In Things Fall
Part, father-son relationships play a significant part in the narrative.
The first chapter discusses the ways in which s entire persona is shaped as a response
to his father, as Okonkwo determines to be everything his father wasnt. The chapters that follow
tell the story of , who becomes a sort of adopted son to Okonkwo and helps to illuminate the
conflicts that exist between Okonkwo and , Okonkwos real son.
Late in the
novel, Nwoyes break from his father helps to define the conflict between the Igbo and the
British colonizing forces and figures powerfully into Okonkwos sense of the cultural dissolution
happening around him.
These relationships of fathers and sons communicate
some of the major themes of the text.
First, Okonkwos relationship to his
father, , helps to establish the important fact that Okonkwo is a human being with a complex
internal life. His personal history creates intricate and intimate conflicts of the heart and
sows the seeds of specific social ambitions in Okonkwo that are far from the simple-minded and
outwardly caricatured ways of being existent in stereotypical views of Africa and Africans
(which Achebe was working against in this novel). Okonkwos relationship to Unoka, in other
words, offers a depiction of a depth of emotion, social consciousness and psychological distress
and thus makes Okonkwo a fully human, widely relatable character.
Second, we
can see the expectations and cultural definitions of masculinity and success through the lens of
these father-son relationships. Unoka stands as an example of failure in some ways, as he lives
in debt and does not provide well for his family. (He is also a kind man who has positive
traits.)
Unoka [€¦] 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 them back.
Unokas personality and behavior are contrasted to Oknokwos
attitudes and work ethic and so come to define the expectations for masculine success in the
culture of the village.
Fortunately, among these people
a man was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father. Okonkwo
was clearly cut out for great things. He was still young but he had won fame as the greatest
wrestler in the nine villages. He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams, and had
just married his third wife.
In raising his own son,
Okonkwo worries that Nwoye will be a failure like Unoka and so not be able to live a happy and
respectable life. This is a valid concern, most would agree, although Okonkwos methods of
shaping Nwoye are sometimes brutal and often rigorous and unfeeling. The costs of this method of
parenting become clear when Nwoye breaks from his family to join the Christians. Thus, Okonkwos
attempts to align his son with the expectations of masculine success in the village backfire.
Okonkwo cannot form his son into the mold of a successful Igbo man and so loses him to the
British.
The unbending perspective that Okonkwo brings to raising Nwoye is
yet another significant element of the novel and connects to the same unyielding insistence on
being right that is associated with the British missionaries.
Yet, because
the differences between Unoka and Okonkwo have been thoroughly described as reflecting the value
system and social expectations of the village, we can see that Okonkwos desires for his son are
not merely based on personal preference. In treating Nwoye as he does and trying to make him
into a certain kind of man, Okonkwo is attempting to perpetuate the values of his
culture.
This is an important aspect of the relationship because it suggests
that the father-son relationships in the novel are one important way that the Igbo culture
survivesor dissolves.
No comments:
Post a Comment