My opinion of Okonkwo before spring break was that he was and was not a hero. In my essay, I talked about how Okonkwo is a hero to the Igbo people according to their culture. However, in modern times and with different views, Okonkwo is not a hero. After finishing the novel, my opinions have changed.
I now think that Okonkwo is a hero to the Igbo people as well as in modern times. Since I have only read the beginning of the book when I wrote the essay, I thought he was a violent and angry person who mistreated his family. Although that still stands true, Okonkwo is a hero because he fought hard to protect his people and his culture from falling apart. When the missionaries came and challenged the Igbo culture and beliefs, Okonkwo tried his very best to prevent the Christian church and Europeans from taking over. However, despite Okonkwo’s best efforts and realizing the hopelessness of the situation, he commits suicide. Okonkwo is considered to be a hero by his people and by modern culture. To me, I also see a hero, fighting for what he believes in to the very end.
I agree with you when you say that ``Okonkwo is a hero to the Igbo people as well as in modern times.`` Same for me, as I finished the book I began to realize that Okonkwo was a general `hero` because, like you said, fighting for what you believe in for your people to the very end is heroic. Although his death was really random, I think he committed suicide because he believed that there was nothing else he could do.
ReplyDeleteWell written Aren !!!
Okonkwo is a hero because he fights for what he believes in. " he fought hard to protect his people and his culture from falling apart." Perhaps this is the reason the novel is titled "Things Fall Apart" the Igbo culture collapsed under the Christian influence and Okonkwo tried to prevent it. He was eventually overwhelmed and he was driven to kill himself. I believe that Okonkwo's death symbolizes the death of Igbo culture.
ReplyDeleteHaha sentry is force fielding the net
self-made?
It's always a cliché when a hero fights for his beliefs. But you know a cliché is a good one when it is used in almost every action movie produced by Hollywood. Okonkwo is a hero in that sense - that he fought for what he believed in... until the end where things fell apart. This is one trait that is common in both modern heroes and past heroes which leads me to presume that even though times may change, some values remain the same. Excellent job for pointing that out Aren!
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