Things Fall Apart is a novel by Chinua Achebe that tells the story of Okonkwo, a man of great prestige and power in his tribe. However, Okonkwo’s hubris leads to his downfall, and he is eventually exiled from his tribe. This essay will analyze Okonkwo’s hubris and how it leads to his undoing.
Okonkwo is a proud man who wants nothing more than to be respected by his fellow villagers. He works hard to achieve this respect, and he is successful in many ways. He is a brave warrior and a successful farmer. He has three wives and many children. He is also an influential member of his tribe, with a voice that carries weight in village decisions.
However, Okonkwo’s hubris ultimately leads to his downfall. He is too proud to listen to anyone else, and he refuses to change his ways even when it is clear that change is necessary. This refusal leads to his exile from his tribe, and his eventual death.
Okonkwo’s hubris is evident from the beginning of the novel. He is quick to anger and does not hesitate to use violence to get what he wants. He is also very disrespectful of those who are weaker than him, both physically and socially. For example, he shows great disrespect to his wives and children, and he frequently beats them.
Okonkwo’s hubris also manifests itself in his relationship with the other villagers. He is often He is also quick to judge and condemn others, without really knowing them.
Hubris is a deadly flaw in Okonkwo, a strong powerful man. Hubris is defined as excessive pride or self-confidence, which is shown to the reader early on in the book. I believe that Okonkwo recognizes that he is a proud person in the sense that he would rather fight with his fists than attempt to resolve an issue because he knows he can win with his fists. “… whenever he was angry and unable to express himself quickly enough, he would resort to his fists. ” (Achebe 4) | Also think that Okonkwo dwells more on his own shortcomings than on his own self-confidence.
Okonkwo’s hubris is often what gets him into trouble, because he acts before thinking and doesn’t consider the consequences of his actions. For example, when he accidentally kills a clansman during the week of peace, he knows that he will be exiled for seven years as punishment. However, instead of accepting his exile and trying to make the best of it, he becomes bitter and angry.
He even contemplates suicide at one point, because he can’t stand the thought of living away from his home and family. “He had contemplated suicide many times… If he had gone ahead and hanged himself they would have all thrown stones at his corpse… He felt like a boy again..” (Achebe 67) In the end, Okonkwo’s hubris is what leads to his downfall, because he is too proud to accept help from anyone and too stubborn to change his ways.
He wanted to be different from his father, so he worked hard to become the opposite of him. To achieve this, though, he must sacrifice many things that are important to him. In an Igboland culture that is male-dominated and in which the more masculine a man is the greater he is revered, it’s natural for males to be self-assured. This might be taken as pride or self-confidence because if a guy feels good about himself, he’ll be a better warrior and person in general.
Therefore, he had to prove not only to others but also to himself that he was everything that he was supposed to be. Things Fall Apart is a novel by Chinua Achebe that explores the idea of a man’s inner battle with himself in order to become who he wants to be.
The novel’s protagonist, Okonkwo, is a man from the Igbo tribe in Nigeria during the late 1800s. He is a warrior and respected member of his community, but he also struggles with inner demons that threaten to destroy him. One of these demons is his fear of becoming like his father, who was considered a weak and lazy man.
Okonkwo’s fear of becoming like his father drives him to be successful in everything he does. He is a fierce warrior and an acclaimed wrestler, and he works hard to provide for his family. However, this fear also leads him to be overly aggressive and quick to anger. He is often too proud to ask for help, even when he needs it, and he has little patience for those who are not as strong or successful as he is. This hubris ultimately leads to his downfall, as his arrogance and violence cause him to be exiled from his community.
While Okonkwo’s hubris is ultimately his undoing, it is also what makes him a great leader and warrior. His strength and determination are respected by those around him, and he is able to achieve things that others thought were impossible. In the end, his hubris is both his strength and his weakness, and it is this duality that makes him a complex and fascinating character.
The first section of the book, titled “The Tellings of Okonkwo’s Magnificence,” tells about Okonkwo’s outstanding life. “And so, while he was still young, he was already one of the greatest men in his generation” (Achebe 8). With all of the great men surrounding him and telling him how destined he is to become one of them, it’s no surprise that his fatal flaw is pride. Okonkwo fears being seen as weak by any member of the clan, therefore his ego gets in the way. As a result, his fate takes an unfortunate turn.
Even though Okonkwo has two wives, it is clear that he favors one over the other, which is shown when “Okonkwo never wasted his time on talk. He acted”(Achebe 18). This statement is made by Nwoye, Okonkwo’s first son, in response to why he did not like spending time with his father. Nwoye was more drawn to his mother and her way of life because she was kind and loving, whereas Okonkwo was distant and always working. Because Okonkwo does not take the time to get to know his son, Nwoye eventually leaves him for the missionaries.