Skip to main content

In the novel Things Fall Apart, why did Okonkwo feel masculine when he was drinking palm wine from the skull of someone he had killed?

Okonkwo is driven in everything he does to not be identified with his father. Okonkwo believes that his father's gentleness was really weakness, and his idleness was failure. From the time he was very young, a rage has boiled within him, and though it makes him harsh with his family, it has earned him a reputation as a fierce warrior. In battle, he has taken a number of trophies in the form of human skulls. To do so, in any case, but perhaps especially for Okonkwo, is an act of dominance. Not only has the person been overcome in battle, but now their corpse is desecrated, and the primary identifying feature (the head and face) is taken by their killer. It is truly a symbol of one person dominating another, even after death.


Okonkwo has kept these head-trophies as evidence of his prowess in battle, and on special occasions, he drinks wine from the first skull. We've already addressed the head-trophies as a form of dominance, but the act of drinking from the skull really lends depth to Okonkwo's attitude. It is an act of conspicuous consumption—drinking from the skull of a fallen enemy is a sign to others, and perhaps a reminder to himself, of what Okonkwo is capable of.


To Okonkwo, being manly is all about action and dominance, so drinking from a skull is a passive way of reminding others that he is a "real man."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is 'efficate' a word in English?

I routinely hear the word "efficate" being used. For example, "The most powerful way to efficate a change in the system is to participate." I do not find entries for this word in common English dictionaries, but I do not have an unabridged dictionary. I have checked the OED (I'm not sure if it is considered unabridged), and it has no entry for "efficate". It does have an entry for "efficiate", which is used in the same way. Wordnik has an entry for "efficate" with over 1800 hits, thus providing some evidence for the frequency of use. I personally like the word and find the meaning very clear and obvious when others use it. If it's not currently an "officially documented" word, perhaps its continued use will result in it being better documented.
Post a Comment
Read more