Similar Ideas, Different Influences

Often characters from separate novels can be similar because they are both shaped around the same characteristics found in people. Okonkwo from Things Fall Apart and Nathan from The Poisonwood Bible are both based on the idea of a strong male figure that puts work and status above personal life. However, some of their motivations and priorities are different. Okonkwo and Nathan are similar in their idea of their own importance and and in their beliefs of gender roles, but differ in their reasonings and sense of community or family.

Both Okonkwo and Nathan have a sense that they are supposed to lead others and hold similar beliefs in the roles of men and women. For Okonkwo, he felt he had to prove himself in wrestling and in providing a large harvest to show his village that he could keep them safe, and later become revered for this status. For Nathan, he felt that he needed to convert the entire village to both save their souls, but also prove to God, and those who doubted him, his capabilities. In both men, these actions are in their eyes for the benefit of the village, but they also stem from a need for personal accomplishment and reward. Both characters also hold insecurities on how men or women are supposed to act. Okonkwo is very strict with his son in shaping him to fit his ideals of what a man is supposed to be. Nathan is disapproving of his daughters showing in his view masculine qualities such as attending college or Leah’s wanting to hunt, even though that is the only way to feed their family. I think Nathan’s staunch misogyny in a way stems from his insecurities from having been wounded and quickly removed from battle. He already held the idea that men are supposed to go to war, and his so quickly leaving and seeing other men die while he lived could make him feel as if he was not fulfilling his obligation, and other people may have subtly shown disapproval as the war was ongoing and he was not helping.  So, to hide his own embarrassment he takes it out by trying to both hide feminine values and restrict his daughters from displaying masculine attributes.

Though similar in some of their actions and beliefs, Okonkwo and Nathan also have differences in their characters. Okonkwo has a much higher value on family as evident by him becoming extremely worried when Ezinma was taken for the night or how he returns to his mother's village when exiled. Nathan holds no such connection, having little concern for his family's struggles when he relocated them to the Congo and completely disappearing from their lives after Ruth May’s death. Okonkwo was often motivated by his need to keep his neighbors and friends safe, such as when he begins to confront the missionaries, while Nathan’s motivations were more selfish. Nathan seems to have no sense of community or belonging outside of his connection to the church, having seemingly traveled spreading his religion for the most of his young-adult years, the novel never presents Nathan as someone who needed the companionship of anyone besides God. Okonkwo differs from this as he puts a high value on the people of his village and become close with them.

Though ideally similar, Okonkwo and Nathan still hold some differences. Both feel a need to play a role in shaping their villages, and hope for recognition for these actions. However, Nathan’s character is much more self-driven and focussed while Okonkwo puts more effort into staying connected to a group of people. Both characters continue to hold expectations based on gender throughout both of their novels.