Okonkwo's Change In Things Fall Apart

Okonkwo ended up in exile due to his behavior as a consequence during this time he refused to get intoned with a more feminine characteristics because to him that was not the way things were and views his ancestor’s way of doing things as wrong. Okonkwo tries his masculine leadership once more by trying to start a war until he realizes that villagers are not standing behind him in his idea to go to war. Soon after the District Commissioners find Okonkwo dead in his compound, he had committed suicide by hanging himself, which is one of the biggest sins of them

For all of his desire to be strong, Okonkwo is caught up by the constant fear of being perceived as weak. He is afraid of failure and afraid of being considered weak. This fear drives him to do whatever he can to not become a failure like his father which ironically contributes to his death. While Okonkwo was a strong and important figure in his tribe, he had to keep his reputation that way by making some hard decisions. One of them was when he had to kill Ikemefuna, a young boy from the neighboring tribe. Okonkwo started accepting the decision to kill Ikemefuna because he started to call Okonkwo father. He had to keep his own valor intact and kill the boy to prevent himself from showing any weakness, but deep down, Okonkwo was really upset because of what he did which was ironic, “’When did you become a shivering old woman,' Okonkwo asked himself, 'you, who are known in all the nine villages for your valor in war? How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number? Okonkwo, you have become a woman indeed.'" (Achebe 65). He continued to roll downhill when the white man comes to try and convert Okonkwo’s tribe. Okonkwo responds by killing one of the messengers that were sent. This cause Okonkwo's own tribe to question his actions. “"Okonkwo stood looking at the dead man. He knew that Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers escape.

He believed that his father’s actions were feminine and therefore worked hard to become a warrior. Along with not wanting to appear feminine, Okonkwo does not think his actions through. When Ikemefuna was brought into Okonkwo’s family, he accepted him and the two became very close. But after three years Ikemefuna was sentenced to death and Okonkwo was sent out with him. As the man raised up his machete Ikemefuna run to Okonkwo, “My father, they have killed me!” as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak”(Achebe 61). In this split second Okonkwo lets his emotions and fears of appearing weak win and did not allow himself time to think. Achebe utilizes Okonkwo to display the principle of cause and effect. Okonkwo is very proactive and does things on a whim. By doing so he makes hasty decisions that will be regretted in the long run. Okonkwo’s suicide was caused by a hasty decision and the responses of the tribesman. “He heard voices asking: “Why did he do it?”(Achebe

When Ikemefuna came to Umuofia, Okonkwo “became very fond of the boy- inwardly of course… He therefore treated Ikemefuna as he treated everybody else- with the heavy hand. But there was no doubt that he liked the boy” (24). This establishes that Okonkwo loves Ikemefuna but because he wants to look strong and demonstrate power he shows little to no emotion of love towards him. Correspondingly, when Ikemefuna is facing his death, he runs to Okonkwo asking for help. As this happens Okonkwo, acting on impulse, slays Ikemefuna with his machete. Okonkwo try’s to act like he does not have affection for Ikemefuna, but the reader sees the reality when, after Ikemefuna’s death, “Okonkwo did not taste any food for two days…He drank palm-wine from morning till night…[and] did not sleep at night” (55). In other words, Okonkwo is mourning over the loss of Ikemefuna and. Though this is the case a close reader might see that Okonkwo’s impulse of killing Ikemefuna was because he wanted to seem strong but the evidence shows the reality of his emotion. One might conclude that Okonkwo can be loving and compassionate, but because of his need to look masculine his relationship with Ikemefuna is

Okonkwo was a man of high title and respect. He despised the weak and cherished strength by not displaying himself to be frail or afraid of anything in life. During the sacrifice of Ikemefuna, Okonkwo was advised not to attend, however he was the individual that delivered the last hit to Ikemefuna during his sacrifice. Ikemefuna stayed with Okonkwo’s family for many years. He too was a part of the family and was considered a son.

Okonkwo abides by the rules of masculinity long after it suits his life. Okonkwo thought women we inferior to men. During the Week of Peace, Ojiugo lied to her husband; in the novel it states, “And when she returned he beat her very heavily” (Achebe 29). Okonkwo’s anger took over him. His vision of himself was so great that he thought he could beat his own wife, even during the Week of Peace. Okonkwo’s favorite child would be Ezinma, but she cannot be as great as he would want her to be because she is a female. Okonkwo openly said, “She should have been a boy” (Achebe 64). Okonkwo thinks that his daughter is great, but because she is not a boy he can not admire her. He thinks she would have been better a boy because, in his mind, he thinks men are greater beings than women. Okonkwo cannot wait for his son Nwoye to grow up and be as great of a man as he was. The novel states, “He wanted Nwoye to grow into a tough young man capable of ruling his father’s household when he was dead and gone to join the ancestor” (Achebe 53). Even though Okonkwo likes Ezinma, he thinks Nwoye will keep his legacy going after he is dead. Ironically, Nwoye leaves his father’s side and joins the missionaries, while Ezinma stood by Okonkwo’s side. The reasoning for Okonkwo’s exile was due to Okonkwo shooting a young boy

From the beginning of the novel, Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo changes from being confident to being a hopeless man. After he shoots a boy he is banished to his mother’s homeland for seven years. After that happened he returns to his village and everything has changed, even the culture, he had to change in order for him to fit in the new society. Okonkwo is a hard worker and respected.

However, in Okonkwo’s circumstances his reasons for killing Ikemefuna were self centered and he had no good reasoning behind his actions. With having such a high title within his tribe, Okonkwo felt as if he was superior to all people. During their Peace Week, Okonkwo’s actions were not justified by the Ibo tribe when he killed the young boy at the funeral of the boy's father.

When the missionaries came in and brought changes, Okonkwo struggled with the changes. Okonkwo lost the chance lead his warlike clan against the new religion,which he was told gained ground (Achebe,171). The tribe was told their religion is all lies and Christianity is the real religion. The Ibo had no choice but to go with the white man. The white man built the center of religion and trade along with government (Achebe, 174). There were prisons for the bad people or uncooperative people. Missionaries have messengers who were unfair. Even though the Ibu tribe was strong, they couldn’t handle all the

as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak,” (Achebe, chapter 7). His fear of looking weak in this scenario relates to the upsetting father-son relationship that Okonkwo experienced with his dad Unoka, a village coward. Okonkwo quickly decided that killing ikemefuna himself would boost his reputation as a strong leader in the tribe.

Ikemefuna was a sacrifise that had to stay with him and his family for a while and a while became three years. After all that time Ikemefuna became another son to Okonkwo. The text states “ Okonkwo did not taste any food for two days after the death of Ikemefuna. He drank palm-wine from morning till night, and his eyes were red and fierce like the eyes of a rat when it was caught by the tail and dashed against the floor (Anchebe, 73).” As you can, tell his decision affected him severely.

Okonkwo invites him to eat with him in the hut and is proud of his manly demeanor. The Oracle however declares that the boy must be killed and Okonkwo makes it his job to carry this task out. Okonkwo betrays his adopted son by cutting him with a machete from behind, and his reasoning was that “He was afraid of being thought weak” (Achebe 61). Ikemefuna had called this man his father and yet Okonkwo killed him. Okonkwo killed his young adopted son to maintain his status among the Ibo people. Okonkwo does shows seem saddened by his death and the Achebe says, “now and then a cold shiver descended on his head and spread down his body” (Achebe 63). This sign of his remorse to me however cannot outweigh his cruel action. Okonkwo’s most trusted friend even says in response to this murderous action that, “What you have done will not please the Earth. It is the kind of action for which the goddess wipes out whole families” (Achebe 67). I cannot define a man as great after he killed his son; I can more readily describe this man as a traitor.

Okonkwo was brutal among his family members to show them he was not weak. “Whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough, he would use his fists” (Achebe 43). In order to look strong and powerful, Okonkwo decides to kill Ikemefuna and beat his wives. This not only destroys his relationships with Nywoe and his wives, it affects his own mental health. His impetuous and vicious acts draw him to kill a court messenger during a clan meeting which brings Okonkwo to soon find his tragic

Okonkwo has become determined to climb his way back up the social ranks after have been knocked to the bottom. “He was determined that his return should be marked by his people. He would return with a flourish, and regain the seven wasted years. Although this determination took his mind off of things, he still remembered the tragedy of Nwoye. “At first it appeared as if it might prove too great for his spirit. But it was a resilient spirit, and in the end Okonkwo overcame his sorrow. He had five other sons and he would bring them up in the way of the clan (172).” Okonkwo goes as far as to say “Now he is no longer my son or you brother (172).”

This planning didn’t affect his return because Christianity had been very quickly taking over his village and the clan leaders wouldn’t do anything to stop it. They refused to go to war with the Christians because some of their people have converted and the white men who brought in Christianity had set up their own government. The tribe didn’t want to hurt others from the clan and Mr. Brown, one of the priests, didn’t bother the clan members who stayed with their own religion even though he didn’t agree with it. Okonkwo has lost all the power he had before he was exiled and his opinion gets ignored by the village elders. He is behind in obtaining titles and doesn’t understand why anyone would want to give up their titles and join the Christians, especially because some of the leaders have chosen to join