The Effect of Unoka on Okonkwo’s Life in "Things Fall Apart"

In “Things fall apart”, Chinua Achebe illustrates how Unoka casts a shadow over Okonkwo’s prosperous life. Instead of diminishing and waning, as a result of his maturity and his father’s death, it merely magnifies with time. Incipient fear becomes an inherent obsession to not be like his father which reflects in Okonkwo’s character, behaviour and his relationships.

Okonkwo’s internal fear of being like his father shapes him as a person and influences his character development. He is respected and feared by his wives and children owing to his hot-temperedness, irrationality and harshness. Similarly he is uncompromising, unforgiving and intolerant of others. He is fiercely traditional and inflexible as seen in his refusal to conform to the new religion and government. In Chapter 20, Okonkwo urges his clan to “fight these men and drive them from the land” (Achebe, 1958:128). He sees Unoka, his father, as a “coward” who lacks masculinity because he detests the sight of blood (Achebe, 1958:5).

Okonkwo discards his father’s words of encouragement as he sees it as a sign of weakness which tried Okonkwo’s patience “beyond words” (Achebe, 1958:19). This explains Okonkwo’s extreme emotions and reactions in situations. He expells emotions of love and tenderness “by thinking about his own strength and success” (Achebe, 1958:48). Owing to Unoka, Okonkwo does not develop much as a character and his beliefs regarding ethics and tradition remain inflexible. In the same way his dignity, pride and courage form a crucial part of who he is as Unoka completely lacks these qualities.

Unoka haunts Okonkwo’s behaviour: He is gravely ashamed of his father and this feeds his will to succeed. Unoka, an agbala, never acquired any titles owing to his love of palm-wine, sosialising and his own laziness. He was always in debt, subsequently leaving nothing for his son to inherit and “people laughed at him because he was a loafer…” (Achebe, 1958:4). Hence, Okonkwo works hard and takes responsibility to support his family and acquires wealth. He does not leave anything to fate in spite of having a good chi. He also aims to achieve all the titles in the clan, something his father never accomplished.

He is also a renowed wrestler and warrior in spite of his father’s phobia of blood. This obsession is what ultimately drives Okonkwo to partake in Ikemefuna’s killing when he cries out to him for help. After Ikemefuna’s death, whom he had come to love, Okonkwo is ashamed of his grief and asks himself when he had “become a shivering old woman…” (Achebe, 1958:47). The overwelming obsession not to be a disgrace like his father starts to overwhelm Okonkwo as he becomes “possessed by the fear of his father’s contemptible life and shameful death” (Achebe, 1958:15).

Unoka overshadows Okonkwo’s relationships resulting in him beating his wives and own children, especially Nwoye, his eldest son. He sees his wives and children as subjects who are there to serve him and believes that “no matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man” (Achebe, 1958:38). He purposefully beats Nwoye because he sees Unoka in him.

In contrast to Okonkwo, the mere definition of masculinity, Nwoye is sensitive and thoughtful. He prefers his mother’s company to that of his father’s because he fears him. Since Okonkwo rejects anything that conflicts with his view of masculinity, he disowns his son, condemning him for who he is and “told himself that Nwoye was not worth fighting for” (Achebe, 1958:112). Ironically, despite his efforts to not be like his father, he himself has fathered a son who “resembled his grandfather, Unoka, who was Okonkwo’s father” (Achebe, 1958:122).

In conclusion, the shadow cast over Okonkwo by his perception of Unoka, waxes as he grows older and becomes more rigid as opposed to the expected waning as the emotional dark areas of childhood are illuminated and expelled by the wisdom of experience. The foundational structuring of Okonkwo’s childhood as a psycological complex influence who he is as a man and devastate his relationship with his wives and sons.