Things Fall Apart

Okonkwo is not a hero, his refusal to change precludes the ability to undergo a death and

rebirth which could have saved him. I do not believe, Things Fall Apart, has a hero. While no

character in the story is without virtue, none complete a heroic journey or achieve anything

heroic, instead we simply see humans portrayed earnestly and deeply flawed. The closest

semblances of a heroic arcs are seen in Enzinma and Nwoye. Enzinma’s story, while

empowering from a gender perspective is not heroic, as in the end she becomes like her deeply

flawed father showing that being atypically brazen or bold does not lead to change. Nwoye’s

story is similarly not heroic because he reverts be his previous behaver after the death of

Ikemefuna and also becomes like his father, a living antithesis of the ideals of their father.

Okonkwo is presented as both the victim and victimizer of his own mind, along with his

pervasive fear, gratuitous violence, emotional unavailability, and failures as a husband and

father, he is disingenuous and hypocritical. Okonkwo is never honest about his motives or

emotions and though he refuses to see it, Okonkwo has become exactly like his father. Okonkwo

has many false epiphanies as he rationalizes his actions, with the phrase "eyes were opened"

being used frequently, yet he never actually sees the true problems or his own failings. Okonkwo

demonstrates an acute incapability to take responsibility for his actions just as his father before

him, and instead finds ways to justify or rationalize his behaviors.

Okonkwo condemns his son for not being like him and for abandoning the gods of his

father while he himself builds his entire life on abandoning and distancing himself from all

aspects, beliefs, and values of his own father. Okonkwo is so preoccupied with not being seen

like his father that he chooses not to understand that his son is choosing to be the opposite of him

just as Okonkwo chose to be the opposite of his father. His ridged and fear driven actions
inadvertently making Okonkwo like Unoka. Similarly, he resents Unoka for failing his family

and leaving them with nothing but in his avoidance of the same he fails his own family and

leaves them with nothing.

This similarity is hidden throughout the narrative with another similarity being seen in

the idea that Unoka failed the village because his actions did not contribute to their prosperity

and Okonkwo failed the village because his actions led to him not being in the village to protect

it from external influences. Additionally, just as Unoka drifted from his cultural norms so to did

Okonkwo. His disregard for the reverence of the week of peace, aversion to the musical

traditions of his culture, and opposition to traditional folklore when perceived as feminine

foreshadow the destructive effects his ideology has on the traditions and culture of his people.

Thus, in the end, none of the villagers join his final revolt because he is viewed just like his

father, embarrassing and detrimental to the village.

Achebe’s focus on which qualities Okonkwo venerated and which he disregarded as well

as the repercussions of such an overly strict adherence to those beliefs warns against moving

forward with a rashly or rigidly as well as seeking vengeance or violent retribution. Okonkwo

and the other village leaders are tortured and humiliated in prison, but it is vengeance that

destroys Okonkwo.

Okonkwo’s story showcases how courage, tradition, honorableness, and masculinity,

while all good qualities, cannot lead one to happiness and prosperity; and if one is unwilling or

unable to also accept tolerance, compassion, compromise, and understanding as equally

important virtues than adherence to one’s own virtuous ideals can ultimately be self-destructive.

Okonkwo's obsession with strength and his motivation of fear further warn against similar

mentalities in leadership while deciding the future of Igboland.

 Okonkwo's suicide is a powerful warning against destroying oneself out of anger or spite,

as well as a call not to lash out towards all ideas and institutions related to the British colonialism

while they move beyond colonialism. However, following this message Achebe describes the

Commissioner's musings about what he had learned in the years he had “toiled to bring

civilization” to Africa and his desire to write a book about it with an offensive and racist title as

well as the idea that Okonkwo would not warrant a chapter but a reasonable paragraph. This

highlights the importance of also remembering the dehumanization and injustices of the past. By

pairing these two ideas Achebe has made an argument of moving forward in good faith and in a

constructive way but not forgetting the past so as to prevent the repetition of history.

Achebe masterfully balances the middle ground throughout the story. He portrays

everyone as people, not heroes and villains or victims and bullies, but as flawed products of their

societies and ideologies. The missionaries were able to quickly gain power because the societal

outcasts saw Christianity as a means to escape their sub-human treatment. This shows that even

before the European’s inhumanely arrived, people were already treating each other as less than

human. The villagers were also shown as the first to use violence when they kill the first

European missionary because of a prophecy.

Okonkwo is also shown as incredibly similar to the Europeans with a proclivity for

violence, a skewed sense of ownership over others, dictatorial views of justice, reverence for

material worth, and refusal to acknowledge the opinions, values, or perspectives of those he

viewed as inferior. Likewise, the white men are likened to locusts because they consume

everything, calling to mind a biblical plague, but previously when actual locusts were present,

they are viewed as a good thing and a good source of food. This highlights the duality of the

Europeans; they were both destructive but also beneficial.

 Achebe challenges the previously held European essentialism in Africa while also

decrying the unbalanced perspective of victimism that stereotyped Europe as solely malevolent

and evil while Africa was previously uncorrupted or pure until brutalized by the white man. He

shows not only the evils of the Europeans but also the positive influences they brought.

Similarly, the Europeans are not monochromatically depicted, some like Mr. Brown are

shown to be genuinely benevolent while others like the Commissioner and Mr. Smith are clearly

racist and oppressive. This nuanced approach shows the virtues and flaws of both the European

and African perspectives. This ideology is best summarized by Achebe himself when in 1994 he

said “I believe in the complexity of the human story and that there’s no way you can tell that

story in one way and say, This is it... Igbo people say, if you want to see it well, you must not

stand in one place.”

The scene in which Ekwefi and Okonkwo defy Chielo’s orders by following her and

Enzinma has several important aspects. First, it shows how courage and strength are not the

solely the virtues of men and are a defining characteristic of Ekwefi and of mothers in general. It

also gives incite into various relationships and dynamics occurring between women in the story

which is rare and definitely places the story higher on the Bechdel–Wallace test. Okonkwo’s part

in the scene helps show him as more human and capable of emotions which he rarely shows. It

also demonstrates that despite his terrible actions and condemnation of femininity he does love

his family, including the more brash and bold women in it. This contrasts with his refusal to

accept the teachings of Uchendu on the importance of feminine virtues.

The role of women, femininity, and motherhood is expanded upon in Uchendu’s

attempted lesson to his nephew. Uchendu tries to convey the importance and value of the

feminine traits as well as the equality of masculinity and femininity hidden behind custom and
tradition. He details the irreplaceable role mothers play in society. Unfortunately, Okonkwo

refuses to change his ridged ethics and succumbs to the same fate that Uchendu says his

understanding of the concept prevented, suicide.

Okonkwo’s betrayal and killing of Ikemefuna symbolizes the destruction of the bridge

between father and son. Ikemefuna was the middle ground between Okonkwo and Nwoye and

his existence connected them and brought them closer, when Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna he also

symbolically kills any possibility of connection with his son. Ikemefuna also represents the idea

of an outsider and in some ways is himself Christ like. Okonkwo’s insistence on killing

Ikemefuna foreshadows not only his later insistence of fighting the white men but also Nwoye’s

conversion to Christianity, Ikemefuna’s sacrifice brought Nwoye to Christianity far more than

Christ’s.

The killing of Ikemefuna also heralds back to the warnings Achebe had detailed. Killing

Ikemefuna was symbolic of dredging up old grievances and retaliating for a crime which he had

no part in, nor any knowledge of. Achebe shows Ikemefuna as both innocent and young, just as

the descendants of the colonialists should be seen, and his death is the catalysis for future

destruction when the crimes of his forebearers cannot be forgiven, showing the cyclic nature of

violence and vengeance.

Achebe continues his middle ground approach while detailing the culture clash and

religious conflict through the story. Many similarities are visible between the two faiths

presented such as the multifaceted aspects of the Earth goddess being viewed as separate entities

much like the Christian holy trinity. The introduction of Christianity inevitably leads to unjust

and unfair actions but as seen with the banishment of Okonkwo over an accidental death and the

killing of Ikemefuna appeasing the Earth Goddess also leads to unjust and unfair actions.
 The Christians are shown in various ways throughout the narrative, each representing

widely varied approaches. We are shown two pairs of diametrically opposed Christian

individuals, the two European Christians, Mr. Brown and Mr. Smith, and the two African

Christians Mr. Kiaga and Enoch. Mr. Brown shows a culturally sensitive means of conversion

which listens to the villager’s beliefs and incorporates Christianity into local beliefs while Mr.

Smith is the stereotypically racist, fire and brimstone style Christian. Likewise, Mr. Kiaga is

harmless and kind, while Enoch is a force of destruction when he unmasks the egwugwu

metaphorically killing the gods of the village.

The use of the name Enoch was a clever elusion to both biblical Enochs, in Genesis,

Enoch is said to have “walked with God: and he was no more; for God took him,” which hints at

the loss of self which is inherent to the unmasking. Enoch was taught all secrets and mysteries

and does the bidding of god of his own accord which is important as it is not the white men who

do the actual unmasking of the egwugwu. It is those taught the “secrets and mysteries” of

Christianity who chose to do it. This is reinforced when Obierika says, “The white man is very

clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and

allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one.”

Additionally, Cain's son born after the murder of Able was named Enoch which parallels the

murder of Ikemefuna leading to the birth of this radicalized version of Enoch.

It is also important to note that Achebe returned to his previous warnings by having the

Mother of the Spirits and the village, weep and mourn when the egwugwu was unmasked and

symbolically killed. Contrary to how she is portrayed in previous occasions of insult, she does

not seek to avenge the death of her son. This mirrors the call for the Umuofia people to abandon

the desire to avenge the injustices they suffered at the hands of the white men.