Okonkwo In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Keep your head up. God gives his hardest battles to his strongest soldiers. Things Fall Apart (Achebe 11). Whenever Okonkwo gained hope everything seemed to fall apart. Things Fall Apart, God Grew Tired Of Us, and Moses, all of the heroic characters had to keep their faith in God in order to survive and overcome their obstacles.

Things Fall Apart by Achebe When Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna, “the doomed lad who was sacrificed to the village of Umuofia by their neighbors to avoid war and bloodshed” (Achebe 8). Ikemefuna was what held Okonkwo and his son Nwoye’s close relationship. Okonkwo who saw his eldest son as a reflection of his father, Unoka weak, lazy, and a failure. He put aside his hatred against his father and loved his son Nyowe for

Instead of staying and facing his consequences, Okonkwo ran away from them. When the missionaries arrived they introduced christianity to the tribe. “We have been sent by this great God to ask you to leave your wicked ways and false gods and turn to him so that you may be saved when you die” (Achebe 145). Before the missionaries arrived locust came to the village of Umuofia and this was a sign that there would be a great evil coming. The missionaries were what the locusts warned the tribe about. The arrival of the new comers created conflict within the tribe's belief system and tradition. The missionaries believed there was only one God. Jesus Christ. Because the Igbo people believed that there were multiple gods, their religion was faulty and they were just worshipping wood and stones. This also created tension with Okonkwo and Nwoye. Nwoye found himself more interested in the new religion. Once Okonkwo found out that his son had gone into the christian church he lost his temper and beat him. Nwoye converted to christianity and left his father and family. Okonkwo's family

This evil was a civil war. “I am sent by Lord. I bring you news of doom. Your country, southern Sudan, will be destroyed.” (Dau 33). Only at thirteen years old John had to face violence and tragic deaths of friends and families. “My village had been destroyed. I had become separated from my mother and siblings” (Dau 6). Similar to Okonkwo John ran away from his problems, instead of staying and fighting for his country, John ended up feeling in hopes of finding safety and returning to his family once the war had calmed down. It takes years before John is able to return to his home land. After the Arabs attack, John found himself alone and with his fathers best friend Abraham who he originally thought was his father. John and Abraham without food, water, and clothing they have to travel from South Sudan to east Ethiopia. On the way to Ethiopia they were joined by tens and thousands of other lost boys and girls of Sudan. For days John went on without eating. At night they walked and at day they found slept. They survived animal attacks and bombing raids and finally ended up in Kenya. John was selected to be leader, among the boys. He was given 200 other lost boys to look after on there walk to find refugee in Ethiopia. “Those were the times I thought God had grown tired of us.” (Dau 7) John lost hope in God, he wondered if