There is an English proverb to the effect that trying to avoid making one’s father’s mistakes leads, all too often, to making one’s grandfather’s mistakes. Okonkwo despised his father, Unoka, who is already dead at the beginning of the book, and it has become one of the major preoccupations of his life to be as different from his father as possible. Unoka was a lazy, cowardly man: poor and unsuccessful, constantly in debt, and mainly interested in drinking and playing the flute. No one feared or respected him. He had one wife, for whom he could not provide, and took no title.
Okonkwo is the complete opposite of his father in every one of these respects. He is wealthy, feared, and respected, a brave warrior and a wrestler. He has multiple wives and barns full of yams, and he even hates music because he associates it with his father. He is a harsh disciplinarian who beats and berates his son, Nwoye, for his laziness. Nwoye is already becoming a sad-faced youth, resembling his grandfather.
Okonkwo does not reflect that he himself was not beaten and bullied into success. His only strategy for raising Nwoye is to treat him more and more harshly as his conduct grows increasingly disappointing. Okonkwo’s killing of Ikemefuna is one more sign of his inflexibility and harshness, for which Nwoye never forgives him. Okonkwo’s brutal treatment of his son eventually forces him out of the tribe altogether, to join the Christian church with the other outcasts. This vicious circle even drags Okonkwo into a disgraceful death, which pollutes the community even more than the faults of his father.
The relationship between Okonkwo and his father directly affects the expectations that Okonkwo has for Nwoye and creates a divide between the two men that they can't seem to bridge.
Okonkwo was never able to respect his father. That lack of respect led him to become a completely different kind of man which can be seen in their stances—Okonkwo walks tall while Unoka walks hunched over. Where Unoka was not traditionally masculine, Okonkwo developed a masculine, strong-man type personality. Where Unoka wasn't responsible, Okonkwo made sure he could take care of his family and was a strong voice in the tribe as well as a great warrior. Unoka was something who always needed help; Okonkwo wanted to make sure that he absolutely would never need help from anyone. Unfortunately, his strength is toxic in many ways and leads to violence and death at times. This, too, makes him different than Unoka, who didn't like violence.
When Okonkwo looks at Nwoye, he sees Unoka in some ways. Nwoye isn't traditionally masculine, despite his father's example. In some ways, Nwoye has taken the same path as Okonkwo; he's chosen to become the antithesis of his father. That's likely one reason why he joins the Christian missionaries and rejects the teachings of his tribe, an act for which Okonkwo disowns him.
Ultimately both fathers are rejected by their sons who attempt to find a different life and identity for themselves because they are ashamed of who their fathers are as people.
The relationships between Unoka and Okonkwo and between Okonkwo and Nwoye are rooted in conflict and opposition. It starts with Okonkwo's lack of respect for his father, who was a musician and often relied on his neighbors to help him financially. In other words, he was not very "masculine" because he did not make his own way and provide well for his family based on his own skills and strength. This shames Okonkwo, and, as a result, he develops in an entirely different direction. He becomes excessively masculine to distance himself from his father. He is known as a wrestling champion and a skilled yam farmer. He is influential in his tribe and rules over his wives and children with an iron fist. He even ignores certain tribal traditions in an effort to display his manliness; for example, he beats one of his wives for disobeying him during the Week of Peace, despite violence being forbidden during that time.
It is no surprise, then, that Okonkwo has specific expectations for how his son Nwoye should behave. Nwoye is more artistic and sensitive, though, and Okonkwo finds it difficult to connect with him. Therefore, Okonkwo is disappointed in his son, and even wishes that his favorite child, who is a girl, were his son so he could celebrate her as rightful heirs should be. Eventually, Nwoye betrays his father by converting to Christianity in the midst of Okonkwo's quest to chase the missionaries away from the village. The religion is more appealing to Nwoye's personality than some of the harsh practices and beliefs of Okonkwo.
Ultimately, both father-son relationships are marred by the conflicts created by disparate personalities and values.
Okonkwo has a terrible relationship with his father, Unoka, who is a lazy, effeminate man. Unoka is a known debtor with no titles, who enjoys playing his flute and drinking alcohol. He dies from an abominable illness and his corpse is thrown into the Evil Forest when he dies. Okonkwo strives to be everything that his father was not and tirelessly works to become a revered man in his village of Umuofia. Okonkwo grows into a callous, aggressive man, who is violent and hardworking. Okonkwo's son, Nwoye, is similar to Unoka, which creates tension between father and son. Okonkwo resents the fact that Nwoye is effeminate and rather lazy while Nwoye believes that Oknokwo is too aggressive and unsympathetic. Similar to the way that Okonkwo strived to become the exact opposite of his father, Nwoye does the exact same thing by converting to Christianity. Essentially, Okonkwo's terrible relationship with Unoka is replicated by Nwoye's terrible relationship with his father. Each son desperately tries to become the exact opposite of their father, which only exacerbates their relationship issues.
No comments:
Post a Comment