TAKE HOME QUIZ

The Ending: Okonkwo’s father, Unoka has greatly impacted his son’s life causing him to be everything that his father was not. That is, a weak, lazy, poor, coward man who died a dishonorable death;  one viewed by the village as an abomination. Naturally, every decisions made by Okonkwo then on was to ensure that he does not end up like his father. One can definitely infer that Okonkwo’s startling demise was somewhat foreshadowed at the beginning of the novel where he constantly tried to maintain his reputation of strong and brave, unlike his dead father. We saw him trying too hard with his sons by trying to shape them in his own image. The killing of Ikemefuna; a boy who he cared for and one who looked up to him as a father, served as the catalyst for Okonkwo’s eventual downfall. He can certainly be described as a tragic hero for he allowed his obsession of  constantly being viewed as a strong man (his tragic flaw) to lead to his downfall. At the end of the novel, Okonkwo commits suicide, an act also viewed as an abomination by the villages’ customs. Sad to say that the very image he tried so hard to avoid, was the one he received in the end, his death was an abomination just like his father’s. For as the Villagers said “it is an abomination for a man to take his own life. It is an offense against the Earth, and a man who commits it will not be buried by his clansmen” (Achebe 207). Indeed, in the end, Okonkwo failed to live up to the reputation he tried to live by.

Fatherhood: Okonkwo was very determined to be successful despite the way he grew up. That is, poor with no inheritance from his father. His struggle was indeed admirable for he aimed to be nothing like his father; a lazy, poor man who managed to accomplish nothing in life but owing money to almost everyone in the village. His father was often described as weak and this was Okonkwo’s motivation in life, he wanted to be everything that his father was not. He lacked a positive fatherly influence in his life and because of this he tried to instill everything “manly” in his own children, especially his sons. Sometimes, it appears as though he tried too hard with his sons by wanting to shape them into his own image. Okonkwo acts on impulse, and when his sons were lazy in his eyes, he laments “i will not have a son who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of his clan. I would sooner strangle him with my own hands” (Achebe 33). He has in no doubt earned reputation and status in his village but his efforts to live up to others expectations caused him to commit a dishonorable act in Nwoye’s (his son) view. He has killed Ikemefuna, a boy who he raised and somewhat groomed into a positive young man causing him to jeopardize his relationship with Nwoye who once looked up to his father.

Women’s right:  Women had no rights in this society. A woman’s role in this culture was solely reserved to that only as wife and mother. They had no say in who they married and the fact that they had to happily coexist in polygamous marriages also limit their freedom. They were beaten by their husbands and had no say regarding matters of the oracle. Throughout the novel, we see women being beaten with no real consequences of the act. For example, when Okonkwo beats his wife for running off to have her hair braided, he was in no way punished for the act. In fact, what he would have been punished for was for beating his wife during the week of peace. We however see a change of events, in chapter ten when a man seeks justice after his wife and children were removed from his care. In the end, it was ruled that the wife returned to her husband for the god’s stated “go to your in-laws with a pot of wine and beg your wife to return” (Achebe 93).This however leaves me to question whether justice was served because of the fact that the wife in this case was severely beaten by her husband or because her brothers rescued her from him. For one elder stated “ I don’t know why such a trifle should come before the egwugwu” (Achebe 94).  In the end, it was felt as though the issue that was disputed was the husband’s claim for his “bride price” to be returned.