken from his grandfather. He does not portray the features of genuine masculinity, as expected by Okonkwo. Born among the eight siblings in the family of Okonkwo, he feels repelled by his father’s character and attracted to his mother, especially for her nice stories. And this is where the two conflict. It is their difference in character that forms the point of departure. It Is possible to ague for and against Okonkwo when it comes to considering who is responsible for the strained relationship. It is good to appreciate Okonkwo’s character. He has had no mean achievement in killing Amalinze the cat, this guys back was never known to touch the ground. He has defended his tribe well. And considering his fathers miserable and debt-drenched life, it is understandable that Okonkwo would want his son to be the best, to avoid like plague Unoka’s mannerism. But contrary to his expectations, the son falls victim to the same character! This makes Okonkwo give him repeated beatings in an effort to make him ‘reform’. But this does not work. Okonkwo is also a proud man, just as we see in the case where he takes the risk to go and get the virgin girl from Mbaino in return fro the killed clan man’s wife; he would be the last to let his son dive into the lifestyle of strangers when the missionaries come calling. That’s why he disowns him!  But Nwoye has his defence as well. May be the character he has Is taken from his grandfather Unoka. And at such a tender age, he may have finally found the courage to stand his fathers furry! May be it is his fathers behaviour that at first made him sacred and thus he had chosen to identify with the mother. Further more the same Okonkwo who has been the custodian of the boy taken captive together with the virgin from the neighbouring tribe still participates in the murder of the same boy! This, coupled with the fact that Ikemefuna and Nwoye had struck wonderful rapport and were living like brothers may have been the last stroke that broke the camels back! And Nwoye is justified when he takes to his heels. Who knows, may be he could be the next to be killed by those brutal men who had his father’s backing! When he finds refuge in the visiting missionaries, what a relief for Nwoye to run away from his father’s abuses. So both sides of the story hold water. Both characters have a role in the final break up. The son should have listened to and obeyed his father. But the father was too tough to the point of terrorising his son in the name of moulding him. He is a strong man outside the homestead but a weakling when it comes to his family life. Even his dearest daughter contradicts him. He has no room for failure or compromise. And may be the strong stand in life portrayed by Okonkwo is mainly due to the state of life he found his father, Unoka to life. It is a vicious circle. And everyone has blame.

Conclusion

In summary, the characters herein portray a society with certain ills. They present a society of perfectionists and non forgivers. People are willing to go all the way to follow the customs and maintain their ego. And the break up of the relationship of the father and the son in the centre stage of the novel show us that all is not well. As the title of the book puts it, things are falling apart.