Looking at a king’s mouth, one would think he never sucked at his mother’s breast.” This proverb is used by an old man in Things Fall Apart to make a comment about Okonkwo. What makes the old man say this and what is the underlying message conveyed about Okonkwo through this proverb?
1.
Okonkwo has become so successful that it is difficult to believe that he did not have the start in life which many young men usually had, as he never inherited anything from his father.
2.
Okonkwo has risen so suddenly from great poverty and misfortune to be one of the lords of the clan. Therefore, the old man is saying that it is difficult to believe that a man like Okonkwo who had inherited nothing from his father could succeed to that extent so suddenly.
3.
Okonkwo has been exiled to live for seven years in his motherland and he is filled with grief. Therefore, the old man is reminding Okonkwo that he should never forget the important role that a mother plays in her child’s upbringing.
4.
Okonkwo has made a mockery of a man who had contradicted him at a meeting by calling him a woman. Therefore, the old man is saying, regardless of how successful Okonkwo has become, he should not forget where he came from and that he sucked at a woman’s breast.