The Psychology of Okonkwo in Achebe’s Thing’s Fall Apart by Anish O Cornel

The Psychology of Okonkwo in Achebe’s Thing’s Fall Apart

Anish O Cornel, Ekiti State University

Content

·       Instinctual Drives In Okonkwo (life and death instinct)

·       The Irrational Forces or The Structure Of The Mind

·       Psychosexual Development

Instinctual Drives in Okwonko
  

Okonwo is a very complex character, bludgeoned by a chain of psychosomatic symptoms, one of which is the inevitable reminiscence of the struggles of the past with his father, Unoka. In the novel, he is driven by an inexplicable torrent of fear, anger and ‘self’-ishness; the first, of which, is the fear of becoming as fecklessly Anacreontic as his cowardly inebriate paterfamilias of a hedonist father, Unoka. Throughout the novel, all (i.e., fear, anger and self-ishness) are tensely charged by both the life and death instinct.

          The life instinct, being a survival force, seeking for satisfaction of needs such as food, water, wealth, sex, etc. is one, which characterizes the first stage of okonkwo’s behavior, while the second form, i.e., the death instinct, being an aggressive drive, seeking for destruction, conquest and murder (euthanasia) becomes prominent in his later life and actions. As the author puts it:

                     ‘…Unoka…In his days…was lazy and improvident and was quite            

                     Incapable of thinking about tomorrow…Unoka was, of course a
                     debtor, and he owned every neighbour some money from a few

                     Cowries to quite substantial amounts…’(pg 3-4).

To Okonkwo, these features are detestable and irritating ones which he believes should not have a man’s life lorded. He perceives a trans-gender influence of the feminine, anatomizing the inner-most part of his father, and for this, he determines never to be like him. Due to this datum, the urge to live a life of opulence, backed by power, bravery, extreme masculinity/ phallogocentricism, class and honor quickly sets in. He defeats Amalinze the cat at the village wrestling competition and gains respect from society. More so, he becomes the warrior-generalissimo of the Umofia infantry; a wealthy farmer with three wives, and winner of two chieftaincy titles.

In all that we see in Okonkwo, in the novel, we realize that, both the life and death instincts are basically conflagrated by fear: The fear of failure and weakness (as of his father), as well as the fear that his reputation and wealth would go into the hands of a bootless and worthless son, Nwoye, one whom he sees as a prototype of his loathed father. In fact, this instinctual drive (of fear) becomes more evident through his aggressive energy (the death instinct or thanatos) when, he beats Ojuigo and desecrates the week of peace, shoots at his second wife and narrowly misses committing his first murder. He also draws his machete and cuts down Ikemefuna because he is afraid of been thought weak. In addition, he murders Ezeudu’s 16yrs old son, a crime, resulting to his banishment, the destruction of everything he has built up, and even the subsequent inconsequentiality of his aggressive energy. Consequently, he attacks and kills the harbinger sent to the elders by the white man; a hyperbolic bravado of extreme machismo which brings about his flaw at the end of the novel.

The Irrational Forces Dominating Okonkwo’s Character (i.e., The Structure Of His Mind (Id, Ego and Super-ego)

The Phaneromania for a life of fame, chivalry, intrepidity, wealth, dignity and respect, as triggered by ‘fear’, ‘anger’ and ‘self’-ishness in Okonkwo can be exponentialed through the pleasure principle (or Id). In the novel, it becomes very obvious that, Okonkwo loathes to be like his father, Unoka, who throughout his life, had been loose, weak, lazy, pusillanimous, cowardly, parochial and ‘womanly’. To Okonkwo, these are traits that can lead to misery, penury and rejection in the society and must, therefore, be odiously rejected.

Throughout his childhood, his mother was a projection of masculinity, while his father, a projection of the feminine. Hence, in order to avoid being conceived weak or ‘womanly’- in anyway- like his father, Unoka was, he tries to be as manly as possible. This, he takes to the extreme, till he becomes so chauvinistically phallocentric. For example, he treats his son Nwoye very harshly, because he feels he is not only feminine in character, but also serves as a mirror of his father, Unoka. In this regard, it should be noted that, such a gamut of  patriachal zombiism- inflected in his life- has been as a result of his cacoethes (i.e, mania) for fear, anger and selfishness, which all together, brings him to a neurotic imbalance.

Also, at the execution of Ikemefuna, whom he so much loves, he could have withdrawn from the killing thereof, but he fears the consequence of his withdrawal. That is, he is afraid that, he might be thought weak and womanly like his father Unoka, ‘‘who could not bear the sight of blood’’ (pg 5).Hence, to maintain the parallel between his father, by repressing or avoiding the sense of the contrary, he draws his machete and kills Ikemefuna. More so, at Abame, he regards the tribesmen thereof as being ‘womanly’, because they refuse to banish the Christians.  

Throughout his life, his ego is constantly dominated by the Id, such that- often times- the Id tends to take the highest prominence (or chances) more than his Super-ego. As part of its function, the ego creates a balance between the Id and the superego. It meets the need of the Id while putting into consideration the reality of the situation. More so, it makes us understand that people have needs and desires, and that, being impulsive and selfish, sometimes, can hurt us in the end. To Freud, the ego is mostly influenced by the Id because we are born with our Id. In fact, it is the first and strongest of the other two. Hence, in the case of Okonkwo, what we see is the manifestation of his Id, which constantly overpowers him against any moral or ethical restraint that has been developed in him. That is why he desecrates the Week of Peace, by beating his first wife Ojuigo as well as shooting at the second (even though he narrowly misses).

With these contumacious actions, he seems to have negated the socio-cultural principles and laws which have been internalized as part of the constructs of the super-ego of the citizens of Umofia. Hence, through such actions, what we perceive is the Id, overshadowing Okonwo’s superego, because, normally, Okonwo’s super-ego must have told him that, ‘Hey Mr, it’s the Week of Peace and there is a law binding this week, which says, ‘thou shalt not strife’’’, because, psychogenically, the super-ego is like an angel, sitting at his right shoulder, telling his ego to act based on laws (familial, social, institutional, cultural etc.,) or to base behavior on how his actions will favor the society. But the overwhelming silhouette of his Id, subverts the chances of his superego, and thus controls his ego.

On the other hand, we also discover that, most of his actions are tilted towards satisfying his ‘self’ at the detriment of others. That is to say, most of his actions are jeered towards him and him alone. In fact, he does not care about the consequence of the situation at hand (which his ego presents to him). Hence, he carries out everything the way it pleases him at the moment. In fact, the Id becomes the symbolic devil, sitting at his left shoulder and telling his ego to base behavior on how his actions will bring pleasure to his ‘self’. Hence, his actions tilt towards self-aggrandizement, self-gratification and the projection of his ‘self’ or ‘image’ to society, without considering whether it will hurt others or not.

In addition, anger serves as one other characteristics of his id, which has added very extensively to most of his irrational and impulsive actions. Through anger, he not only beats his first wife, as well as shoots at the second, but also kills Ezeudu’s 16yrs old son. In fact, through the self-same aggressive energy, he kills the white man’s harbinger. To this effect, both ‘anger’ and ‘fear’ (apparently) become his psychic defensives against his being perceived ‘weak’ and ‘womanly’. Very soon, we come to discover that, in his life, he had believed that, the absence of the self-same aggressive energy (coupled with extreme masculinity) in the life of his father, Unoka, had resulted to his failure. Hence, having all these qualities engendered in him, he struggles very indefatigably for success; defeating Amalinze the cat, receiving two titles, becoming the warrior-generalissimo of the Umofia infantry, fighting wars and carrying out murderous operations, (both lawful and unlawful). 

The elders-on the flip side- (we must note) tend to symbolize parts of the constructs of the superego (I,e,. the laws in the society) which have been internalized as the morality principle, serving to influence the ego of every Umofian citizen, in order to project actions that will not negate social and conventional standards of conducts. Thus, rejecting these laws will attract judgment and rejection, in return. This is the case towards the end of the novel, where Okonwo rejects the elder’s scheme of silence, because he deems the elders, weak and womanly. Such a scheme of silence, is a code of conduct which is to be observed by every member of the elder-ship, to which Okonkwo himself belongs. In spite of this, Okonwo acts otherwise. He kills the white-man’s harbinger, thinking he is proving his mettle and manliness before society. But by rejecting the elder’s code, he is rejected (by them) in return; and thus, faces reality – that is, the unmasking of the Id.

In his life, he feels, it is for the sake of not being conceived womanly, wretched and miserably by society (especially the elders), that he had carried out many of his so-termed manly actions. But then, the society for which all has been done now rejects him. He begins to perceive cowardice and such a feminine tendency for withdrawal (that is, denial and betrayal) as well as the run-away impulse (something characteristics of his father), in the society. He feels society has treated him thus, and that ‘it has led him to the sharps of the forest; returning is not possible; and going forward is a great difficulty; the affairs of this world are like the chameleon feces; into which he has stepped; when he cleans, it cannot go’

At the moment, he is also visited by the memory of all his past deeds, especially the killing of Ikemefuna whom he loves. Instantly, his selfish impulse ruins him to self-condemnation. With this, regret sets in. He is immediately judged by the awakening voices of his long shrouded super-ego, with the ego re-casting the real-reality as well as consequences of his actions before him. With regret now comes guilt; and instead of submitting himself-to a rebirth or transformation-he decides to accept judgment as well as the preference to die in condemnation, thinking that, submission, itself, is meant for women, for cowards (like his father) and for others who exhibit such, (especially the elders). Hence, he dies a miserable and abominable death (by suicide).  

Psychosexual Development

Much of Okonwo’s childhood is not really elaborated in the novel. But we assume, (by the little details redacted) that, he lived under a harsh familial ambiance; and that all the stages of his psychosexual growths must have been subjected to frustration; the result of which is the harshness of his behavior.

 One could imagine how a mother who is left dejected-under a harsh situation- by an irresponsible husband would treat her child. In fact, much of the frustration that Okonkwo had in his childhood stage gave him a disposition. He is egomaniacal and patriarchal. He hates the feminine reek of character (something I would term anti-oedipal; a negation to the Freudian believe that a male-child will always reveal his love for her mother as well as for that particular organ serving as the aetiology of such oedipal connexion i.e., the breast). So, to Okonkwo, the respect for such femininity is lost. All he is about is that extreme masculinity- something mixed with a crude machismo and sadism.