In Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo, the protagonist, represents the manly ideal in a native African society of the Igbo that puts great value on masculinity. He prides himself on the fact that he became a well-respected member of the community with little help from others. However, he is not without flaws. When European powers begin colonizing Africa, Okonkwo finds his way of life disrupted. His greatest challenge becomes accepting the beliefs of others and relating to the majority. Okonkwo resists change, trying to hold onto the old way of life. In Things Falls Apart, Okonkwo proves himself to be a notorious anti-hero as he struggles with his own self-image, rules his household with fear, and rejects changes in his society upon the arrival of the white man.
Okonkwo’s own destruction is a result of his high expectations and obsession with toughness. His father, Unoka, was a good-spirited but generally unproductive member of the community. He acquired no fortune and preferred music and story-telling to hard physical labor. Okonkwo dismissed his father’s outlook on life as foolish, and devoted his time to masculine things such as wrestling, sharecropping, and the acquisition of titles. The culture of their tribe is to judge an individual based on their strength and proficiency, or lack thereof. To appear sentimental would be a reflection of his father’s persona. It is Okonkwo’s greatest fear to be judged as inept or weak. When the Oracle of the Hills demands that Ikemefuma, a boy living in Okonkwo’s household from another village, should be killed, he “drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak,” (52). Prior to this, Okonkwo had treated Ikemefuma like his own son. Okonkwo becomes so absorbed with the image he is projecting to his community that he grapples with his emotions and fails to build meaningful relationships.