“A vague chill had descended on him and his head had seemed to swell... Then something had given away inside him. It descended on him again, this feeling, when his father walked in, that night after killing Ikemefuna”(Achebe 62). In the book, Things Fall Apart, author Chinua Achebe describes Okonkwo a man who lives in Umofia, where hard work is the building block of a good life in the village with marriage being an important factor in the tribe as well. In Umuofia, having several wives and several children is very common and a sign that a man has made it financially as there is a bride price to pay when there is a desire to get married. Okonkwo lived a difficult childhood as his father as he was a very lazy being who complained about having …show more content…
In the text, Achebe describes the following, “He heard Ikemefuna cry, “My father, they have killed me!” as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew back his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak”(Achebe 61). Through his actions in disobeying what Ogbuefi had told him in not participating in the killing of Ikemefuna, he really shows how he is willing to do anything in order to not appear weak because that’s his biggest fear, and so he goes against orders even though he has grown very fond of Ikemefuna even viewing him as a son. This just starts to show Okonkwo’s downfall from there because what he did was inhumane and he held onto that guilt. His actions affected the way that his son viewed him as well since he had such a deep connection to Ikemefuna. The killing of Ikemefuna really just leads to Nyowe questioning the customs and values of the tribe since his father painted such a bad picture through his action of killing Ikemeuna who was like a brother to him. Later on, in the book, Achebe describes another one of Okonkwo’s actions in the following quote, “‘The white man’s whose power you know too well has ordered this meeting to stop.” In a flash, Okonkwo drew his machete…Okonkwo’s machete