Chinua Achebe uses a foil character to further develop the main character Okonkwo. Unoka, Okonkwo's father, is nothing like Okonkwo and Achebe uses this contrast to evince the character traits of Okonkwo. Achebe introduces this contrast by saying, "[Okonkwo] had no patience with unsuccessful men. He had no patience with his father." (Pg 4). By using parallel structure Achebe reveals that Okonkwo and Unoka are nothing alike.
Achebe develops the character of Unoka by directly describing him and telling a story. Unoka is "lazy and improvident" (Pg 4). By establishing what Unoka is, Achebe shows what Okonkwo is not. After a brief story about Okonkwo, this contrast provides a further understanding of him. " Unlike his father, "Okonkwo was clearly cut out for great things." (Pg 8).
Achebe then develops Okonkwo more indepthly by recollecting a story of Okonkwo's younger years. Unoka's character development is important because it shows that Okonkwo had to earn everything he has by himself. "He did not inherit a barn from his father." (Pg 16). This shows how independent Okonkwo is and how much of a hard worker he is.
Achebe uses the story of "the worst living year in memory" (Pg 23) to show Okonkwo's mental toughness. While this year would've destroyed most people's hopes, Okonkwo stayed confident was able to survive. "Since [he] survived that year...[he] shall survive anything." (Pg 24).
In many ways Achebe successfully develops the character of Okonkwo. After just three chapters, Okonkwo is established as a strong hardworking man. Despite his father's poor reputation, "a man was judged according to his worth and no according to the worth of his father." (Pg 8).
I like how you explained how the contrast from father to son helped develop Okonkwo's character. The completely different character traits and personalities you described also show how there are almost no similarities between the characters. Using the contrast to prove something else, such as the development of a character, was really smart; rather than just focusing on the one rhetorical device you used it as evidence for something different which really pushed the point further.
ReplyDeleteI like your identification of the use of a foil character to develop the main character.Instead of just building the character from the ground up, the author leaned on another character for his development. I did not recognize the usage until you clearly stated in your blog with very explicit support.
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