Things Fall Apart by Chinua is a book about a masculine man who leads himself to his own downfall through his violent ways. This book takes place in the 1890s when Europe’s colonial government started converting the Igbo people to Christianity. Recurring ideas of this book include clash of cultures and masculinity. In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, before colonialism, Okonkwo was as a well respected, wealthy and masculine warrior, but the coming of colonialism to Umuofia made him weak in a way that would’ve once disappointed himself.
Before Colonialism, Okonkwo is respected as a strong warrior through Umuofia. He made a name for himself back when he was a young and he threw the greatest wrestler in Umuofia. Throughout the years he made a name for himself. He became a man of wealth and a
…show more content…
When Okonkwo returns to Umuofia, he loses his status with the elders and as an egwugwu. He is not happy that Umuofians are taking the converts so lightly. His violent ways eventually took ahold of him, which lead to his downfall. In chapter 20, Okonkwo returns to Umuofia and realizes that he has lost his high social status. Umuofia doesn’t react to the white missionaries with violence, and this makes Umuofia mad. His violence sprang out of him when a group of white missionaries came to stop the meeting and he killed one of them. When no one stops the other messengers from fleeing. He realizes that they’re not going to war. “Okonkwo stood looking at the dead body. He knew UMuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the messengers escape” (Achebe, 205). Umuofia no longer look Okonkwo as the fierce warrior they once did. Okonkwo became an outcast. He became like his