The common assumption upon reading Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe might be that Okonkwo’s plight throughout the novel was self-inflicted, that he only had himself to blame for his altogether rotten lot in life. However, such is not the case, rather Okonkwo was nothing more than a product of a society which did not value him, per se but instead valued the virtues and morals of the warrior, the ethics of masculinity and strength, all qualities which Okonkwo epitomized. Okonkwo was a man of his clan, a perfect model of what he was taught an Umuofian should be, but one thing he was not taught to be was well suited for change, and thus when change did inevitably come he could do nothing but what he knew: stand forcibly and stoically against …show more content…
Although he attempted to remain harsh and unfeeling throughout the process of Ikemefuna’s death, after the fact, he “tried not to think about Ikemefuna, but the more he tried the more he thought about him,” and because of that he was, “so weak that his legs could hardly carry him” (62). Here, there is evidence of a rare show of emotion from the otherwise steely Okonkwo, although he quickly returns from mourning to his old, remorseless, self. However, at this point one of the first times where Okonkwo actually doubts the society which crafted his very existence is evident. When the respected elder recommends that Okonkwo have no part in Ikemefuna’s death, Okonkwo promptly disregards his advice and goes along with it for fear of appearing less than a man to those whom he feels he needs to impress, as is shown by the fact that when he killed him he did it only because “he was afraid of being thought weak” (61). But when, in the end, Okonkwo regrets his actions, at least for a time, as is shown through physical signs such as “a cold shiver” which “descended on his head and spread down his body” (63), he began to doubt the necessity of that which he has built his life around, and it is this doubt which ends up being the driving force in his decision to end his