19 July 2012
Okonkwo's feelings (or lack thereof)
While reading the novel it was interesting to see how Okonkwo's mood changed in different situations, without anyone but the reader able to notice. Okonkwo definitely puts up a fierce air about him because (as people mentioned in other posts) he had a fear of being just like his father. A failure and a coward. He feels like he can't let anyone see him as anything other than tough or macho. Even though, while I was reading I noticed that Okonkwo did break down a couple of times. His vulnerablity did show, but again only to us readers. Chapter 8 comes to mind, where we finally see some feeling and emotion come out of this guy. It was the chapter right after he killed Ikemefuna. It was definitely my favorite chapter because he was suffering of guilt for killing a boy who was like his own son. Those parts were the best parts of the book for me because for a guy so intimidating to feel the slightest emotion was kind of entertaining because right after he would feel any type of emotion, he would quickly dismiss it like it made him a weaker person.
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6 comments:
I totally agree! I wish his wives and children could have heard his feelings in these moments, because I am sure that they didn't know he had that side to him. Even though his more emotional side came out very rarely and was short-lived when it did, I also enjoyed those parts of the book. It made me feel like Okonkwo was more of a person.
Of course, one could blame his fear of being "womanly" as a contributor to every problem Onkonkwo has, in the sense that had he been more open, recovery would be a lot faster. Instead, he just kept his grief to himself, for it is not manly, and ended up overwhelmed.
I definitely found those instances when Okonkwo showed emotion more interesting! After suppressing so many feelings for so long, Okonkwo finally showed some emotion. If it weren't for these vulnerable moments, I would still think of Okonkwo as a barbarian.
I can understand why he would hide those feelings after growing up with a rough childhood, and i thing after hiding them around other people so much, he got better at avoiding them himself! For example, after he killed Ikemefuna, he admitted that if he was busy, he wouldn't have been upset.
I agree so many times I was frustrated at Okonkwo's lack of emotion and response, but for me he made up for with his relationship with his oldest daughter. The fact that they understood each other make him try to reach out more and be somewhat emotional. Especially, when he went to the cave when she was taken away by the witch lady.
I definitely agree! When he killed Ikemefuna, I assumed he would show no emotion for fear of being called effeminite. But when he felt really guilty, I almost started to like him better because it showed that he wasn't totally heartless. Then he decided that he wasn't guilty anymore and I hated him again. The way he was so violent towards his wives was shocking but when he stayed up that night waiting for Ekwefi and Ezinma to get back, he redeemed himself in my mind.
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