Who Is Okonkwo In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Okonkwo beat one wife during the Week of Peace, and nearly shot his second wife Ekwefi for back talking after he beat her during the New Yam Festival. This was an occasion for joy and giving thanks to the earth goddess Ani, who was the source of all fertility. She was also the ultimate judge of morality and conduct, and his disrespect of this deity who played the most important role amongst his gods showed how he tragically was unable to make exceptions for anything other than what he believed should be excused from traditional protocol (pg. 36-37). Against The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves’ recommendation he had a hand in Ikemefuna’s death, he disregarded the command and ended up dealing the fatal blow to his adopted son. When he accidently

killed another member of the village and was forced to leave for seven years, he was unable to handle how docile his people had become in his absence. His fear of change reduced him to taking his own life because he could not fathom losing the respect of the people he lived to impress. Described by Simon Gikandi as a ‘narrative[s] of resistance’ (Gikandi, 1991, p. 26), Things Fall Apart is less concerned with reconciling two cultural perspectives than with recovering and articulating the point of view which had been buried or denied by the colonial narratives of Africa. African culture has validity, and although Okonkwo’s decisions seem misguided, you must understand the cultural context understand his actions. This resistance was the debilitating flaw that sealed Okonkwo’s fate, and perpetuated the tragic overtone in this story. The protagonist, or principal character, Okonkwo’s position in the plot shows not only his internal conflicts, but the conflicts between him and the opposing forces. He cannot be compared to European characters who have developed under different social structures, and religious influences, with different cultural contexts, norms, and traditions. Okonkwo’s character is round and static, and his motivations were both internal and external. He strived to represent to the world everything that his father was not. Feeling the overwhelming pressure of trying to be respected in a society that had changed tremendously in the seven years in which he was exiled for killing a fellow member of the tribe, Okonkwo did the only thing he felt he had left to do and that was commit suicide. The setting, which was Post-Colonialism, depicts Okonkwo’s struggle to assimilate before and after the British had come to colonialize Nigeria.

New social, political, and cultural rules were too much for him to internalize while using his traditions, religious beliefs, and understanding to validate his accomplishments. The historical, geographical, and physical setting of this story helps to elaborate the context of what is happening. They also make it easier to understand Okonkwo and the obstacles that he faces. The atmosphere surrounding him was dark and on edge to convey the severity of the tragedy. The point of view of Achebe as an observer, who was neutral, allowed me to make my own judgments without bias from him, and removing the bias that I started off judging the character and his actions by. Situational irony was used because Okonkwo’s suicide was at odds with the high expectations that were set for this hero who had overcome so much (Kirszner & Mandell, 2013, pg. 200-267). He appeared to be a sign of strength although his suicide was a sign of weakness and an abomination to disgrace oneself as well as the tribe by taking his own life. His body was evil, and he could not be buried with his clansmen because suicide was an offense to the

earth. The whole land was desecrated, and sacrifices had to be made to cleanse it. He thought that his chi, or personal god was against him, but he was his own worst enemy because he refused to change (Achebe, 1994).