Picking Up The Pieces: An Analytical Look At Why The Village Of Umofia Fell Apart

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

to be a respected
farmer of yams to ward off the shame of his unsuccessful and dishonorable
father.

Fortunately, among these people a man was judged by
his worth and not according to the worth of his father...
As the elders said, if a child washed his hands he could
eat with kings. Okonkwo had clearly washed his hands
and so he ate with kings and elders. (page 8)

This was Okonkwo's motive in life and so he remained prosperous throughout
his life and worked hard to prove to others that he was not the same man as
his father. Unfortunately, this was not the feeling shared by many in the
clan and Okonkwo, in trying to make-up for his father's mistakes, took on
the responsibilities of an old man as a young boy and had the mind set of
an elder in the community because as was stated, those were the people he
ate his meals with and held his discussions with.
Okonkwo's own son, Nwoye, did not have the ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

I know you will not despair
You have a manly and a proud heart. A proud
heart can survive a general failure because such
a failure does not prick its pride. It is more difficult
and more bitter when a man fails alone.(p.24-25)

However it is easy to recognize that in washing his hands completely of his
father's ways Okonkwo may have also washed away the values of gentleness,
supporting the ones near to him and the love of rest and time to relax.
This leads to another important observation leading to the fall of the clan.
Okonkwo's inability to see the importance of childhood and the
insignificance of constant violence ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library. Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports, and research papers in 2 minutes or less.

CITE THIS PAGE: