Okonkwo: Self-Made Man in Chinua

Okonkwo: Self-Made Man

In Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart, we see the power of free will. Okonkwo is responding to outside forces but he is still making decisions based upon his personal convictions. He may not make the wisest decisions and he might not be in the most positive of circumstances but he is still free to do what he wants and no one forces him to behave a certain way. In fact, he is reacting to those that do want to control him to a certain extent. Okonkwo is somewhat bound and influenced by society, or community, but it in no way makes him the man he turns out to be. Okonkwo is responsible for himself regardless of his immediate surroundings.

The missionaries are one factor to which Okonkwo is reacting. They are a "source of great sorrow to the leaders of the clan" (Achebe 143), including Okonkwo. Part of the conflict arises when Okonkwo sees some of his fellow tribesmen converting and the converts are the most zealous members of the church. They kill the consecrated python of the village and Okonkwo can believe this happens. Okonkwo hates what he sees and he simply wants the missionaries to leave. He wants nothing more than to run them away but not everyone agrees with him. As things change, Okonkwo believes they become worse. Tribe members are involved with the church, they work at the trading post, build school, and start using money. When the commissioner arrives, Okonkwo feels as though he must arm and protect himself. He is the one that chooses to kill another man. No one makes him do it. His final statement proves he did what he had to do so he could live with a little self-respect. That he was influenced by others is inconsequential.

The white man strips value from the Igbo tribe but this filters down to every man on a personal level. They are exposed to new ways of doing things and Okonkwo believes their biggest mistake is thinking the white man's way of doing things must be better. The Igbo tribe was not perfect but it was a normal community. Because they were open to the white man, they became victims. Over time, they exchanged pride and dignity for subservience but they could not see this was happening to them. however, Okonkwo could see it. He cannot believe why his tribesmen would choose to live this way and why they would allow themselves to be destroyed instead of choosing to defend themselves. Okonkwo loses his dignity along with the others and all of this is his choice. Okonkwo is not saint but he does is a hero because he is brave and fights for what he believes in. He is rash at times because he was "afraid of being thought weak" (61). Okonkwo is a typical tribesman living and adapting to his surroundings. He is actually no different from anyone else in that he acts according to his heart. He truly believes he is doing the right thing and that is what matters.

Okonkwo is not a bad man; he simply makes mistakes and this makes him human. He does not set out to do evil. Upon hearing about Ezeudu's death, Okonkwo is saddened along with the rest of the tribe. Ezeudu was a noble man in the clan and he was also the oldest tribesman. At the funeral ritual, Okonkwo's gun explodes, killing Ezeudu's son. This is a shocking event because nothing like this had happened before. Okonkwo had to obey tribal law and leave the clan because it was a "crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman's son" (124). The law of the land dictated Okonkwo could return to the tribe after seven years' exile. That was not the worst of things: the clan also burned Okonkwo's houses and destroyed his property. Here we see how Okonkwo could be seen as a victim of fate and circumstances. He did not intend to shoot anyone at the funeral that day but he did take his gun along with him to the event. Okonkwo is also happy when the clansmen burn down the church and along with the others guilty of the crime, he arms himself for fear of retribution. He, along with the others, are jailed and Okonkwo is sentenced to hang. All of these events are not Okonkwo's fault and the consequences of events are not his, either. However, he does choose to react to the in specific ways.