THINGS FALL APART: Sympathy for Okwonko

[Elena]

I wanted to start this folder because there is something really powerful, almost extraordinary about the power of an author to create sympathy from the readers for a character that probably doesn't deserve it to begin with. I want this thread to be a discussion about WHY Authors might do that. Why is it important to have sympathy even for those we might not otherwise be inclined to have sympathy for in the first place? Is it possible that it's characters like Okwonko that strike more sympathy, rather than heroic characters? Let's talk about how humanity and sympathy are so interconnected.

Perhaps by having sympathy towards Okwonko we not only protect our own humanity, but also make Okwonko more human, something that seems to lack in his actions.

Tell us what you think....

[Val]

I would say that Okonkwo's actions are very human. He is neither a violent brute or a perfect heroic figure, but a man who wants to be strong and respected, who sometimes loses his temper and does things which his society disapproves of, thus losing some of that respect. (Our society also disapproves of course.)

Few people are either all black or all white (cowboy hats in old westerns, not skin colour). Authors might want to write about ideas and society, but they also want to write about people, realistic people.

[Beth (bibliobeth)]

Yes, what makes Okonkwo so human, so believable, and deserving of our sympathy is the fact that he has flaws and he isn't perfect.

[Susan]

I think we sympathise with him because the author is clear to point out that his actions are due to fear. When he kills Ikemefuna he is warned against doing it, so out of shame and worry about looking weak, he attacks even more viciously than the other men. Of course, his fear is eventually his downfall and his strength his weakness.

As Val says, if an author writes a novel about people you care about, it doesn't matter whether the story is set in a space station or a ranch, in the past or in the future. If you cannot connect with the charactes, the novel is lost.

[Val]

Chinua Achebe was educated at British run schools. I wondered whether he had come across Shakespeare's "Othello" when I was reading about Okonkwo.
In Shakespeare's play Othello murders his wife, who he loves very much, yet keeps some of the reader's / watcher's sympathy.

[Dina]

Okwonko is a proud man. Everything he owns are earned by his work and effort. He is afraid of looking like his father (lazy, poor, coward...). Because of that he behaves roughly, angrily.
Deep inside he is sensitive.

"When did you become a shivering old woman,' Okonkwo asked himself, 'you, who are known in all the nine villages for your valor in war? How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number? Okonkwo, you have become a woman indeed."

He is tragic character because of conflict his behavior and his feelings.

[Elena]

Well put Dina ...