THINGS FALL APART
THE THEME OF HONOUR
In the book “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, the main
character, Okonkwo, centres his life on the concept of
honour. Okonkwo's believes that honour can only be achieved
through glory, masculinity, and gaining power over others.
The Igbo society (Ibo in the novel) is characterised by order and
hierarchy. Both concepts are so deeply rooted that their
alteration engenders chaos in society.
In the Igbo society also, the arrival of the Europeans may be
regarded as the starting point of the chaos resulting from their
interference with Igbo traditions. The first alteration of those
traditional cultures concerned mainly the established power
attributed to men by a patriarchal society. That diminishing of
male dominance inevitably affected various aspects of order and
hierarchy, particularly honour and the sense of duty which were
the attributes of men. Moreover, those attributes constitute the
main criteria for respect.
Male power therefore is presented as fundamental in the Igbo
patriarchal society. Okonkwo himself became famous after
defeating Amalinze the Cat in a wrestling competition. This
, brought him honour. Honour can be regarded as commensurate
with male power in many respects in “Things Fall Apart”.
“Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and
even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements.
As a young man of eighteen he had brought honour to his village
by throwing Amalinze the Cat. Amalinze was the great wrestler
who for seven years was unbeaten, from Umuofia to Mbaino”
Individuals who appear to be indolent are looked upon
as agbala, meaning a woman in the Igbo language. Okonkwo’s
father Unoko and elder son Nwoye illustrate this.
Unoko was “lazy and improvident”.
Oknkwo says of his son “A chick that will grow into a cock can
be spotted the very day it hatches. I have done my best to make
Nwoye grow into a man, but there is too much of his mother in
him.”
Okonkwo “was possessed by the fear of his father’s
contemptible life and shameful death”. (this extreme desire to be
honourable and masculine and hence the exact antithesis of his
father leads to the ‘falling apart’ of Okonkwo)
Okonkwo’s obsession with being masculine, honourable and
retaining a sense of duty however leads him to be aggressive and
THE THEME OF HONOUR
In the book “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, the main
character, Okonkwo, centres his life on the concept of
honour. Okonkwo's believes that honour can only be achieved
through glory, masculinity, and gaining power over others.
The Igbo society (Ibo in the novel) is characterised by order and
hierarchy. Both concepts are so deeply rooted that their
alteration engenders chaos in society.
In the Igbo society also, the arrival of the Europeans may be
regarded as the starting point of the chaos resulting from their
interference with Igbo traditions. The first alteration of those
traditional cultures concerned mainly the established power
attributed to men by a patriarchal society. That diminishing of
male dominance inevitably affected various aspects of order and
hierarchy, particularly honour and the sense of duty which were
the attributes of men. Moreover, those attributes constitute the
main criteria for respect.
Male power therefore is presented as fundamental in the Igbo
patriarchal society. Okonkwo himself became famous after
defeating Amalinze the Cat in a wrestling competition. This
, brought him honour. Honour can be regarded as commensurate
with male power in many respects in “Things Fall Apart”.
“Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and
even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements.
As a young man of eighteen he had brought honour to his village
by throwing Amalinze the Cat. Amalinze was the great wrestler
who for seven years was unbeaten, from Umuofia to Mbaino”
Individuals who appear to be indolent are looked upon
as agbala, meaning a woman in the Igbo language. Okonkwo’s
father Unoko and elder son Nwoye illustrate this.
Unoko was “lazy and improvident”.
Oknkwo says of his son “A chick that will grow into a cock can
be spotted the very day it hatches. I have done my best to make
Nwoye grow into a man, but there is too much of his mother in
him.”
Okonkwo “was possessed by the fear of his father’s
contemptible life and shameful death”. (this extreme desire to be
honourable and masculine and hence the exact antithesis of his
father leads to the ‘falling apart’ of Okonkwo)
Okonkwo’s obsession with being masculine, honourable and
retaining a sense of duty however leads him to be aggressive and
