Okonkwo Okonkwo is a character in the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. He is a clansmen in the Umofia clan, which is one of the nine clans in early Nigeria, Africa. This is a clan of the Ibo culture whom Okonkwo played a major part in. Okonkwo's father was not an ambitious man, and through the years he taught Okonkwo nothing about the skills needed to thrive. This made Okonkwo's life far from boring. Okonkwo was proud to be part of the Umofia clan. The Umofia clan was feared by others because of their intense knowledge in the art of war and magic. However living to see his clan fall apart was something Okonkwo could not bear.Laziness is one trait in a man that Okonkwo hated to see. This is because Okonkwo's father was just that, lazy. His name was Unoka. Not Unoka the warrior, or Unoka the wrestler; just Unoka. This was something Okonkwo despised. Okonkwo's relationship with his father was neither strong, nor good. His father was highly in debt with all of the other clansmen. He never once harvested a decent crop of yams like all of the other men in Umofia. This wasn't because of hardships engaged, but because he was not ambitious. His father did not pursue methods learned by the other clansmen to grow productive crops. Consequently Unoka died a man in debt to his fellow clansmen . He was not respected by the other clansmen. Eventually he developed a disease of the stomach and was sent to evil forest alone to die.Okonkwo did not grieve from his fathers passing, but it had a major impact on how he lived his life later. Unlike many other sons who inherited barns and cowries Okonkwo inherited nothing. Okonkwo's main goal in life was to be everything his father was not. He worked hard to build a barn and obi for himself. He was also able to get yam seeds from a friend and begin planting a crop of his own. Unoka's weakness as a father and a man caused Okonkwo to learn to be apathetic. Unlike his father, Okonkwo would never be referred to as a woman. He had become a strong man who was proud of himself and what he had accomplished all on his own. Okonkwo also was very pleased with his clan and how they supported him into becoming a honorable man. In return, he vowed that he would always support the clan.In his clan Okonkwo was an honored and respected man. He was known for being one of the greatest wrestlers in Umofia and was also considered a great warrior by many. The sight of blood was not a problem for him the way it was for his father. Okonkwo would kill anybody if he thought he would be considered weak for not doing so. If his clan were in trouble Okonkwo would be the first standing in the line ready to fight for his clan. He had also become one of the better farmers, producing the most yams some years. Okonkwo was a hard worker and was highly respected for that quality.Okonkwo's relationship with his nuclear family was considered very unique. Okonkwo had three wives and many children by each one of them. His favorite child was his...
