In 's , 's fatheris
described as the polar opposite of the hyper-masculine, bellicose Okonkwo. Indeed, Unoka serves
as a potent contrast to his warrior son. Unoka is a peaceful, gentle man who would rather drink
and play music than put forth effort into work. He gives very little thought to building a
future for his son, instead focusing on living in the moment:
"In his day he was lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about
tomorrow. If any money came his way, and it seldom did, he immediately bought gourds of
palm-wine, called round his neighbors and made merry" (4).
Unoka struggles with debt and poverty as a direct result of his laziness, and his son
Okonkwo suffers from his father's immaturity when he is unable to inherit anything from his
debt-riddled father. Moreover, Unoka never took any titles in the Igbo clan. He is
considered agbala, which has an interesting : it not only means that Unoka
has no titles, but also is another name for a woman (13). Unoka's equation with femininity is
further reinforced by his death:
"He died of the
swelling which was an abomination to the earth goddess. When a man was afflicted with swelling
in the stomach and the limbs he was not allowed to die in the house" (18).
The "swelling" of Unoka's stomach is reminiscent of a
pregnant belly. This fact taken in conjunction with Unoka's pacifism and his role
as agbala cause Okonkwo to label him as "feminine," and base his
own life on being theof his father: "Okonkwo was ruled by one passion-- to hate everything
that his father Unoka had love" (13). Therefore, Okonkwo sets himself as the exact opposite
of his father, and embraces a violent form of masculinity.
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