Okonkwo In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

The past is the only thing one cannot change or run from. In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s past events are haunting him and drives him to his untimely downfall. Going from being one of the top clansmen in the tribe and Umuofia, to being exiled, to finally just spiralling into a descent of madness. First, Achebe highlights Okonkwo’s greatness in the clan.
Okonkwo didn’t start out as the great and well-known man he was being portrayed as; Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, is well known throughout the clan as a debtor who doesn’t pay back his debts. He had taken no titles, and is the biggest influence on Okonkwo; an influence that showcases in his mind, all the things he shouldn’t be. “He had no patience with unsuccessful men. He had no patience with his father” (Achebe 4).

“[W]hen she returned he beat her very heavily. In his anger, he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace” (29).The beginning Okonkwo’s demise can be traced back to this moment when he angered a goddess when he breaks the Week of Peace; after that moment in the novel, things begin to really fall apart for Okonkwo. A clan elder advises Okonkwo not to take part in Ikemefuna’s death when the clansmen come for him. “‘That boy calls you father. Do not bear a hand in his death.’” (57). But when Ikemefuna ran at him after being attacked, Okonkwo refuses to look weak. “Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being called weak” (61). Directly disregarding the words of the elder, Okonkwo prefers to keep himself looking like a heartless man who will kill anyone. Later in the text, Okonkwo accidentally kills a young boy. “Okonkwo’s gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy’s heart” (124). The accidental killing forces Okonkwo to leave in Exile. “It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman and a man who had committed it must flee from the land”