DARREL UNCHATT - PERFECT CHARACTER A DELUSION OR REALITY

Perfect Character A Delusion or Reality

In the novel Animal Farm, the hope for a better world remains unattainable. Even with the change of governance, the animals are eventually mistreated. How is it possible that the longing for good can turn awry when the person is in power for long?
In the case of Okonkwo, he is not painted as someone who is without fault. In fact, he is in many ways a tragic hero. Neither is he a person who is evil despite his part in killing Ikemefuna. Based on your understanding of him in the novel, reflect on the following questions:

How has Okonkwo been a figure of inspiration and disappointment to his people?


Firstly, being a leader of his clan had made him as the inspiration to his people. A leader is chosen by his/her own people based on the qualities that a leader should be – rich, powerful, brave, strong and hardworking. In Okonkwo’s case, he was chosen because of his richness for he had a yam plantation and he worked very hard. Besides that, as a leader, he would fight in order to defence his clans. For example, he fight against the missionaries because they tried violated the traditional beliefs.

For the disappointment part, he became a tragic hero at the end of the story which the main protagonist of the story should not portray. He killed himself for he failed to defence his clans. So, it was a disappointment for his people to see a leader killed himself without finding other ways to settle the problems.
What are the characteristics of Okonkwo that you can find in your nation's leader?
One characteristic that I can find in our nation’s leader is dared to take risks. The leader that I inspired by is Tun Dr. Mahathir Muhammad. He was the fourth prime minister of Malaysia and considered one of the best of leader of Asia for he had contributed in putting the country’s name, Malaysia onto the map of the world.

He dared to take risks can be portrayed when he challenged the CEO of the Petronas company to build a tallest twin tower in the world. At first, people of Malaysia were not agree on the prime minister’s purpose for it would cost a loss to the nation but he sticked to his principal and continued the construction. When the towers were completed, then the people realize that the towers did benefits the country especially in the business and tourism sectors.