Okonkwo Imperialism

An eloquently written novel by Chinua Achebe, Thing Fall Apart, shows the effects of British colonization and the different aspects of Nigerian culture through the eyes of an Umuofian clansmen, Okonkwo. Okonkwo is a great and wealthy warrior. His actions are driven by longing to be the opposite of his coward father, Unoka. He uses this pre notion to make any decision like how he treats and interacts with others, his wives, children. A lot happens to Okonkwo during the duration of this novel. He takes in a boy who was won between a dispute of neighboring tribes, he kills him then shoots a well-respected village elder’s son and goes into exile for seven years. From the title, Things Fall Apart, its deducible that something within the
At a young age he won fame as the greatest wrestler, was a wealthy farmer and had three wives. He had two sides to him, outwardly powerful and rigid and inwardly was dictated by fear. He feared that he would become like his father, cowardly, lazy and unable to support his family. Okonkwo considered these characteristics of his father to be feminine. Overall, Okonkwo feared failure and weakness. He strived to make his life as manly as possible and doing this by rejecting anything that could be perceived as “feminine," especially emotion. As result he became great socially and financially but it also caused his downfall. His life didn't start to unravel right away but began after the arrival of Ikemefuna, a boy given to him by a neighboring tribe. Okonkwo becomes very fond of Ikemefuna because he demonstrates the right qualities of a perfect clansman. Though he is fond of Ikemefuna, he never shows it as it is a sign of weakness so he treated him like everyone else. During the period of Ikemefuna stay, Okonkwo broke the peace during the sacred Week of Peace when he beat his youngest wife, Ojiugo. That was the first point in which Okonkwo’s life began to unravel. The next point was when he was instructed that Ikemefuna was to be killed due to the declaration of the Oracle. Instead of listening to elder, Ogbuefi Ezeudu, when he warned him to “not bear a hand in his death” Okonkwo went
After the missionaries arrived in Mbanta, they began to introduce their religion to the natives. Furthermore, they initiated schools, hospitals and trading stores. Subsequently, people of tribe began converting to their religion of Christianity, buying into the idea that their religion was wicked and that the worshipped false gods. The church accepted everyone even those that were exiled. With people too captivated by the new religion, government and businesses that the missionaries brought with them that they started to drift from their own religion and culture. Okonkwo could tell a separation was happening especially when he told Obierika, “Now he has won our brothers, and our clan no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.” Due to the changes, the tribe seemed to be split, hence the metaphor of the knife, between those who didn't accept the new religion and those that did. As a result of the split, the intertribal relationship became strained. Another relationship that fell apart was that of Okonkwo and Nwoye. From when Nwoye was a boy, Okonkwo could see “womanly” manners in him. He sought to correct this by constant nagging and beating. Achebe said this developed Nwoye into a “sad-faced youth” (14). It wasn't until Ikemefuna came to live with them for three years that Okonkwo noticed Nwoye developing manly