Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

547 Words3 Pages
Strength Versus Peace In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, he uses character progression to show how much of a damaging impact European settlers caused when invading Africa. He shows how even the strongest man of the tribe, Okonkwo, can beat down by the new missionaries and their harsh tactics to gain followers. Okonkwo is a representation of the old Igbo ways, all about strength and being a good warrior. However, his son Nwoye, is used to represent the new Christian ways of peace and welcoming everybody. When Nwoye converts to Christianity, this message becomes clear and Okonkwo is filled with rage. Okonkwo's disappointment in his eldest son, Nwoye, and ultimately his want for a manly son, leads to his loss of hope that the Igbo society will be able to keep their values and culture the same because of the missionaries and their strong European influence.…show more content…
Okonkwo's father, “Unoka...was lazy and improvident” (Achebe 4) and his son, “Nwoye...was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness” (Achebe 13). Nwoye reminds Okonkwo of his father because of his “laziness”. Although Nwoye is actually a hard-worker, but compared to his father and up against his father's expectations of him, Nwoye is seen as a failure. Okonkwo put too much pressure on Nwoye to be as strong and manly as he is, and ultimately the stress drives him away. This gap between Okonkwo and Nwoye makes Nwoye feel lesser than his siblings in his father's eyes. The feeling of being unwanted slowly causes Nwoye to want to lead an improved and higher quality life without the constant fear of his father’s
Open Document