Social Contrasts and its Impacts over Personalities - Essay Example

Social Contrasts and its Impacts over Personalities The two novels which are considered to be discussed under this title are: “Things fall apart” and “A raisin in the sun”. Before an in-depth research and analysis of the major characters in these novels, it is important to have a glimpse of the plot with respect to the main characters so that it becomes easy to understand the personalities. The first novel “Things fall apart” is written by Chinua Achebe, who is a Nigerian; hence, the novel depicts African particularly Nigerian culture very much. It was published in 1958 and is amongst the first African novels which were written in English. The plot revolves around the archaic people of the Nigerian tribe Umuofia, headed by a strong minded and brave leader Okonkwo, who is the major character of the novel. He was a warrior, a person who thoughts that his masculinity is everything for him and without it he is nothing. Since he was offensive of his lazy and reckless father who build nothing for his family, rather threw them under the burden of great debt; Okonkwo made him rough and tough and denied himself of everything his father was associated with. He did not want to look like his weak and effeminate father. Since his father never attained a better social position in the tribe and died as a useless man, Okonkwo becomes rash like a ruthless animal, with no emotions for family. Although he married thrice and had several children, yet he had no love for them as he considered that love makes a man weaker and that there is no place for love and affection in a man’s masculine heart. None of his wife could make him complaint and affectionate. In a masculine-oriented and male dominant society like Umuofia, a person like Okonkwo can definitely survive well; rather he can lead them and can attain a respectable social position. That is what attained by Okonkwo by making his personality defiant and rough. Sometimes, his more than rash behavior bring embarrassment and grief to his family, but he never changed himself as he does not want to be called coward and “feminine”. His father was fond of doing conversation therefore he made himself aloof and proud. In his point of view, his father was “worthless”. While doing so, as he became the leader of the clan, he became prosperous and wealthy enough to run three families of him. As he himself was strongly tied with the social hierarchies, so he wants his family to be like him, bold and ruthless. Sometimes his ill-temper and violence brought penalties for him as he gets exiled for seven years when he accidently killed a boy of the clan. When he returned to his tribe after seven long years, his value and place in the tribe was no more like the previous one. Even during that time, the British and their missionaries came there for building settlements. Okonkwo, as he was ever, did not tried to change himself with the changes occurred rather he tried to retreat the British by the use of violence. While doing so, he realized that the people of the clan are no more obedient to him and he has lost his value, so he made a tragic end of himself and committed suicide. Hence an influential person of im-matched social status died as a worthless person of the society (Achebe; Aboukhadijeh). The second novel about which we are going to discuss is “A Raisin in the Sun”, which is a random house play, written by Lorraine Hansberry in the year 1959. The story is inspired from the times of Harlem renaissance when most black African families move to cosmopolitan cities of US in search of better jobs and social status. The play narrates about the story of a black family who moved to Chicago during that time. The central character of the play is Walter Lee young who is a dreamer initially and does such activities which hurt his family, but he evolves with the course of time and eventually becomes the hero of the story. He was sick of his life as he works as a chauffeur for a rich white man, with very low economic standards to provide for his family. He makes many plans to become a rich man, but has no finances for them. For this reason, he can be viewed as the antagonist of the play as he keeps on arguing and fighting with his small family which consists of a caring and loving mother, an emotional wife, a lovely sister and a son. He was defiant with his wife, aggressive with his sister and almost disobedient to his mother who cares nothing for money. He is depicted to be a simple, lower-middle-classed African-American male who is supporting a family with very low financial resources, hence, he remains ill-tempered and frustrated most of the times and only wants to become rich so that all their problems will be vanished from their lives. He is of the belief that money can secure him and his family and can solve all the economic problems they are facing. His family always wanted to teach him that it is not the money entirely which would be the survivor rather it is the attitude and behavior of the family members living together. But such techniques were useless as Walter considered money the primary source of happiness. He planned to use his father’s insurance money of $10,000 to invest in a private liquor store, but his wife and mother refused the idea entirely. Instead she made a down payment for a good house in the White neighborhood with some portion of the money. By doing so, Walter became despaired and disappointed. He quarreled with his mother, taunting her by saying: “So thats the peace and comfort you went out and bought for us today” (Act Two, scene one) (Lorraine,). Eventually his mother gave him a big portion of the money, which made him so happy and he behaved as a normal person with his family. That was the point which depicts that if Walter was not poured in to the economic crises by the ruthless hands of life; he would be a gentle father and brother, a loving husband and an obedient son. He thought that all his problems were going to be resolved now. But again he and his entire family suffered as his business partner ran away with the money. At the same time, a White man tried to pay them for not moving into the new house. At this point, Walter transformed completely from a desperate, shameless money lover to a firm, determined and self-respected man of the family who stood against receiving any payments from the White man and finally moved his family to the new dream house (Lorraine 2; Lorraine). Now we come to the analysis of the two characters presented above, Okonkwo and Walter. Although both are young men who can transform their worlds according to their desires, a major contrast between both is that they belong to entirely opposite backgrounds which influence them the most. Okonkwo is the leader of a traditional clan with priorities like war and physical health. He acquired wealth and respect very soon and lived a respectful life. While on the other hand, Walter lives in a growing city with a very small job and can barely endure his life expenses. He received very little respect as he was a Black African living in a White community. Money is not the priority of Okonkwo rather he always wanted esteem and pride, while Walter was a shameless money lover who tries hard to get as much money as possible. Both the men were surrounded by three women; Okonkwo had three wives which are worthless for him as according to the traditions of that place women are nothing but a tool for reproduction. Walter, on the contrary, had a mother, a sister and a wife with whom he used to quarrel not because they were of no importance to him, but he wants to make them happier which was not possible as they were short of money. Okonkwo was a ruthless man with no emotions for his family, while Walter was a loving man who wants his family to be prosperous and contended. Both men have very few comparable attributes rather they are a contrast of each other. As far as parental influence is concerned, Okonkwo is again an extreme since he hated his father as he was a coward with no social respect. So he made his personality in contrast to his father. Walter was the only son of his widowed mother who remains concerned every time for her family’s unity. She wanted Walter to be a family man who must not run after money always but must pay attention to his family too. The society and circumstances also play a major role in building their personalities. Okonkwo lived in a traditional Nigerian clan with war being the major priority and no feminism or family terms at all. Hence, he became arrogant and violent and treated everything in his own way. Walter, on the contrary, cannot treat the world in his own way as he was nothing but a poor chauffer who is bound to do his hard job in order to survive. A major contrast in both personalities is that Okonkwo never learned from his mistakes and died in his own arrogance, while Walter transformed himself for the benefit and comfort of his family. Okonkwo was oppressive while Walter was depressive by the hands of circumstances. Okonkwo only feared becoming a social failure, which exactly happened to him in the end. Actually he was not a revolutionary man, he was simply a man who denied all attributes of his father and thus become an entirely opposite personality of him. Walter had no such self-esteem like Okonkwo and thus was not irrational like him. Among the influences of women, society and parental influence; the social impact is the most on both personalities and lasts longer than others. Okonkwo becomes a tragic hero due to social denial while Walter revolutionized himself in a positive way, by overcoming social barriers of racism and inequality with self determination. Actually the two names “Things fall apart” and “A raisin in the sun” truly depict the morals and endings of the stories of two contrasting situations and personalities (Aboukhadijeh; Lorraine 2). Works cited Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor Books, 1994. Print. Aboukhadijeh, F. Things fall apart, examining literary merit. Sample literay device essays. Web. Retrieved on 16/5/2012 from: Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun: A Drama in Three Acts. New York: Random House, 1959. Print. ---. A Raisin in the Sun: Character List. Web. Retrieved on 18/5/2012 from: Issue 58. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry: Analysis and Activities. Web. Retrieved on 16/5/2012 from:https://www.theatrefolk.com/spotlights/a-raisin-in-the-sun-by-lorraine-hansberry-analysis-and-activities#characters Things fall apart: Main characters. Retrieved on 16/5/2012 from: Read More