TFA+Essay+Writing+Process

Jonathan Layne Honors English October 30, 2009 TFA: Writing Process
 * Theme**: Okonkwo’s masculinity and how it led to his demise


 * Evidence:**

“People laughed at him because he was a loader, and they swore never to lend him any more money because he never paid back (p. 5).”

“He had no patience with unsuccessful men. He had no patience with his father (p. 4).”

“…Nwoye, was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness (p.13).” Here, Okonkwo's terror of seeing his father's characteristics in his son were clearly visible. Therefore, he beat his son believing that it would give the boy guidance in a patriarchal society.

“The man who contradicted him had no titles. That was why he called him a woman. Okonkwo knew how to kill a man’s spirit (p. 26).”


 * Thesis:** Consequently, Achebe shows that Okonkwo’s desire to be strong led him to be haunted by fear and finally commit suicide.


 * Intro:** //Things Fall Apart// by Chinua Achebe is set in the late 19th century, near and during the coming of the “white man” to Nigeria. The novel has much to show about the disharmony between the white colonies and the traditional culture of the Igbo people. Nonetheless, the book is more about a man’s rise to great prestige, which in the end led to his inevitable downfall.