“The insane has as his companion his mind,” is and ancient African proverb. Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, shows how chi affects people in different situations, throughout the book. Chi refers to an individual’s personal god, whose value is based on the character’s conscience of mind. Okonkwo cannot feel any of the side effects of the actions that he is committing because he is full of self-hatred throughout the book.
Catastrophic actions are just some of the words that can be used to depict the effects of Okonkwo’s self-hatred. Okonkwo can never live with his chi because he does not care about his actions, “When a man says yes his chi says yes also.”(27) For Okonkwo, he cannot think subconsciously and has to resort to actions that result in his own happiness, without thinking about how his decisions affect the others around him. “At an early age he had achieved fame as the greatest wrestler in all the land. That was not luck, At the most one could say that his chi or personal god was good…”(27) With this early quote, the reader is given the impression that Okonkwo is a highly spirited and motiv
“The evil you have done can ruin the whole clan. The earth goddess whom you have insulted may refuse to give us her increase, and we shall all perish.”(22) Ezinma says this to Okonkwo after he finishes beating one of his wives during the Week of Peace. “… Okonkwo heard it and ran madly into his room for the loaded gun, ran out again and aimed at her as she clambered over the dwarf wall of the barn. He pressed the tripper and there was a loud report accompanied by the wail of his wives and children…”(39) This is the first of several events that leads to the unraveling of Okonkwo. He has already lost his good-boy appearance and is starting to become unhappy with the events that are happening around him. Okonkwo is now living on a short fuse and he can explode at any second, releasing all of his anger. The Ibo cannot challenge the authority of their chi since it is part of their success of the characters in the book. Okonkwo challenges this custom and he shall face the consequences.
“Extreme cleverness is madness,” ancient Ibo proverb. Okonkwo’s brain leads him to believe that he is smart enough to do anything that he wants. Okonk
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