Okonkwo was a resilient and ambitious leader of the Ibo community. He was a farmer and wrestler, who earned fame and brought honor to his village by overthrowing Amalinze the Cat in a wrestling contest. Truly respected for having reached a position of wealth and status, without any assistance from his family, Okonkwo resolved to expunge the disgrace left behind by his father’s laziness. Most of Okonkwo's ambitions, motivations, and desires stemmed from his rejection of his fat

Throughout the novel, Okonkwo represented the main concept of Achebe’s story. The phrase, “things fall apart” came from the many ways in which the life of Okonkwo changed in ways he was powerless to comprehend. Things first began to “fall apart” for Okonkwo with the murder of Ikemefuna, then with his exile to another village for seven years, and finally with Nwoye’s conversion to Christianity. Forced to take his own life, the responsibility for such actions was not all Okonkwo’s fault. His clan, the colonizers, and Okonkwo himself shared the responsibility. Achebe supported this argument with Obrieka’s following statement to the District Commissioner, “That man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself…” (208).

One of the positive impacts of Christianity on Nigerian society was the money that flowed into Umuofia with the construction of a trading store by the missionaries. Although the Christian missionaries seemed to have a positive affect on Nigerian society with their aspiration to lend a helping hand, their motivations became deadly, even fatal to the lives of some native people. The missionary presence in Africa was harmful to the lives and cultures of the Ibo tribe. The Christian missionaries destroyed the cultural balance and unity of faith and religion that encompassed the once dignified society of Ibo people in Africa. These Christian missionaries had a direct relationship with the District Commissioner, who had a direct relationship with the British government. The queen in England would send her messenger, the District Commissioner to areas she chose to Christianize. Then the District Commissioner appointed his own messengers, Christian missionaries, to aid him in his effort to spread Christianity. People in Umuofia depended strongly upon their ancestors and gods in their culture; the Christian missionaries wanted to destroy their beliefs.

her’s lifestyle. Throughout the novel, Okonkwo struggled to understand what it meant to be a man in his Ibo village, and when the foreigners showed up, they aggravated his worst inclinations toward anger and fear of a loss of respectability. As a sturdy individual and Ibo idol, Okonkwo fought to sustain the cultural integrity of his people against the overwhelming power of colonial rule. Okonkwo was much like a nineteenth century Victorian middle class male. Like middle class individual

Some topics in this essay:
Ikemefuna Okonkwo, Chinua Achebe, Amalinze Cat, Victorian Britain, Oracle Hills, Mbanta Umuofia, Christianity Nigerian, Africans Europeans, English Okonkwo, District Commissioner, christian missionaries, ibo tribe, nigerian society, district commissioner, throughout novel, middle class, culture christian missionaries, death okonkwo, novel okonkwo, ibo people, politically culturally, economically politically culturally, throughout novel okonkwo,