In Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart, he recounts the story of Okonkwo, an African villager whose primary goal in life is to outshine his father. Okonkwo's father, Unoka, is known in the village as being lazy and unaccomplished, and Okonkwo endeavors to distance himself from his father and his lackluster life by becoming an achiever. Unoka constantly borrows money but never pays it back, so Okonkwo prides himself on his wealth but also on his courage and strength. In a display of what Americans might call "macho pride," Okonkwo hides his true feelings all the time and shows only a brusque demeanor that he thinks demonstrates real masculinity.
A key event in the novel tests his ability to hide his feelings effectively. He has been chosen to act as guardian to a boy taken prisoner from a neighboring tribe because his father had been party to killing a girl from Okonkwo's village. As a "proud and imperious emissary of war," Okonkwo thrills to be the one chosen to bring back the boy and a young virgin as the spoils of war (Achebe 9). This boy, Ikemefuna, grows increasingly close to Okonkwo, and Okonkwo has in his heart started thinking of him as a natural son.
When things fall apart is when the elders decide that it is necessary to put him to death. This is a hard thing for Okonkwo, who has grown fond of him and knows that the boy trusts him. The men of the village will trick him into leaving the village and then they will kill him. Although Okonkwo is devastated at the news, and one of the elders warns him not to take part in the murder, Okonkwo is afraid to display any weakness. He makes up his mind to participate in Ikemefuna's killing to show that he is a man of courage and not given to feminine weakness. At the last minute, he knows that he has betrayed Ikemefuna and feels stricken with guilt but goes through with the killing anyway, and after the boy's death, Okonkwo's life seems to s
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