Things Fall Apart Okonkwo's Journey

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In the novel Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, the reader follows Okonkwo through his mental journey. The novel is following the fictional character, Okonkwo, through his journey and records his reactions to the collision of cultures. Okonkwo is part of the Ibo culture, which he takes very seriously and the visiting of missionaries puts his identity to the test. A crucial part of the Ibo culture, for a man, is to aim to be the strongest not only physically, but also mentally. Okonkwo was seen as the strongest man in the clan of Umuofia. Through the events of bad interactions with the white men, his own son disregarding the Ibo culture and him killing himself at the end, it can be seen that Okonkwo is a very traditional person and he cannot handle situations challenging his identity. …show more content…
Nwoye is perfectly fine with converting into another religion even though he has disrespected his father in the worst way. Okonkwo had little words to say, he would rather use actions to show how he feels. “He seized a heavy stick that lay on the dwarf wall and hit him two or three savage blows” (Achebe 152). Okonkwo reacted in a way that was very abusive and emotional. He prides himself on never being emotional, but he was clearly very disappointed that his son is what he considers a failure. This was a blow to his own image because from an outsider perspective it looks like he can’t raise his son. This challenges his image causing him to doubt his

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