Chapters 1-8
What do you learn about Okonkwo’s character and achievement in this chapter?
1.
"Unoka, the grown-up, was a failure. He was poor and his wife and children had barely
enough to eat. People laughed at him because he was a loafer, and they swore never to
lend him any more money because he never paid back. But Unoka was such a man that he
always succeeded in borrowing more, and piling up his depts.”
"When Unoka died he had taken no title at all and he was heavenly in debt. Any wonder
then that his son Okonkwo was ashamed of him? Fortunately, among these people a man
was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father.”
Some of the things that we learn about Okonkwo’s character and achievement in this
chapter are that he wants to be tough and strong however he has all of the wrong ideas of
being these things. He believes that loving his family is a weakness while killing someone
is a strength because it shows his superiority and power towards another person. This
chapter also talks about the relationships between Okonkwo and his father, Unoka.
Okonkwo dislikes his father because he hasn’t taken the responsibility of keeping the
family stable. His father shows love to the family which is considered as a weakness to
Okonkwo. Okonkwo seems like a tragic hero and although he has his angry side where he
may be very superior with anger and violence which would probably bring him to his own
destruction and damage. It was stated in the book that earlier in Okonkwo’s childhood; a
man called his father, Unoka an agbala which is someone who has no title. So far, it is
shown that even though Okonkwo is ashamed of his father, he works hard and fights well
to gain a reputation of high status and give influence to his people.
We learn on page 12 that Okonkwo’s whole life was dominated by fear. What is he afraid
2.
of?
"Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was
dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness. It was deeper and more intimate
than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and of the
forces of nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw. Okonkwo’s fear was greater than these.
It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of him, lest he should be
found to resemble his father. Even as a little boy he had resented his father’s failure and
weakness… "
"...and so Okonkwo was ruled by one passion – to hate everything that his father Unoka
had loved.”
Okonkwo’s whole life was dominated of the fear of himself. He was afraid of being showed
as a weak person. He also feared of failure. He is terrified to look weak like his father and
will do anything to show that he is different than him. Even though he disliked his father
because of his weakness and low-status to the rest of the people, he is fighting and
working so hard to show his reputation and influence to the rest of his clan.
3.
4.
What do you learn about Okonkwo’s early years as a farmer?
Okonkwo has always been a farmer and although we think that he wasn’t great as a farmer
in the past. He kept trying but always failed; this shows his characteristics of trying hard
instead of giving up. He has now earned his title and respect towards the people by
winning the strongest Wrestler player who hasn’t been beat for years.
What do you think of Okonkwo’s action in chapter 7?
Okonkwo’s action in Chapter 7 was quite normal because Okonkwo’s action in Chapter 7
while killing his son, Ikemefuna is normal because in his position he doesn’t want to lose
or be weak. Because Okonkwo is tough and strong, he doesn’t want to feel sympathy for
himself and for the closest people around him. He wants to be influential and doesn’t want
to show all of the weaknesses that he may have.