Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a novel full of individuals, within a tribe, as they deal with the often tragic and disappointing events of their life. Okonkwo, the protagonist, and his son Nwoye are two such individuals who must learn to cope with these difficulties and sorrows. The murder of Ikemefuna, Okonkwo's adopted son, is a pivotal event in Things Fall Apart and Okonkwo and Nwoye's use of repression allows us to better understand Okonkwo's characterization through a desperate desire for masculinity and Nwoye through his desire. to alienate his father and their tribe. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Okonkwo constantly felt an unconscious fear of failure and weakness stemming from the anxiety of becoming like his father Unoka. One of the first things we learn about Okonkwo is that “he had no patience with men who failed.” He had no patience with his father” (Achebe 4). His father, “Unoka… was a failure. He was poor and his wife and children barely had enough to eat” (Achebe 5). As Okonkwo grew up, he wanted nothing more than to succeed and be masculine, the exact opposite of his father. “His whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness…and so Okonkwo was governed by a single passion: to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved” (Achebe 10). According to Peter Barry, “All of Freud's work depends on the notion of the unconscious, which is the part of the mind located beyond consciousness and which nevertheless has a strong influence on our actions” (Barry 96). Although Okonkwo is unaware that all of his actions stem from the fear of becoming like his father, these fears drive him in his continual search for validation of his masculinity. Related to this idea of ​​the unconscious is that of repression, "which is the 'forgetting' or ignoring of unresolved conflicts...or past traumatic events, so that they are forced out of consciousness and to enter the realm of the unconscious” (Barry 97). ). The unresolved conflict Okonkwo has with his father as well as the trauma and humiliation of growing up poor with an effeminate father have taken a toll on Okonkwo's psyche, and we can see its effects throughout the novel. Okonkwo was particularly affected by Ikemefuna's presence within the tribe. Ikemefuna is a young man from a neighboring tribe sent to live in Umuofia and then taken in by Okonkwo. He lives with them for three years and becomes an integral part of their family and community. “He was by nature a very lively boy and he gradually became popular in Okonkwo's household, especially with the children. Okonkwo's son, Nwoye, who was two years younger, became quite inseparable from him because he seemed to know everything... Okonkwo never openly showed any emotion, unless Okonkwo was particularly affected by Ikemefuna's presence at the within the tribe. Ikemefuna is a young man from a neighboring tribe sent to live in Umuofia and then taken in by Okonkwo. He lives with them for three years and becomes an integral part of their family and community. “He was by nature a very lively boy and he gradually became popular in Okonkwo's household, especially with the children. Okonkwo's son, Nwoye, who was two years younger, became quite inseparable from him because he seemed to know everything...Okonkwo never openly showed any emotion, unless it was the emotion of anger. Showing affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was strength” (Achebe 18). Ikemefuna representsthe type of son Okonkwo would like to have, a younger version of himself because he sees many masculine traits in him that would make him strong and powerful. However, at the same time, he also possesses certain traits that remind Okonkwo of his father, Unoka. Unoka and Ikemefuna “possessed an inexhaustible stock of folk tales” (Achebe 20). Ikemefuna's mix of what can be considered masculine and feminine traits makes him the ideal character, someone who Okonkwo, subconsciously, wishes to be like. After three years, the tribe decides to kill Ikemefuna. Okonkwo is warned by an elder of Umuofia that he should not join in the killing because Ikemefuna considered him a father. However, when the moment arrives and Ikemefuna is struck, he screams, causing Okonkwo "stunned with fear, [to draw] his matchet and cut him down" (Achebe 38). F. Abiola Irele says: “We are told that he is 'dazed' with fear at the moment the boy appeals to him, but it is a fear that has been fueled in his unthinking mind by the image of his father... Indeed, for Okonkwo to be once again reminded of the image of his father by Ikemefuna's artistic gifts and lively temperament is to be pushed towards a violent act of repression” (Irele 471). This can also be considered sublimation, another theory belonging to Freud. The repression of his feelings towards his father and those who are more feminine caused him to sublimate his feelings by lashing out at the other extreme: acting with intense masculinity instead of seeking balance. This desire for masculinity is an important part of Okonkwo's characterization. The murder of Ikemefuna not only allows us to learn more about Okonkwo's character, but also the character of his son, Nwoye and his desire to separate from his father and their tribe. F. Abiola Irele says that "Ikemefuna's murder represents a crucial episode in the novel not only as a reflection of Okonkwo's disturbed mental state but also in its reverberation throughout the novel due to its effect on his son, Nwoye. This marks the beginning of the boy's disaffection with his father and ultimately his alienation from the community that Okonkwo has become for him... Ikemefuna has become for Nwoye the poetry of tribal society, which is erased for him forever by the youth. the ritual murder of the boy, an unnatural act in which his father participates” (Irele 471). Ikemefuna's murder marks a sudden change in Nwoye's life. In the novel, it is described that “something seemed to give within him, like the snap of a bow” (Achebe 38). As Irele says, this is the moment when Nwoye begins to distance himself further and further from his father and the culture that he believes would have tolerated the murder of a young boy he considered his older brother . Without Ikemefuna's example, Okonkwo views Nwoye as weak and effeminate. He tells his friend Obierika, “I have done my best to make Nwoye a man, but there is too much of his mother in him” (Achebe 40). Okonkwo and Obierika then recognize that he has too much of his grandfather in him. It's another reminder for Okonkwo of his father, who to him is the epitome of weakness and failure. This leads to both repression and sublimation on the part of Okonkwo and Nwoye. When white Christian missionaries enter the tribe and begin converting people, Nwoye is the one who joins them. This essentially becomes an act of sublimation and rebellion for Nwoye, a way of turning his back on his father and the culture that betrayed him by sanctioning Ikemefuna's death. His repression essentially alienates him from the culture he has known his entire life and he sublimates himself by joining a group completely opposite to what his father values. As part of his Christian conversion, he changed his name to Isaac. Irele states that “the name.