Essay Sample on Okonkwo and Nwoye in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

According to the scientific concept of genetics, a child and their parents are supposed to share various qualities. As such, people are bewildered on the occasion when they are unalike. In the novel Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo experiences this mystification, wondering how he and his son, Nwoye, are so different. While Okonkwo’s manly character leads him to rise to the top of the Ibo social hierarchy, Nwoye’s womanish one makes him an outcast in the Ibo society. Okonkwo’s and Nwoye’s opposite characters are the reason they take their separate sides when the Christians arrive, with Okonkwo rejecting them and Nwoye joining them—this indicates that a person's social status is the primary determinant of whether they reject or embrace change.

Okonkwo’s charisma propels him to be a well-respected and prosperous man in the Ibo culture and draws him to its lifestyle. When discussing his personal god, known as a chi, the book explains, "...The Ibo people have a proverb that when a man says yes his chi says yes also. Okonkwo said yes very strongly; so his chi agreed" (Achebe 23). By mentioning the Ibo belief, that “when a man says yes his chi says yes also,” it is apparent that the key to becoming successful in the Ibo society is determination and hard work. Therefore, the narrative emphasizes the point that “Okonkwo said yes very strongly; so his chi agreed,” since Okonkwo is an extremely passionate and diligent worker, which leads to his incredible success. Okonkwo’s masculinity and strength are attributes that lead to success in the Ibo society but might not in another culture. Noting all of Okonkwo’s extraordinary achievements, the novel describes:

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. To crown it all he had taken two titles and had shown incredible prowess in two inter-tribal wars. And so although Okonkwo was still young, he was already one of the greatest men of his time. (Achebe 5-6)

Okonkwo possesses the ideal character for an Ibo man, which has led him to achieve immense success in the Ibo society. Although his accomplishments are revered by the Ibo people, they would be insignificant in a different culture, specifically Christianity. Okonkwo rejects the Christians because he fears that the culture could render all of his great achievements meaningless. He is also conscious that his personality would not fit into the white man's way of life, and therefore, he would further struggle to be successful and recognized in their culture. Okonkwo greatly values his high social standing and does not want to risk losing it in a Christian culture.

Opposite to Okonkwo’s character, Nwoye’s personality is effeminate and unsuited for a man in the Ibo society. His distaste for conventional Ibo stories reveals his lack of manliness:

Okonkwo encouraged the boys to sit with him in his obi, and he told them stories of the land—masculine stories of violence and bloodshed. Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent, but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell, and which she no doubt still told to her younger children—stories of the tortoise and his wily ways, and of the bird eneke-nti-oba who challenged the whole world to a wrestling contest and was finally thrown by the cat. (Achebe 46) 

While Okonkwo is naturally fond of these manly stories, Nwoye is not, preferring more feminine tales, such as those told by his mother. Okonkwo's masculine stories are the norm in Ibo society, and they are what Okonkwo expects Nwoye to love; thus, Nwoye feels societal pressure to pretend he does when, in truth, he does not. Nwoye’s true feelings about the stories, and the fact that he prefers his mothers over the manly ones, demonstrate that he does not fit into Ibo cultural norms for a man. Consequently, Nwoye feels unconnected to the Ibo religion, making him vulnerable to leaving the culture for one that appeals to him and better suits his personality. On top of that, several actions that take place following Ibo customs drive him even further from the culture. The book explains Nwoye's reactions to two Ibo traditions as follows: 

Nwoye had heard that twins were put in earthenware pots and thrown away in the forest, but he had never yet come across them. A vague chill had descended on him and his head had seemed to swell, like a solitary walker at night who passes an evil spirit on the way. Then something had given way inside him. It descended on him again, this feeling, when his father walked in that night after killing Ikemefuna. (Achebe 53-54)

Nwoye does not understand why twins are killed nor why Ikemifuna was, and his strong moral principles give him the chilling feeling that these Ibo-based traditions are wrong. Rather than attracting Nwoye to the Ibo religion, as it does to Okonkwo, the cruel Ibo ways repel Nwoye, for his non-macho demeanor and strong morals are unbefitting a guy in Ibo society.

Upon the arrival of the Christians, the above attributes of Okonkwo and Nwoye drive them to join their respective sides. Okonkwo is vehemently opposed to the new ways brought forth by the Christians, wishing to address the threat in the traditional Ibo way, through fighting. When left alone in his bamboo bed, Okonkwo decides, If Umuofia decided on war, all would be well. But if they chose to be cowards he would go out and avenge himself. He thought about wars in the past. The noblest, he thought, was the war against Isike. In those days Okudo was still alive. Okudo sang a war song in a way that no other man could. He was not a fighter, but his voice turned every man into a lion” (Achebe 171). Okonkwo’s personal choice to fight the white men is based on the Ibo’s traditional methods that have been employed for ages and suit a masculine character, such as his. Okonkwo cannot seem to adapt to the new ways, since his mind is too focused on the Ibo ones, as seen by his reminiscence of Okudo's days. His deep passion for the antiquated Ibo ways makes him unable to cope with change, resulting in him rejecting Christianity and eventually committing suicide. Nwoye, on the other hand, has a contrasting personality that causes him to embrace Christianity. The book discusses why Nwoye is so drawn to the Christian religion: 

It was not the mad logic of the Trinity that captivated him. He did not understand it. It was the poetry of the new religion, something felt in the marrow. The hymn about brothers who sat in darkness and in fear seemed to answer a vague and persistent question that haunted his young soul—the question of the twins crying in the bush and the question of Ikemefuna who was killed. He felt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul. The words of the hymn were like the drops of frozen rain melting on the dry palate of the panting earth. (Achebe 127-128)

Nwoye’s gentle personality, which causes him to oppose the Ibo culture’s brutality, draws him to join the peaceful Christian religion. Christianity seems to provide Nwoye with hope and an answer to the doubts he has held for so long, particularly about the twins and Ikemifuna’s death, bringing him enormous relief. Nwoye's fondness for Christian culture and hate for Ibo culture leads him to join the white men, whilst Okonkwo's passion for Ibo ways leads him to reject the changes brought forth by the Christians.

Overall, Okonkwo's high social standing and Nwoye's low social standing are the reasons they join their respective sides when the Christians arrive, promoting the idea that a person's status is the primary motivator for them to accept or reject change. Well-suited for the Ibo culture, Okonkwo’s masculine personality propels him to be an extraordinarily successful man among the Ibos’. As such, he enjoys the Ibo lifestyle and wants it to remain. In contrast, Nwoye’s womanish character leads him to struggle in the Ibo society, for he does not fit into it. Christianity is the solution to his struggle, being a place that accepts Nwoye and makes him feel worthy. Both the personalities and actions of this father-son pair are completely contradicting, leading Okonkwo perplexed as to how Nwoye could be his son. He eventually concludes that “Living fire begets cold, impotent ash,” (Achebe 134) which refers to how constant exposure to a certain trait will burn off the presence of that trait in the individual, giving rise to the opposite trait.