In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo is a hypocrite. He believes in independence and making your own choices, but he doesn't let anyone but himself make their choices. For example, when he broke the week of peace, he felt justified even though it was against his clan's rules. But when his son, Nwoye, converts to Catholicism he can't even think about him because it disappoints him so much. Okonkwo also claims to hate everything feminine and refuses to do anything that shows weakness, even when nobody is watching. But he contradicts himself yet again when he travels to and from the caves of the oracle four times just to make sure his daughter was alright because he was "gravely worried." This both shows that he cares and that he doesn't trust his clans beliefs completely. However he makes fun of other clans beliefs with his friends because other clans aren't efficient or sophisticated enough. It is examples like this that make me think Okonkwo isn't really like the big macho war savage he makes himself up to be. He is like a liar who just keeps telling his story too many times and starts to have inconsistencies with the first time he told the story. His manly act might just be a protective shell for all the embarrassment his father put him through. As a result his actions don't match with what he is said to believe in.
Cameron, I agree with you but I feel like this hypocritism is caused by his want to not be seen as weak. I feel like he hides most of what he truly feels and displays the stronger side. For example, he shows no emotion to anything because he believes it is womanly and wimpy.I also believe that he is truly a hypocrite because he does expect others to do what he doesn't even dare to do. In the end of the book he does finally live up to what he says he will do, which is kill a christian. In the end after he kills the man, he hangs himself. When we find out he hangs himself, it shows that he is actually womanly and weak.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I agree with you, but for different reasons. I personally think that Okonkwo does not actually believe in independence and the freedom to make choices, but in having the ability to work hard and make the "right" choices, or at least what he perceives as right. When Nwoye chooses to be Christian, Okonkwo is outraged because Nwoye's choice doesn't meet his standard of a "good choice" so he disowns him. At the end of the book, Okonkwo realizes that his once great tribe no longer meets his standard, and he realizes that there is nothing he can do to salvage his tribe's greatness, so he commits suicide to save himself what he sees as humiliation.
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