Ikemefuna's Brutality

Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, is a novel filled with violence and brutality. The novel follows Okonkwo and his life in eighteenth century Nigeria. Okonkwo dealt with the failure of his father and the misfortune he left him with. Many of his decisions are based on his negative view of his father. A scene pertaining directly to Unoka’s apparent shortcomings as a father is Ikemefuna’s death. The idea of the past haunting a person through life is expressed in this scene of brutality. Ikemefuna’s murder is an extreme example of violence pertaining to the theme. He was brutally killed by his father figure, Okonkwo, and other men in the community. The oracle had professed that it was time for him to be killed for the crimes his birth

His murder was also performed by members of the community itself. The men, including Okonkwo, trekked for a very long time before they brought the machete upon Ikemefuna. The entire walk they treated him as a normal child in the community would have been, and Ikemefuna carried the wine for the men with hope of going home. He thought of what may of come his family, and could not wait to see them. Together as a group, the men choose to deceive him with false hope of him returning to his family. In lieu of that, they attacked him from behind, and his own father like figure jumped in to finish the task. This shows how cowardly they are, even if they portray themselves as tough. They can not even look a man in the face when killing him. It is as if they know what they are doing is wrong, but must do it for the sake of the community. The community as a whole is violent, and listens blindly to what the oracle professes. This causes them to commit acts they may not have without the oracle present. Although Ikemefuna cried out to Okonkwo, “My father, they have killed me!” (Achebe,page 61), they still continued on. Even after Ikemefuna called for help Okonkwo ran in to help finish him off. Killing someone who loves you is violence at its richest