Okonkwo is described in the story as having many different attributes that overall make him into a very durable central character. Firstly, Okonkwo is described as being a character of great reputation and accomplishment. This is supported in the very first opening lines of the story when it is recounted how he overthrew Amalazine, the wrestler who had been unbeaten for 7 years between both the villages of Umuofia and Mbaino. It is then briefly mentioned that his reputation has only been further garnished with achievements since the bout. Okonkwo’s physical attributes give him somewhat of an intimidating demeanor. He’s described as having a “very severe look”, due to his considerable stature, bushy eyebrows and wide nose. Okonkwo as well carries an intense
presence about him, giving the other villagers a feeling of uneasiness when around him.
In Okonkwo’s society a man is measured in success by a number of things. One of the most prominent examples is the amount of possessions within his ownership. Commodities such as cowries, barns, yams and even the number of wives a man has in his possession are often used to gauge his amount of success. Reputation, another factor that can be used to judge a man’s achievements, is marked by the prestigiousness of a title or multiple titles that a man earns. Bravery as well can be used to evaluate the success of a man as it is a favorable characteristic in winning battles against neighboring villages when conflict arises. Although our society measures success differently in comparison to Okonkwo’s society, there is definite common ground in the basic outline of what is considered to make a man successful. For example, although we do not collectively value how many wives a man has, we do consider a monogamy marriage to be one of the staples of a successful lifestyle. Although our currency does not involve the use of cowries, we still associate a man’s prosperity with his success. We could say that the only difference is that our society has what we consider to be a modernized twist on the whole concept.
I take the quote, “proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten” to be a metaphor that means that conversation as a whole is a highly valued concept in Okonkwo’s culture. Instead of driveling chatter, the people in Okonkwo’s society try to find meaning and significance in each of their conversations, thus using proverbs in conversation as frequently as using palm oil in their cooking. In their culture, conversation is prized as an art-form where as in Western culture the majority of conversations are treated as a casual occurrence of unimportant topics and meaningless gossip.
I believe there is a definite authenticity to Achebe’s story due to one important key factor that embodies the smaller, relevant details, such as the italicized excerpts of his native tongue and the unusual names he bestows to his characters. Achebe’s story is written in a very unpolished manner, making the text considerably more raw and realistic. Because Western civilization often views African culture as being primitive, the unrefined manner it’s written in is appropriate and makes the story more believable to a Western audience.