Okonkwo And Kurtz example essay topic

At first glance, Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart and Kurtz in Heart of Darkness may seem to live in two different worlds; yet, both of them are men of power and pride. They reveal their charismatic qualities and have great significance on the lives of the Africans. Their strong aspirations, however, are the cause of their downfalls. Both Okonkwo's and Kurtz's "pride goeth before destruction" (Proverbs 16: 18); their own ambitions have made their world fall apart. Okonkwo and Kurtz are men of power and pride. They both seek power.

Okonkwo is very successful in the clan. His "fear" is his motivation and he doesn't want to turn out like his father. He becomes "well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond" (TFA, 3). He has titles, he participates in clan meetings and people in the clan respect him.

Kurtz is very proud and influential as well. He desires power and has built himself a "kingdom". He is very wealthy and has many pieces of ivories. He has "the tribe to follow him", and "they adored him" (H of D, 219); they respect him and worship him as a "king". Both Okonkwo and Kurtz resent change. They do not want anything to change their worlds.

Okonkwo doesn't like the Europeans, who want to convert his people to their religion and intrude upon their culture. Kurtz himself doesn't want to be taken away from the natives, his kingdom and his power. He wants the natives to continue to worship him as a "king". Furthermore, when Okonkwo and Kurtz reached the pinnacle of their power, their hubris brings them down and causes them to fall. Okonkwo is a man with titles and power. He seems invulnerable and cannot be stricken; however, he is put into jail by the district commissioner where he and other leaders of the clan suffer insults and physical abuse.

Kurtz is a man with huge pride and sees himself as a "king"; nonetheless, near the end, it is very ironic to find that he is crawling on all four in the bushes. It is the worst humiliation a "king" could face. Okonkwo and Kurtz are important characters. They have gone to the very top, but their own ambitions caused their own downfalls.

In the end, they both suffered from the worst humiliations. In some aspects, Okonkwo is different from Kurtz. Okonkwo is an insider, whose homeland was invaded by Europeans, and his culture is being destroyed. As Okonkwo is strongly opposed to changes, the destruction of his culture finally drives him to commit suicide, as Okonkwo's friend says to the District Commissioner, "that man (Okonkwo) was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself" (TFA, 147). Okonkwo is also a man with strong morals.

Although he shows his masculinity, he cares about his family in his heart. His care for his second daughter, Ezinma, is shown when Ezinma is carried around and out of the village by a goddess in the middle of the night. "Okonkwo felt very anxious (for his daughter) but did not show it" (TFA, 79). Okonkwo has great significance on the lives of his people. He participates in big clan meetings and makes decisions with the elders.

He has titles; people respect him and listen to his ideas. In contrast to Okonkwo, Kurtz is an outsider. He, as a European, goes into Africa, to the "Heart of Darkness", and infringes upon the African culture. He makes himself "king" and the Africans worship him.

Kurtz does not have as strong morals as Okonkwo does. He has an acquisitive mind. He doesn't care about the Africans' lives; instead, he takes ivory away from them, sometimes by force. He even threatens the Russian, who heals him and saves his life several times, saying that he would "shoot [him] unless [he gives] him the ivory and then clear out of the country" (H of D, 218). His extreme ambition has cause his downfall when he becomes ill and people start to turn away from him. He cannot withstand it and finally dies.

Kurtz has great significance on the lives of the Africans in a way that he builds himself a kingdom, makes himself "king"; people have to follow him and submit themselves to him. His respect from others is not the same as the respect Okonkwo has earned from his clansmen, as Kurtz's respect comes from the fear of the people. Okonkwo and Kurtz both have experienced the destructiveness of pride and power. They are very similar in a sense that they are both crucial characters. Although they have differences and seem to live in two different worlds, as one of them is an African and the other a European, their consequences are the same. "A man's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honour" (Proverbs 29: 23).

Okonkwo's and Kurtz's aspirations have brought them to the peak, but their hubris brings them low. Pride will never stay forever. In the end, they are both humiliated and their worlds have fallen apart.

Bibliography

1. Achebe, China. Things Fall Apart. USA: Heinemann Educational Publishers, 1958 2.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. New York: Oxford University Press, 1898 3.
Ward, Selena. "Spark Notes on Things Fall Apart". Spark Notes. Online. web: 25 September 2003.
4. Gotten, Brian. "Spark Notes on Heart of Darkness". Spark Notes. Online. web: 25 September 2003.