Okonkwo Masculinity

In Things Fall Apart the lead role, Okonkwo, the strongest man in all nine villages struggles to maintain his power and masculinity, for example when he kills Ikemefuna he becomes sentimental and calls himself a woman. Towards the end of the story the reader is able to acknowledge what were the reasons Okonkwo kill himself and why he was not as strong as everyone depicted him to be. Okonkwo's last action alive was looked down upon by the people from his village because it was against their custom and religion. His last action was an abomination to his own culture and religion to whom he followed and lived by. Things started to fall apart for Okonkwo when a series of events took place. These occurrences weakened Okonkwo to the point that he decided to commit suicide.

Ikemefuna's death earlier on in the story had a big impact on Okonkwo's willingness to live as it weakened him after committing such a crime. Ikemefuna had a positive impact in Okonkwo's family specifically, with his oldest son Kwoye. Being so that Okonkwo finds himself in a situation that he feels the need to kill his adopted son to proof his power and masculinity leads him to feel guilt for going through with the death of his adopted son. Okonkwo calls himself a woman for feeling remorse for what he had done, feeling weak does not suit him, which is why he gets

Forced to get out of Umuofia, Okonkwo and his family leave to another village where his mother lived before she died. While the years go on, Okonkwo feels as if he did not become the strong and powerful person he wanted to beome because the people he was surrounded by all this time were weak. When the time comes for him to return to Umufia, he finds everything different and he is not able to do anything because he has no