Nwoye’s Cultural Identity
“Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I’ve ever known” –Chuck Palahiuk. Chinua Achebe kept this quote in mind when she told the story of Nwoye through her book, Things Fall Apart. Nwoye was poorly mistreated by his father, Okonkwo, because Okonkwo felt that Nwoye acted like a woman. Weak, emotional, and scared. Okonkwo also killed Nwoye’s best friend and brother, Ikemefuna. However, the Western nation’s culture collided with Nwoye’s and changed his life because he was able to worship a forgiving god ad escape his old life.
The new religion told Nwoye that changing his name would help him connect with his new culture and forget his old one. Nwoye’s name became Isaac and he was soon accepted into the school in Umuru. Achebe even states in the book, “To signal his break from his old heathen ways, Nwoye changes his name to Isaac in an attempt to change his identity and Christianize himself” (Achebe Chapter 21). Nwoye was a peaceful and caring man, and that was not acceptable in Ibo culture. Nwoye joined the Christians because he wanted to feel at …show more content…
Nwoye not only embodied everything Okonkwo hated, but Okonkwo was the one who killed Ikemefuna. In Things Fall Apart it is written that, “Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye, was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness. At any rate, that was how it looked to his father, and he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating. And so Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced youth” (Achebe Chapter 2). Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was a terrible disappointment and Okonkwo didn’t want any member of his family to be anything like that. However, Nwoye saw nothing wrong with being kindhearted and peaceful. Thus being why the idea of Christianity appealed to him. They allowed him in with open arms and taught the grace of
“Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I’ve ever known” –Chuck Palahiuk. Chinua Achebe kept this quote in mind when she told the story of Nwoye through her book, Things Fall Apart. Nwoye was poorly mistreated by his father, Okonkwo, because Okonkwo felt that Nwoye acted like a woman. Weak, emotional, and scared. Okonkwo also killed Nwoye’s best friend and brother, Ikemefuna. However, the Western nation’s culture collided with Nwoye’s and changed his life because he was able to worship a forgiving god ad escape his old life.
The new religion told Nwoye that changing his name would help him connect with his new culture and forget his old one. Nwoye’s name became Isaac and he was soon accepted into the school in Umuru. Achebe even states in the book, “To signal his break from his old heathen ways, Nwoye changes his name to Isaac in an attempt to change his identity and Christianize himself” (Achebe Chapter 21). Nwoye was a peaceful and caring man, and that was not acceptable in Ibo culture. Nwoye joined the Christians because he wanted to feel at …show more content…
Nwoye not only embodied everything Okonkwo hated, but Okonkwo was the one who killed Ikemefuna. In Things Fall Apart it is written that, “Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye, was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness. At any rate, that was how it looked to his father, and he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating. And so Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced youth” (Achebe Chapter 2). Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was a terrible disappointment and Okonkwo didn’t want any member of his family to be anything like that. However, Nwoye saw nothing wrong with being kindhearted and peaceful. Thus being why the idea of Christianity appealed to him. They allowed him in with open arms and taught the grace of