Symbols of his wealth and prestige were his family and his compound. As I mentioned earlier, Okonwo had received no inheritance, and at the time of this story Okonkwo is still fairly young, and the fact that he had three wives, several children, and a very productive piece of land showed that Okonkwo was a very diligent worker. Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children. Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness (13).? The paragraph goes on to describe this fear as deep and intimate, a fear that he would resemble his father. Okonkwo had developed a very short and violent temper that was immediately triggered in response to actions that he deemed to be weak or actions that questioned his authority. Okonkwo despised and abhorred anything that was lazy, weak, or womanly like his father, and was often rather cruel to his oldest son, Nwoye, because he saw similarities in the two men.
The second chapter of the novel begins with the town crier announcing a meeting in the morning. The meeting was called because a man of Umuofia's wife had been unjustly killed, and he wanted justice. It was decided that Okonkwo would go to the village where the accused lived and ask for one virgin and one young boy to make up for the death, or else war would be waged. The villages of Umuofia were feared because of their great successes in battle. Okonkwo returns with a young virgin, who is given to the man whose wife was murdered, and he is asked to keep the young boy until the Oracle tells the elders what to do with him. The young boy's name is Ikemfuna, and he lives with Okonkwo's family for three years before the men of the village decide to call upon him. During the three years Ikemfuna becomes a part of Okonkwo's family, and Okonkwo grows quite fond of him.
