Things Fall Apart if Okonkwo, a 'man of action' embodies that Yeatsian intensity; which character[s] represent 'the best' that 'lack all conviction.'
The idea of people who are "the best" yet lack "all conviction" seems like a contradiction. How is it possible for a person to be good, to be the best, yet lack all conviction and belief? What Yeats means may be that people like Nwoye, who lack conviction in their own worth and culture often turn to the culture of others to find a sense of identity. The weak yet "best" Nwoye fall prey to the persuasion of the missionaries who are full of passionate intensity about eradicating African culture.Or, Yeats may mean that people like be Unoka, Okonkwo's father, are pacific but not strong enough to lead, as Unoka is unable to apply himself to anything but his music.
However, another interpretation of the phrase "The best lack all conviction, / while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity" could be that the best lack the conviction of their society, namely the belief that 'the best' is valuable. The African tribe does not value the good members of the tribe enough, and treats them carelessly. The best members of African youth are destroyed or ignored. Although he is African, because he is a member of a rival clan, Ikemefuna, is killed, when the energies of the Umuofians would be better spent resisting white influence. Because she is a woman, the noble and stalwart Ezinma is not valued, although her father loves her almost as if she were a son.
A final interpretation might be that the best of any society lack all conviction in the sense that it is better not to embody either extreme, either the hyper-masculinity of Okonkwo or the laziness of Unoka, or the utter certainty that there is only one valid faith like the Reverend Smith. Instead one ought to follow a middle path like Ikemefuna, who is able to see past clan differences from an early age, and find a balanced way of being an African man. Sadly, the passionate and narrow-minded intensity of the host tribe and the man the boy is broad-minded enough to call home and father turns against Ikemefuna in a mistaken conviction as to who and what is the real enemy.
He does not hesitate to host Ikemefuna when his tribe provides him with this task and he even takes part in murdering the child when the tribe's elders decide that he should die. Even with that, it appears that Okonkwo's fate is sealed and that he has limited control over what happens to him. Okonkwo cannot stand by and watch as his village's values are being trampled by men that
Chinua Achebe presents an archetypal patriarchal warrior with the character of Okonkwo in the novel Things Fall Apart. Okonkwo is described as being “well known,” his fame being based on quintessential masculine feats like winning wrestling tournaments and having many wives. A round character, rather than a dynamic one, Okonkwo also epitomizes the classical tragic hero whose hubris and stubbornness prevent him from changing or recognizing what he could do
Things Fall Apart Hubris and the Suicide of Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart This novel by Chinua Achebe was first published in 1958. Set on the continent of Africa this is the story of Okonkwo, a member of the Umuofia clan, one of nine villages of a tribe in Nigeria. Okonkwo is an esteemed tribesman who, despite the stigma of his cowardly father who died in disgrace leaving many unsettled
Therefore, Okonkwo rejected his father, and hence, the womanly element of himself. He turned out to be a leading wrestler and warrior in his people to make available the facilities of life for his family at a very small age. Simultaneously, he established a new farm and began to collect his own riches, and ultimately a name. His uphill struggle confirms itself in his victory, and he rapidly became
Things Fall Apart What falls apart and why? The title of Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart refers mainly to the integrity of the Nigerian tribal cultures: to their customs, traditions, and ways of life, all of which fall apart as the result of internal and external conflicts. In Okonkwo's personal life, a series of unfortunate events lead to his loss of personal integrity and his eventual psychological destruction. The gradual yet
Smith hates the Igbo faith so much that he equates it to the Baal and the followers of Baal in the Biblical Old Testament. He has strict policy over conversion to Christianity such that any elder to decides to get converted to Christian faith must immediately abandon the traditional ways and follow Christianity only. His cruelty and strictness to the abandoning of all Igbo traditional ways is seen when he
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