Okonkwo, One of the Most

Okonkwo, one of the most respected leaders of the village of Umuofia and Umuofia'a greatest warrior, is a man who believes in the value of masculinity -- in masculine violence and domination. His father, Unoka, was a weak, fearful and artistic man, who engaged in a profligate lifestyle. Okonkwo, through displays of strength, self-control, and good leadership tried to live a life antithetical to the principles embodied by Unoka.

Okonkwo's sons illustrate the paradoxes of kinship. His surrogate son Ikemefuna embodies the values that Okonkwo holds dear far more than his biological son Nwoye. Ikemefuna is given to Okonkwo as ransom by a neighboring town called Mbaino, in atonement for the murder of one of the residents of Umuofia. On one hand, Nwoye is supposed to be Okonkwo's enemy, given his heritage. Yet Okonkwo respects this young man more than he is supposed to, given their lack of blood ties of kinship. This relationship highlights the paradoxes inherent in Okonkwo's military values. On one hand, it is because of his militarism that Okonkwo loves Ikemefuna's strength and respects the boy; on the other hand, Okonkwo eventually kills Ikemefuna, to show that he is without pity when the Oracle says that the strange boy must die.

Okonkwo is officially forbidden to kill the boy by the Oracle, as he is Ikemefuna's surrogate father, but kills him anyway, to prove his strength to himself. This highlights Okonkwo's self-centeredness. He puts his own need to seem strong above the needs of the tribal religion. Ikemefuna shows that there is a way to still be masculine yet tender. Under Ikemefuna's tutelage, freed from some of his terror of his father, Nwoye becomes more of a warrior, but quickly regresses after his adopted brother's death at the hands of Okonkwo.

Q3. During the funeral of one of the community's oldest members, Ogbuefi Ezeudu, Okonkwo's gun accidentally kills a young man. This is portrayed in the novel as the result of ignoring the Oracle's words not to kill Ikemefuna, even though in this instance, Okonkwo's crime is not intentional. Okonkwo is severely punished for this crime. He is sent into exile with his family (as family are viewed as synonymous with the male head of the household, and punished for the male leader's crimes), his house is burned, and his livestock are killed.

Q4. Tradition governs this traditional African society and keeps it in a state of fragile order. When a crime occurs, as in the case of the killing of the Umuofia by one of the Mbaino, the tribes formally negotiate an agreement together. A symbolic exchange of human beings keeps the peace. Even Ikemefuna's death was supposed to take place in an orderly way, an order disturbed by Okonkwo's swaggering masculinity and determination to kill his beloved son himself. Agricultural fecundity is also tied to the need to appease the gods (Okonkwo's firing of his rifle during the funeral is said to disturb the earth goddess). Okonkwo's punishment, while harsh, is not bloody, ruthless and irrational -- he is deprived of his property, not his life, he is able to go to his mother's village for refuge. After the time period of his punishment expires after seven years, he may return. This orderliness stands in stark contrast to the unfair nature of colonialism.

Q5. Okonkwo prides himself as being head of a traditional family unit as a strong man. Okonkwo is the official head of his household, and when he is punished, the entire family is punished. While he feels emotional tenderness for his wife Ekwefi, he refuses to show it in public, even when she is with his favorite children. Okonkwo clearly respects his strong daughter Ezinma, and wishes that the son of his first wife Nwoye had her fiery determination and spirit. Okonkwo thus respects strength, and is even able to respect masculine strength in women, but he always associates femininity with weakness -- and with the qualities he despised in his father. This system of values is reinforced by the laws of the tribe. Men can take more than one wife, while women cannot take more than one husband. When Okonkwo is punished, his entire family is punished, because he is the male head of the household.

Yet paradoxically, Okonkwo's emphasis on masculine achievement proves counter-productive to his intentions to 'make a real man' out of his son. Nwoye is so intimidated by his father's attitude towards him that he acts like Okonkwo's despised father -- weak and cowardly. The novel hints that kinship ties beyond those of blood linage should be respected for the Africans to survive in the new world order. They should bind together, against the British, rather than fight amongst themselves. Ikemefuna is exactly what Africa needs. He is strong like Okonkwo but is capable of using his personal strength to inspire that quality in the hearts of others not of his tribe, like his adopted brother Nwoye.

In another illustration of cross-pollinating tribal ties, Nwoye idolizes Ikemefuna and never regards his father with the same respect as he did before Ikemefuna's death. Nwoye, denied a normal and healthy relationship with his father, instead shifts his alliance to the British and looks for emotional sustenance in a new culture. Nwoye, perhaps unsurprisingly, given the violence he has seen during his upbringing, finds particular comfort in the religion of Christianity, a religion in which the first are supposed to be last, and which declares that the meek shall inherit the earth. Christianity is not characterized as evil at first, although it will later be instrumental in spreading colonialism. Instead, the book illustrates how someone like Nwoye, in the absence of appropriate, humane patriarchal authority consistent with true Igbo values might turn to the faith.

Q6. Obierika is one of the novel's 'balancing' characters, like Ikemefuna. Obeirika is a strong man, and a good friend to Okonkwo. By selling the yams grown on Okonkwo's land, Obierika is able to ensure that Okonkwo has a small income for when he returns home to his native village. Obierika keeps his friend Okonkwo informed during his banishment. Obierka tells a tale of how a white man was killed by a village, who then tied his bicycle to a tree as part of the ritual killing. However, the ritual unwittingly proved to be the town's undoing, as the other white men realized what had transpired and razed the village to the ground, killing the inhabitants. Okonkwo does not see the death of the man as unjust or reckless, but merely believes the village was foolish not to arm itself, after killing the man. In Okonkwo's mind, violence always triumphs and might makes right.

Q7. The Igbo are a polytheistic people who worship many gods. Although there are inter-tribal skirmishes, no one god is seen to triumph over all of the other gods of the world. The beliefs of the Christian missionaries, who hold that there is only one god, are profoundly antithetical to the worldview of the native people. This concept also embodies the idea advanced by colonialism, that there is no relativistic scheme of values: the African mindset is not seen as different, but more primitive. Accepting Christianity and submitting to European domination is seen as the only way and the only truth. Similarly, the colonial mindset advocated the point-of-view that not only was the European way of life 'different' but that it was also in the greater moral scheme of things 'better.' The Igbo at times recognized that 'bad' things had to happen, like the death of Ikemefuna, for example. However, that religion also had a way of controlling such excesses -- Okonkwo was not supposed to kill the boy, for example. Christianity, because of the simplicity of its worldview and its insistence upon the Trinity, and upon the superior nature of 'civilization' versus pagan wildness, does not have such ambiguity, and demands a total victory and obedience. Nwoye, however, is attracted by the external trappings of Christian rhetoric, that promise him peace and a way out of a society in which he cannot compete because of his physical, emotional, and spiritual weaknesses. For Okonkwo, of course, the religion of Christianity is completely antithetical to his principles.