Characterization “Things Fall Apart” : Unoka

Key quotes and analysis

“Unoka was like that in his last days. His love of talk had grown with age and sickness. It tried Okonkwo’s patience beyond words.”(3.36-37)

Analysis:

Unoka became inclusively less to a role model when he was sick and in his last days. Okwonkwo could not handle him before because of his regular laziness, but now it was more extreme and it was ending with his patience. As we know, Okonkwo wasnt a man of words, he preferred actions, and that was exactly what his father could not give him especially at this stage of his life.

“Every year,” he [Unoka] said sadly, “before I put any crop in the earth, I sacrifice a cock to Ani, the owner of all land. It is the law of our fathers. I also kill a cock at the shrine of Ifejioku, the god of yams. I clear the bush and set fire to it when it is dry. I sow the yams when the first rain has fallen, and stake them when the young tendrils appear…” (3.6)

Analysis:

Unoka was also a man who shared beliefs within his culture. As you can see he also made animal sacrifices to the earth goddess when planting crops, as he believed that the harvest was going to be more successful if he followed those steps. It was also a way Unoka used to express respect through this ritual to the mother earth and goddess.

Visual representation of your character (clothing/objects..)

When thinking about the visual appearence of Unoka, one is able to recognize a thin and tall man with “a slight stop” that sometimes appeared, as the novel cites "haggard and mournful . . . except when he was drinking or playing his flute." This character has a “different” passion tan the other members of the Igbu culture, he is extremely passionate about music. Unoka finds his greatest joy when he i sable top lay his flute and perform music for the people that surround him e.g in festivals. This character’s priorities were focused on living a peaceful life and enjoying it to the fullest, which he was able to achieve when he had the opportunity of playing his flute with the village musicians after the harvest. Although he seemed like a person who’s worries were far from noticed, sometimes one was able to notice the grief and sadness in his music. Overall, Unoka was represented as a different individual between the chauvinistic culture that he was part of, most of the time we could catalogate him as an optimistic dreamer.

Discuss your character and its relationship with others in the novel

This character plays the role of Okonkwo’s father in the novel. In comparison of other stories where fathers are seen as a role model, Okonkwo was actually ashamed of his father since he was a child.  This happened due to the fact that Unoka used to be irresponsible and lazy in a lot of ways, and although he was a talented musician, he seemed to reject everything that did not have anything to do with festivities and leisure. Unoka was never willing to work hard for his family, which brought them to the close line of starvation and to many owing debts. All of these actions brought shame upon his family, who could not find a way of feeling proud of their father or husband. Okonko seems to be continuesly hunted by the presence of his dead father in everything he does for his people; he went to bloddy encounters and harvested triple tan the others just to proof that he was not at a lower level like his father. Despite the shame he brought to his family, Unoka used to be a loved man, he was gentle and generally a good person with a unique musical talent, characteristics that made him more appealing. Unoka believed in the Oracle as his son did, but he did not follow the oracles instructions and neither did he take its advice.

Discuss character in relation to major events in the novel

One does not experience Unoka alive in the novel due to the fact that it starts ten years after his death.  Still, one can recognize a prototype of Unoka along the novel build by actions like he never going to war or becoming a warrior because of his fear to blood. Characteristics like this throughout the novel build a less masculine image of Unoka to Okwonko’s eyes as his son. When Unoka died, he left a big amount of debts due to his laziness and cowordy to his family and Okwonkwo, who ended up paying them. Once again we can see how Unoka’s priorities were not the wellbeing of his family. This character died of illness above ground in the Evil Forest, he suffered from a swelling of stomach and limbs .

Establish your character within the setting of the novel

Unoka is very present throughout the novel, taking into account how his presence is always there following his son Okonkwo in everything he does for his community.  The major fact haunting Okonkwo is the irresponsibility and lazyness of his father, which he is now trying to reverse and proof that he is nothing like that. Although one is not able to say that Unoka had a bad reputation because he was appreciated for other things, one can recognize that he was indeed irresponsible by never taking the time and effort to take a title in his life. Due to this, he was never able to gain respect or higher standards from his community, in fact he was called the loafer of the village. Instead of helpings his family out whenever he received money for any effort, he spend it in something of less importance like palm wine. A character like him showed a contradiction to the typical and traditional Igbo individual; brave and hard-worker, characteristics that he did not show at any time throughout the novel.