Who Is Okonkwo In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

African child, Nwoye, battles with himself as he has to choose between being his true self or being with his family. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe elaborates on the culture of the Igbo clan in the village of Umuofia. Okonkwo, the main character and well respected individual, does not have a healthy relationship with his eldest son, Nwoye. Once the white men arrive to colonize their village and once Nwoye elects to join the missionaries, the clansman’s lives change forever. Putting twins in the Evil Forest and killing his friend Ikemefuna, displeasing his father Okonkwo, and having to control his emotions are the causes of his discontent towards his clan.
The first reason for Nwoye’s feelings of discontent is that his clan discards twins

When Okonkwo beats Nwoye, it absolutely gets to him. This time it is so excessive that he decides to leave. “ Nwoye struggled to free himself from the choking grip… He seized a heavy stick that lay on the dwarf wall and hit two or three blows… But he left hold of Nwoye, who walked away and never returned” (Achebe 151-152). Because Nwoye is indolent, Okonkwo beats him in attempt to subdue the indolence. Okonkwo does this because he feels Nwoye is becoming excessively similar to Unoka, Okonkwo’s father, and he does not want this to happen. In Things Fall Apart on pages 13-14 Achebe writes, “Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye, was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness. At any rate, that was how it looked to his father, and he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating.” All of this abuse from his father causes him to be somber throughout his childhood which probably is a factor in his conversion to Christianity. “And so Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced youth” (Achebe 14). As a result of Okonkwo’s displeasure towards him, Nwoye feels

Achebe says, “That was the kind of story that Nwoye loved. But he now knew that they were for foolish women and children, and he knew that his father wanted him to be a man. And so he feigned that he no longer cared for women’s stories” (54). So he can be viewed as manly, Nwoye begins disguising his feelings he possesses for the women’s stories. Realizing this pleases Okonkwo and makes him cease the beatings temporarily, Nwoye continues to do this. Pretending to be someone he is not is something he does not enjoy. “And when he did this he saw that his father was pleased, and no longer rebuked him or beat him” (Achebe 54). “Although Nwoye had been attracted to the new faith from the very first day, he kept it a secret. He dared not go too near the missionaries for fear of his father” (Achebe 149). Because he has to control his emotions, Nwoye can not be his true self, which he despises. He keeps his attraction to Christianity secret because he is apprehensive to be beaten by his father once more. Since Nwoye has to control his emotions, feelings of discontent