“Things Fall Apart” is a story written by Chinua Achebe regarding the inevitability of

fate and how the culmination of events will always result in a set ending. Specifically for

Okonkwo, the main character, it is less of a case of arguing “if” his fall was inevitable, and more

of a “when”. Due to Okonknwo’s upbringing and consequential events, Okonkwo was doomed

to fall from grace.

Starting from the beginning, Okonkwo’s relationship with Unoka, his father, was never

the best. In the Igbo society, men were expected to be strong, brave, fearless, yet his father was

none of these. Neglecting his masculine duties, “he died with no social titles and severely in

debt,” leaving Okonkwo nothing familial to hold onto (Achebe 5). In spite of his father,

Okonkwo refused to be lazy or effeminate, bottling up his emotions and only expressing the

negative ones. As Achebe says, “... he was possessed by the fear of his father’s contemptible life

and shameful death” (15).

In the African Igbo society, as previously stated, masculinity is heavily valued, shown by

Okonkwo’s actions as he holds himself to these standards. Using Okonkwo’s son Nwoye as an

example to show the broader cultural effects, “Nwoye knew it was right to be masculine and to

be violent, but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell” (Achebe 46). In

their culture, to show fear was to show weakness, these thoughts were further expressed by

Okonkwo when he killed Ikemefuna, “...cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak”

(Achebe 53). The accumulation of these events leads to Okonkwo hiding his emotions more,

leading to his eventual self-sabotage. Rather than his predetermined personality, his environment

ultimately shaped him, from his culture to his family, his downfall was caused by many different
factors. For example, Okonkwo felt greatly disappointed after seeing how far Umofia had

descended, Achebe conveyed Okonkwo’s “...a personal grief… for the warlike men of Umofia,

who had … become soft like women.” This quote shows how these masculine beliefs had been

ingrained into Okonkwo, and how much he had valued them (Achebe 157).

Perhaps if he had been more secure, maybe if he had a strong paternal figure, maybe his

outcome would have been different, but in the end, such is unchangeable and irreversible. It

would be nice to imagine Okonkwo’s ending could have been changed, but as it stands with his

childhood events and the environment that shaped him thereafter, Okonkwo’s downfall was

inevitable. While this story shows only one man’s downfall and struggles with insecurities, it can

be interpreted in many modern scenarios as well, providing insight and comfort to many readers

experiencing similar, exhausting situations.