Paper #2

Discuss the significance of social status in Things Fall Apart, and comment on its contribution to characterization 

The Igbo people rely on success, in order to determine how well a person should be respected and recognized. Social status in Things Fall Apart plays an impacting role on the various themes originated by Achebe. It is one of the most important factors that as a result, character's actions were driven with their traits. Social status was used as a tool of characterization, as Achebe managed to relate titles character traits. In Igbo culture, a man's social status is based on merit rather than inheritance. A man is capable of gaining respect by committing to hard work, bravery and war skills. Hence, when men have a couple of titles, it means that they have earned a rather high status in their society. Achebe kept the audience updated and informed of the titles earned by characters. Okwonko has earned two titles; this signifies his physical capabilities and his hard working inflated ego. On the other hand Unoka, Okwonko's father, has not earned any titles throughout his lifetime, this is a symbol of the ideologies stating that Unoka is a lazy character and incompetent.

Ezeudu, the oldest man in the village and considered to be one of the most important clan elders and leaders, had a high status in Umofia. Because of his significant titles, “he was to be buried after dark with only a glowing brand to light the sacred ceremony" (page 123). This further enriches the idea that relates titles to social status and characterization. Unoka, unlike Ezeudu, had no titles. Which resulted in him dying a rather shameful death as he was left in the evil forest to die there alone.

Those who were old were given a lot of respect by their society. This is because respect is associated with experience, wealth and social status. Assuming that old people have the most experience, and as a result they gained respect. However, the tribe valued achievement and accomplishment more than how much age was concerned. This is determined after perceiving that Okwonko was a fine young warrior in contrast with the respect he gained from his people, as he was an achiever and hardworking.

Women did not play a huge role in society and were only good at raising their husband’s children, thus men with no titles were referred to as women, as they did not play a role in society and deemed to be lazy and unworthy in terms of their social status.

"There was a wealthy man in Okonkwo's village who had three huge barns, nine wives, and thirty children. His name was Nwakibie and he had taken the highest but one title which a man could take in the clan" (page 18-19). This enhances the ideas of titles and success. The more titles an individual has, then the more respect he will earn from his tribe, showing that a character is an accomplished citizen of Umofia.

 In conclusion, social status shaped the character’s actions and limited their character traits as discussed in the previous analytical response. As characters were introduced in terms of how many titles each has, then resulting in a creation of an idea surrounding the character and his actions relating to his social status.

Things Fall Apart Character Assignment: Mr. Smith

Mr. Smith is a minor character in the novel, he only comes in towards the end of the novel, he’s used to compliment other characters and stimulate the plot.

His character is flat, which means he only has one kind of personality trait, he is very strict and uncompromising, which is the exact opposite of Mr. Brown, who’s place he took as reverend for the Christian church. His personality and actions remain constant throughout the entire novel.

Value’s Profile: 

First ranking, as most valuable to Mr. Smith is his Religious faith, as portrayed on page 136 he states, “our strength lies in the lord”. Furthermore, as seen throughout the entire novel, the most important thing to him is religion and god.

Second ranking would be his Morality, his own morality is set based on his own beliefs and he is not open to anyone else’s morals, this is verified within the novel when a woman who follows theojbanje child ritual is suspended from the Christian church for following an Igbo culture tradition. This proves that Mr. Smith is extremely intolerant to the woman’s traditions and is very strict about his people trailing his specific morals.

The third highest ranking would have to be power, as Mr. Smiths character, as a colonizer is constantly trying to get everyone on his side, as shown when he demands that all Igbo clansmen to convert to Christianity.

Mr. Smith’s purpose in the novel is rather important, as we know; Mr. Smith took Mr. Brown’s place when Mr. Brown had to return to his hometown to receive medical treatment. Mr. Brown was not a bad reverend, he found a way to co-exist with the Igbo people, whereas Mr. Smith is extremely strict and forceful, his purpose is to represent the negative colonial rulers. His role is to provoke Okonkwo and push him over the edge. Mr. Smith’s actions and decisions lead Okonkwo to be overwhelmed with the colonization and hang himself.

Throughout our understanding of Chinua Achebe, we see that Mr. Smith in this novel symbolizes the European writers who inspired Achebe to being writing the novel in the first place. As we know from Achebe’s background the reason he began writing was because in university he read and looked at many European writers talk about the colonization, and the way they portrayed his culture angered him which encouraged him to write his own version of the colonization. Knowing this we believe that Mr. Smith’s character in the novel symbolizes the European writers who spoke negatively about the colonization, just as the writers portrayed the Igbo people and negatively and were resistant to hearing their side of the story, Mr. Smith acts the same way in the novel, he denies the Igbo traditions and is not open to hearing them out or cooperating.

Okwonko Analysis

How does Okwonko develop themes in the text as a tragic hero?

Okwonko, the protagonist of Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, has been introduced by Achebe, as a leading character who doesn’t tolerate weakness, during the early stages of the post-colonial novel. Various assumptions are made by the readers about Okwonko as a result of direct and indirect characterizations made by Achebe, who describes Okwonko as “tall and huge”, and who implements, the idea of fearing weakness and failure in the protagonist. As the novel progresses, we are introduced to the theme of fate vs. free will, which was clearly represented when Okwonko kills Ikemefuna (Okwonko’s adopted son who he loved, but feared of showing sympathy towards, fearing that others would think of him as weak as his father) after being advised to not interfere. However he killed Ikemefuna in order to show enhance his manly-hood in the eyes of the Igbo people. His fate then later on takes over his free will, since he takes his own life by hanging himself, which is considered to be a shameful and disgraceful death like his father's. This opposes his views regarding being masculine and the achievements that he accomplished as he wished to become a more dominant leader. This all leads to Okwonko being a tragic hero. Although he was a superior character, however his tragic flaw brings upon him his own self-destruction, which was lead by violence, anger and masculinity.

What is the purpose and function of Okwonko in Things Fall Apart?

Okwonko represents the African community going through the struggles of colonialism of the Western nations. The characteristics of Okwonko show how some people refused to joined and give in to the colonialism, and instead stood their grounds and held on to their traditions and morales. Okwonko did not find support from the Igbo people, which represents the very few Africans that refused to accept the white culture as their own. The way Okwonko died describes the conditions that the Igbo people faced along with various African communities, showing that opposing the white culture results in death.

Most Meaningful Takeaway

The previous class discussion was based on Chinua Achebe’s interview and how he felt about the international success of his book. What I found interesting was the fact that even though english was the language that oppressed the Africans, they still learned it and used it to communicate and educate themselves. Chinua thinks that the english language can be used as a way to resist the forces of racism and the sense of superiority over them by knowing a language that they don’t. Also the fact that they were shown as a nation of problems and conflict that is dependent on the western nation to come and save them was pretty interesting, since I realized how biased the media has been for quite some time now. We discussed the reasons as to why the western nation would feel the need to portray the Africans that way and many of us agreed that it was done so in order to give a moral explanation to slavery. Overall the entire discussion had interesting ideas that widened my understanding of the racism and slavery that took place, and how the Africans dealt with it; through Chinua Achebe’s book.