Lauren Rydel

May 23, 209

Block D

Responsibility’s Repercussions Formatted: Centered

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Responsibility and stress change people, altering their identity. This tends to happen over

time as pressure builds up. Stress and responsibility often go together and can originate from

many situations such as social pressures, expectations, work, family, being in a position of

power, and much more. As these feelings accumulate, an individual can experience inner change

as their perspective focuses on their responsibilities and stresses. However, once the

responsibility and/or stress subsides or is removed, a person tends to regain themselves and

initial characteristics return. Okonkwo's journey following Ezinma and Ekwefi challenges his

normal characterization seen in Things Fall Apart, portraying a rare side of him lost years earlier

ago.

In the years when Okonkwo was poor and without a high position in the clan, he was

much more docile, possibly expressing his true self. When Ekwefi realizes Okonkwo had

followed her on her journey to protect their daughter, it reminds her of his former identity

causing her to recall memories of how “she ran away to Okonkwo” years ago even though he

“was too poor to marry” (109). Her memories show a time when Okonkwo carried himself in a

nicer and calmer manner, resulting in her feeling safe enough to leave her own husband and run

away to Okonkwo’s open arms. This indicates that he once showed benevolence towards his

family instead of using them as targets during his current aggressive tangents.

With the growth of Okonkwo’s social and economic statusresponsibility and fame in the

clan, came overwhelming stress, responsibility, and expectations, inducing a character change of

aggression, especially towards his family full of violence. Once a stable family household grew

from his success, he began to control it “with a heavy hand” for his wives and children fear “his
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Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 12 pt
fiery temper”,,” “hate,”, and “constant nagging and beating” (13-14). He seems to express the Formatted: Font: 14 pt

stress he feels by lashing out at his family, using the ones he seemed to once care for as a place

to release his pent-up anger. Other responsibilities and stress within the clan such as preserving a

strong social image may have increased this behavior over time. This is apparent as many violent

outbursts occur during or after a time of stress or conflict.

When Okonkwo follows Ekwefi, removing himself from the pressures and stress of the

tribe, Ekwefi recognizes a familiar side of him that she hasn’t seen in a while. The act of

following her shows that he has concern for his wife and daughter’s safety, concern being a

characteristic shown very rarely in the book. Once he presents himself to her, he tells Ekwefi,

“go home and sleep, I shall wait here” (108). He shows compassion towards his wife by letting

her go home while he deals with the situation. He continues to reassure her, staying at the cave to

make sure his daughter is okay after the priestess’s ritual. Taking ownership of a situation

regarding the wellbeing of his family is not a usual characteristic seen in the present Okonkwo.

However, Okonkwo’s behavior here reminds Ekwefi of when they were young, showing a

former version of him and how it’s remnants return with the absence of the tribe’s obligations.

This drastic change of character seen in Okonkwo resembles many present-day teen

students, showing how responsibly and the stress that follows can affect anyone. Often,

overworked students held responsible for learning large amounts of knowledge while

maintaining good grades, suffer from personality changes causing depression, anxiety, violent

outbursts, and other mental health issues that were not present beforehand. These issues can

become very severe; suicide, bad coping methods such as self-harm, and getting into fights are

the worst outcomes of a negative character change. Upon reducing the stresses of responsibility,
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many teens return to their more normal state of mind similar to Okonkwo when he left the Formatted: Font: 14 pt

village and stayed with Ekwefi alone.

Works Cited

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor, 1994. Print.