The Story of Okonkwo

The story of Okonkwo is one of epic apportions where a man rises in power loses his power and prestige due to rules and obligations of society. Okonkwo seemd to be like a Pocahontas story but with the main character being a barbaric warrior tribesman. The preservation of the culture was Okonkwos strong point in the text and also seemed to be his downfall. In the begging of the the story it gives a good back story of where Okonkow has come from and even the family dynamics of his childhood to a extent. Okonkow not like his father and having a hard upbringing made Okonkwo have some salt about himself. Okonkwos father Unoka is everything that Okonkwo did not want to become. Okonkwo had a strive not to become weak or helpless. The traits of being a atrocity to society. When Unoka is described he is noted to have no titles and have a outstanding charges to many people of the clan. The only good things that Unoka could do was party and play music. Okonkwo didn't see his father as being a man but more or less a Women cloaked in a males body. He also hated when the other kids would make fun of him and call his father names such as which in his language meant women. Okonkwo did pretty good for himself having more than one wife and claming some titles for himself. The most noticeable one that made his character was the title he got after beating a undefeated wrestler and becoming a icon for his village as the strongest in the land. The way they battled or worked out politics and war was pretty civil and respectable to a extent. For them to even think about talking it out figuring out some compensation means that they where some smart people.

There was a part in the begging that surprised me when there were guns metioned in this time period. The part where Okonkwo shot one of his clansmen's kids and kills him was the major downfall of his life as depicted by the book. If that instance didn't happen Okonkwo would have been a different person and at brief a totally different story. To metion guns means that the white man has tried to come in contact with the tribes before but to no avial in converting them to European culture. The main thing that gets to Okonkwo is near the end of the text where Okonkwo comes back from exile to find his hometown refurbished with new white settlers. The most surprising part that stuck out to me the most was when Okonkwo committed suicide which made no sense to me because why would a man even thing of killing him self bring honor or dishonor to ones family. The overall story felt like a daytime dram like "Guiding Light" or the "Young and the Restless".

...