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1 Tzortzatos Nicholas Tzortzatos Dr. Runcie The African Novel 019 30 October 2020 The Rise and Fall of Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart What does it take to be considered a man in a society? For some, it could be being able to provide for your family as the breadwinner. For others, it could be showcasing the dominant male physique by completing rigorous and dangerous tasks. In Ibo culture, becoming a man is very different than that of Western culture. The main character and protagonist, Okonkwo, is the very embodiment of masculinity in Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart. He is known for his short-temperedness and sudden, yet very wild acts of violence and aggression. His obsession with masculinity and fear of being thought weak is what causes his inevitable downfall in the Ibo culture. In the end, his actions make his own people view him as a savage. Specifically, his killing of Ikemefuna and the treatment of his many wives. The killing of Ikemefuna is what marked Okonkwo’s demise. Ikemefuna was sent to Umuofia as a sacrifice for the killing of one of the women there. He spent a total of three years living with Okonkwo and his family, becoming one of their own. The day had come where he was to be executed by the elders. Okonkwo joined along, but he was told to not have any part in his killing as “a man should not kill another who is his father, or who calls him father” (U. Opata 121). In the end, Okonkwo was the one who dealt the final blow to Ikemefuna with his machete. He did this because “he was afraid of being thought weak” (Achebe 61). Okonkwo spent his whole life deathly afraid of becoming like his father, Unoka, who was lazy and unmotivated. Later that night, Okonkwo had trouble sleeping because of what he did. He tried not to think

2 Tzortzatos about it, “but the more he tried, the more he thought about him” (Achebe 63). Here, Achebe is able to portray a softer side of Okonkwo, which goes against his masculinity. Shortly after the death of Ikemefuna, Obierika tells Okonkwo that “what he has done will not please the Earth. It is the kind of action for which the goddess wipes out whole families” (Achebe 67). This is an element of foreshadowing, which will lead to the destruction of Umuofia and Okonkwo himself. The execution of Ikemefuna is what starts it all, “it is the beginning of Okonkwo’s decline, for it initiates the series of catastrophes which ended in his death” (Iyasere 129). One of the more apparent ways that Okonkwo expresses his masculinity is in the treatment of his family, especially his wives and his son Nwoye. Okonkwo’s impulsive violence is what marks his relationship with Nwoye. In fact, he despises him, wishing he was not so feminine in the way he carries himself. Nwoye “seeks his father’s love and understanding, but Okonkwo is incapable of responding to these basic human needs; he considers them unmanly and effeminate” (Iyasere 136). Later on in the novel, his son would end up going against him by converting to Christianity. This act infuriated Okonkwo who “suddenly overcome with fury, sprang to his feet and gripped him by the neck” (Achebe 151). Okonkwo’s failure to accept his own son for who he is causes them to get torn apart, forcing Nwoye into even saying: “I don’t know. He is not my father” (Achebe 144). As for Okonkwo’s wives, he would beat them from time to time for not obeying him. He even went as far as beating his youngest wife during the Week of Peace, where no violent acts were permitted. Ezeani, the priest of the earth goddess, sat down with Okonkwo after this ordeal to warn him about his actions. He made it clear that “she may refuse to give us her increase, and we shall al perish” (Achebe 30). Again, Okonkwo is constantly going against the gods by trying to assert his masculinity and the fear of being thought weak. His disobedience towards them only fuels his misfortune which leads to his downfall.

3 Tzortzatos Okonkwo resorts to killing himself when he finds out that Umuofia views him as a savage and no longer have the same beliefs as him. When the missionaries made their way into Umuofia, they assimilated most of the population. Okonkwo was deeply grieved by this, “he mourned for the clan, which he saw breaking up and falling apart, and he mourned for the warlike men of Umuofia, who had so unaccountably become soft like women” (Achebe 183). When he killed one of the court messengers, everyone gazed at him in shock, some voices even asked: “why did he do it?” (Achebe 204). The villagers allow the other messengers to escape and Okonkwo comes to the realization that his clan does not want to go into war, rather accept these cultural changes being made. It is for this reason that he kills himself. The Ibo ways of life have been overturned, the clan has gone soft, a woman-like characteristic. Instead of having the missionaries kill him, Okonkwo takes actions into his own hands like the man he is. However, he has forgotten just how important women are in Ibo society. It is them who raise the children, educate them with their stories around the cooking fire, and teach ethics and socialization skills. In fact, Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and Caves in Umuofia is the spirit of a woman. When Okonkwo cuts himself off from the female principle, “he denies himself the essential spiritual relationship with the earth, pre-determining the final act of suicide that is an offense against it” (McDougall 109). In conclusion, Okonkwo has gotten so caught up in in being perceived as manly that it led to his inevitable downfall. Being so obsessed about not becoming like his father has blinded him. Achebe, Iyasere, and McDougall all compare and contrast his actions which ended up in his surprising death. These include: the execution of Ikemefuna, the treatment of his son and wives, and losing touch with his own people. The presence of the missionaries have “put a knife on the things that hold them together and they have fallen apart” (Achebe 176). Okonkwo’s

4 Tzortzatos death begs the question: what would life in the Ibo culture be like if he was still alive after their colonization?

5 Tzortzatos Works Cited Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. 1st Edition, Anchor Canada, 2009. Bloom, Harold, editor. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. Chelsea House Publishers, 2016. Isayere, Solomon O., editor. Understanding Things Fall Apart: Selected Essays and Criticism. The Whitson Publishing Company, 1998. McDougall, Russell. “Okonkwo’s Walk: The Choreography of Things Falling Apart.” Wasafari, 3 (Autumn 1985), 12-15. U. Opata, Damian. “Eternal Sacred Order versus Conventional Wisdom: A Consideration of Moral Culpability in the Killing of Ikemefuna in Things Fall Apart.” Research in African Literatures, vol. 18, no. 1, 1987, pp. 71-79....