Okonkwo's Gun example essay topic

Okonkwo generally feels that masculinity can best be expressed through aggression and anger. Because of this, he often beats his wives, sometimes even threatening to kill them: "And so when he (Okonkwo) called Ikemefuna to fetch his gun, the wife who had just been beaten murmured something about guns that never shot. Unfortunately for her, Okonkwo heard it and ran madly into his room for the loaded gun, ran out again and aimed at her as she clambered over the dwarf wall of the barn. He pressed the trigger and there was a loud report accompanied by the wail of his wives and children" (Achebe, 39). Okonkwo tends not to think about things, and he acts impulsively and inconsiderately.

His relationship with his lazy father has shaped much of his violent and ambitious demeanor. He wants to rise above his father's legacy of spendthrift, indolent behavior, which he views as weak and therefore feminine. This association is inherent in the clan's language - the narrator mentions that the word for a man without an expensive, prestige-indicating titles is ambala, which also means "woman". In general, Okonkwo's idea of manliness is not the clan's.

Yet others who are not effeminate do not behave in this way. Obierika, unlike Okonkwo, tends to think before acting upon his will. Obierika refuses to accompany the men on the trip to kill Ikemefuna, but Okonkwo not only volunteers to join the party that will slaughter Ikemefuna, but he is also the one to stab him violently with his machete simply because he is afraid of appearing weak: "As the man who had cleared his throat drew up and raised his machete, Okonkwo looked away. He heard the blow. The pot fell and broke in the sand.

He heard Ikemefuna cry, "My father, they have killed me!" as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak. (Achebe, 61). Oddly enough, Okonkwo gets told nothing regarding Ikemefuna's death, which Okonkwo had deliberately caused, but instead, he gets punished for accidentally killing the son of Ezeudu during the gun salute at Ezeudu's funeral: "And then from the center of the delirious fury came a cry of agony and shouts of horror. It was as if a spell had been cast.

All was silent. In the center of the crowd a boy lay in a pool of blood. It was the dead man's sixteen-yer-old son, who with his brothers and half-brothers had been dancing the traditional farewell to their father. Okonkwo's gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy's heart" (Achebe, 124).

Okonkwo is punished with a seven-year exile from his village for killing this boy. This exile only reinforces his notion that men are stronger than women. He faults the people from his mother's village for their preference of negotiation, compliance, and avoidance over anger and bloodshed. In Okonkwo's understanding, his uncle Uchendu somewhat exemplifies this. While in exile, Okonkwo lives among the kinsmen of his motherland and respects them, but resents the period entirely.

This opportunity to get in touch with his feminine side and to acknowledge his maternal ancestors does not help Okonkwo much. He keeps reminding himself that his maternal kinsmen are not as warlike and fierce as he knows the villagers of Umuofia to be, and thus, he thinks they are more or less weak.