MHS AP English discussion

Where does Okonkwo have left to go? Thoughts?

i believe that Okonkwo will most likely be heading to live out his exile with his mother's homeland could be a possibility. Since it currently he's living with his father's tribe it would be unlikely for him to stay there when he is being exiled from their. One question that i have is would Okonkwo mother's former tribe willingly and openly accept him into their community for the duration of his exile.

Commented posted by Andy

I also believe the only place he can go is his mother's homeland. He can't stay where he is now, both because of the tribe's laws, and because of his moral code. He won't like leaving, as he has literally spent his entire life building himself up, only for this event to ruin all of it.

Because Okonkwo accidentally murdered a kinsman from Umuofia, his fatherland, he and his family have no choice but to go to his motherland, Mbanta.

*SPOILER ALERT* Mbanta is Okonkwo's motherland because that was the origin of his mother's birth and the location of her grave. Same rule applies for his fatherland.

I found that Okonkwo's uncle, Uchendu, to be very wise. His story about Nkena, "Mother is Supreme", was quite interesting, and quite insightful to the traditions of the people. As for his kinsmen, they are quite generous and very open to receiving Okonkwo and his family, something that I found quite inspiring. The genuine care of Uchendu is also heartwarming, for someone who has barely any contact with such a relative yet to open their hearts so wide.

As for Obierika, he's a true friend. He promised Okonkwo to help him all he can and he follows through with that - I love that about him. Yet his information about Abame signaled a change in the story, something that I already was expecting to happen, but not so soon. With the introduction of European missionaries and talk about slave trade, with guns and machetes, it's very clear that the setting is the late 1690s to early 1700s, maybe even further. The illustration of the conversion process of the African people to that of the Christian missionaries is also quite in depth. The resent of the clansmen is present as well as the thoughts and actions of everything that occurs between the two opposing forces. It is sad for Okonkwo, however, to lose Nwoye.

The ending of the second part feels like a shift to me. Why else would one of Uchendu's kinsmen talk so fervently about bonds of kin and clan? I wish the best of luck to Okonkwo and am eager to finish the book.

I realized that the locusts' arrival from the beginning of the book actually foreshadowed the arrival of the white men in the middle of the book. I wish i remembered the page number, but i remembered that the author specifically repeated "they settled" to describe the locusts which all makes sense now. The white men are settling in the lands and things are changing, or "falling apart" in the perspective of the native people.

I also agree with Stanley's comment about Uchendu. Uchendu is able to bring some sort of sense into Okonkwo because he is older and has much more wisdom than him. In his own village, he presents himself as manly and strong and was very stubborn on keeping it so. Uchendu reminds Okonkwo that it is okay to show affection, that it is in fact, necessary and natural to turn to the maternal figure for comfort and solace.

And finally, I applaud Okonkwo's son Nwoye for questioning authority! The new religion that the Western world brought has made him question the way things are running (like why children, men, and women are sacrificed.) This relates back to the poem and how the people of the tribes may or may not see things in a new light due to the cultural influences.

While I agree on a personal level with Xuan that Nwoye should question authority and discover his own truths independent from what his tribe thinks, I believe that Achebe portrays this experience as a betrayal. From Okonkwo's point of view, Nwoye "abandoned his ancestors" (153). The gradual abandoning of traditional ways and adoption of Christianity is what the poem in the beginning refers to. Things start to fall apart when the white men infiltrate - establishing new kinds of government and tearing apart families like Okonkwo's. Mr. Kiaga even repeats some supposedly godly words: "Blessed is he who forsakes his father and mother for my sake" (152). Nwoye is still a child, impressionable and easily manipulated by the "poetry" he sees in the mysterious novelty of the new religion. So one can see that Achebe is portraying the missionaries' influence in a negative way (and this is further supported by the ending.) Gone is the once-secure promise of an everlasting family and tribe, supported by past generations. It must have felt like the end of the world to Okonkwo, who had staked so much on his family's reputation and the future legacy of his sons.

To start off, I'd like to discuss the shift in Okonkwo's characterization from the previous segment of the book, especially the new feelings of powerlessness and impotence that Okonkwo feels after losing his dream of becoming one of the lords of the clan.

When his gun goes off accidentally(in the closing of the previous chapter) it is symbolic of Okonkwo himself, whose violent outbursts often put those around him in harm's way and cause serious problems in relations between Okonkwo and his fellow tribesmen.However, despite being "well recieved by his mother's kinsmen"(p.129), he still "regretted every day of his exile" (p.162), showing his immaturity as a character and inability to let go of the past, which is further intertwined with the characterization of Okonkwo as child-like in Chapter 14. In scenes where Okonkwo is depicted as a child, there is a clear shift in the author's word choice. For example, when Okonkwo's mother died , he was "crying the traditional farewell". The double entendre behind "crying" can be explained thusly: Okonkwo had yet to develop his macho-man facade , and was genuinely unafraid to express his sorrow at his mother's death.Or in the older sense of the word, "crying" was essentially a method of spreading news, with "Town Criers" shouting out important developments.This could be interpreted as the event which allowed Okonkwo to begin developing his Persona and separating himself from his past (With his mother and father dead, Okonkwo was able to truly start over and become a self-made man,in multiple senses of the phrase).However, this began a long cycle of running away from emotional problems, rather than dealing with them directly, which would come to plague both Okonkwo and his eldest son Nwoye.

Okonkwo further "[yields] to despair"(p.131) as time passes, his stubborn clinging to the past leaving an already rather grim and serious character disillusioned with his reality, with even work(his usual coping mechanism " no longer {having} the pleasure it used to"(p.131), which really speaks to Okonkwo's infirmity of spirit. Soon after, his uncle Uchendu berates him for wallowing in his own self-pity and "thinking [himself] the greatest sufferer in the world"(p.135) and saying that despite everything, "[he] is still a child"(p.134), further strengthening Okonkwo's characterization as self-absorbed. It is largely this self absorption and inability to maintain close relationships with others which make me believe Okonkwo's failure to adapt to change will eventually lead to his downfall (based on my earlier prediction).

Later in the book, Okonkwo projects his feelings of powerlessness onto his son Nwoye, lamenting how he, the ever-passionate "Roaring Flame" (p.153)could beget the "cold, impotent, Ash"(p.153) that is Nwoye (In Okonkwo's eyes, at least). However, in my opinion, Okonkwo's borderline narcissism cannot let him see that his son is in fact following the same path that Okonkwo himself took: rejecting his father to forge his own identity. In fact, in attempting to reject Okonkwo (and his past), Nwoye instead emulates him, running not only from his emotions but his native culture, a lost child in search of acceptance anywhere he can find it (Which may explain his conversion to Christianity, as it would give him a fresh start).However, in Okonkwo's eyes, he has only failed as a parent because his son doesn't take after him,(and as with many people with deep seated emotional scars) cannot see that relationships are mutual, and Nwoye has only been subtly responding to Okonkwo's immature true nature by running away, caused by their lack of healthy method of expression for their feelings.

In the 2nd segment of Things Fall Apart , Nwoye is characterized as an insecure and introverted teen, struggling with the pressures of living up to his father's expectations and finding his place in the world. However, it's interesting to me how Achebe portrays Nwoye and Okonkwo as having a sort of Yin-Yang style duality in their obsessions to start anew and escape their shame . While Okonkwo attempts to live down his father's debts and rise to great status (searching for acceptance among his kinsmen and tradition), Nwoye attempts to live up to his father's name (failing miserably) and searching for acceptance among the whites and the new religions instead, asserting that he is "one of Them... he (Okonkwo) is not my Father"(p.144) (being that his father's outward persona is essentially the example of a stereotypically masculine African male). However, it's important to take into account that Nwoye's (relatively) effortless abandonment of his African culture has it's roots in Ikemefuna's (whom he loved like a brother) death and other disquieting events from his childhood.In turn, Nwoye turns to the new religion for security, feeling that Christianity's promises of salvation for all " answered a vague and persistent question that haunted his soul- the question of the twins crying in the bush... [and] of Ikemefuna"(p.147). In my opinion,Achebe portrays Nwoye's conversion to Christianity not necessarily as "an impressionable child being manipulated" as Sarah said, but as more of an expression of Nwoye's inability to accept African tradition (which has already caused him great emotional suffering). Thus, it could instead be interpreted that Nwoye's suffering/lack of a proper male influence in his life (much like Okonkwo's) has lead to a lack of communication, which in turn leads to denial and major self-expression issues, which he feels that Christianity can help solve. This is in turn mirrored with Christianity's acceptance of outcasts, and other peoples whom feel society has treated them poorly. In fact, this parallels the rise of Christianity in Europe-> When Christianity was just a relatively small offshoot of Judaism, it was best able to spread during the fall of the Roman empire, as the promise of an easier portal to a better afterlife sounded more and more appealing to the demoralized Roman populace, with some help from Emperor Constantine. It is also important to note that some African rulers openly accepted Christianity, such as the Kingdom of the Kongo in the 15th century AD, on occasion as a method to unify their people.

Now, to discuss the shifts in style of conflict:

As the white missionaries begin to arrive, and more religious undertones creep into the narrative, it is fair to characterize a good deal of the conflicts in this segment of the book being emphasized as "Man Vs. God" with societal clashes as an important undertone to take into consideration. The white missionaries building their church in the Forest of Evil, as well as their many other brazen acts in defiance of long-standing tribal traditions (from the perspective of the Ibo people) are seen as abominations unto their Gods. For example, when a missionary originally attempts to win converts, he say that God has sent him to convince them "to abandon [their] wicked ways and false Gods " (p.145) a rather abrasive tone to take( essentially insulting the tribesmen), considering the missionary's supposed intentions. I think that Achebe really helps to portray the genuinely egotistical nature that the invading whites had in the colonization/conversion progress.Is it truly any wonder that the Mbanta tribesmen respond with similar derision? Achebe seems to indicate that the Mbanta clansmen tolerate the Christian presence out of a natural belief that fighting for their Gods is not proper, when the Gods can fight for themselves; Thus, when Okoli, a Christian convert who purportedly killed a sacred python falls ill, the village observes it as a miracle, a sign that divine justice was on their side.

Okonkwo himself also reports struggling against his "Chi" or personal God. The first segment gives the reader the proverb: "When a man says yea, his Chi will also affirm",to which Achebe replies in the second "A man cannot rise beyond the destiny of his Chi... [Okonkwo] was a man whose Chi said nay, despite his own affirmations."(p.131), and Okonkwo openly blames his Chi for all his "great misfortune, and exile, and now his despicable son's behavior."(p.153). However, in my opinion, Okonkwo is merely using his Chi as an excuse for his unwillingness to show vulnerability by expressing his emotions. Having either contemplated or attempted any aggressive means to win over his son, (in my mind at least), Okonkwo does recognize being open and gentle with his son as a possibility , but refuses to do so out of his aforementioned inability to come to terms with his own father, instead opting to abandon his son, in attempt to convince himself that "Nwoye [is] not worth fighting for."(p.152) and avoid his own pain.I feel this reciprocal severance between Nwoye and Okonkwo to be particularly tragic, considering how similar the two characters are on a basic level. By entwining the chinese interpretation of Chi (aka Qi/Ki) as life energy, it seems an obvious conclusion is that most of Okonkwo's pain in his later life is self-inflicted and based off his own immaturity and inability to adapt (particularly after detaching himself from his mother and siblings) and that as a result, things will most likely continue to go downhill from here.

In response to Ms. Clapp's question, in my opinion Okonkwo cannot truly metaphorically "go anywhere". In other words, Okonkwo's problems exist mainly in his mind, and unless he is able to break himself free from the fate of a static character, be happy with his own reality, and try to make a real relationship with his wives and children (being that Obierika seems to be much closer on an emotional level/in terms of mutual respect)he is doomed.

Like all the previous comments, I agree that Okonkwo must reside in Mbanta, his motherland, for seven years. I also agree with Terry when he says that Okonkwo “cannot truly metaphorically "go anywhere"”. It’s an internal conflict with his pride, and like Terry said, to truly free himself, he must let go of his chauvinistic behavior. He is unwilling to accept anything feminine. Like Stanley, I also found the quote “Mother is Supreme” interesting. It provides insight as to why Okonkwo was exiled to his motherland; to teach him a lesson that “mother is supreme”. The nature of his crime was offensive to his village of Umuofia, which was his fatherland; so therefore, he would be banished to Mbanta. Another explanation for his expulsion to the motherland would be that his inadvertent killing of the son of Ezeudu was “an offense against the great goddess” (125). This relates back to the quote “Mother is supreme,” and is intended to show Okonkwo the meaning of this quote. He will learn that “Mother,” in this case, the Earth goddess, “is supreme”. It’s also interesting that Okonkwo will go to his motherland because he strives so hard for this masculine image, and yet going to Mbanta seems to be something that would emasculate him.

It was also interesting to see that Okonko was punished for the killing of Ezeudu’s son, but not for that of Ikemefuna. Was it because Ikemefuna wasn’t considered a member of the clan? Was it because Ezeudu held three of the four clan’s titles, and therefore, his son is more prestigious?

As for the arrival of the white missionaries, and Nwoye’s conversion, it seems as if Nwoye’s connection with his father has been severed since the death of Ikemefuna, who acted as a unifying force between the two. The missionaries were able to fascinate Nwoye because he loved Ikemefuna, and they “seemed to answer a vague and persistent question” that he had about the deaths of the twins and Ikemefuna(147).The missionaries tell the villagers that their previous gods are “gods of deceit who tell you to kill your own fellows and destroy innocent children”(146). They are able to manipulate the vulnerability of people like Nwoye, by exploiting some of the “flaws” of the Ibo culture. Achebe shows, like Terry stated, the “egotistical nature” of the conversion process. The missionaries clearly pointed out, what they considered flaws of the Ibo culture, and in doing so; hope to make some of the villagers realize that maybe their culture is wrong.

The rules of their society are very suspicious at times. Is it really what their deity wants or just random decisions because none of it seems to have any reasoning behind it. Does no one there question what goes on behind their backs, who’s really making the decisions in their clan? Okonkwo should have questioned the killing of Ikemefuna. He should not have ended his life. Though I see how opposing their beliefs would make anyone an outcast.

In the part where Uzowulu goes to Evil Forest to ask him of what to do about his wife, who had run away after getting beat often. It got me thinking about how many other husbands beat their wives and children, yet they’re not being punished for their crimes. Though it might only be of concern because his wife ran away to her family, but it is still not right. If this one guy gets punished for beating his wife, then Okonkwo should also be punished for beating his wives and for almost killing one of them.

Okonkwo’s anger was bound to backfire on him one day. Killing a clansmen and being exiled for seven years is just karma. The best possibility of where he will go will probably be, like what everyone else says, his motherland, Mbanta. What would he return to after seven years? His house is gone. His family, I’m not so sure of. He will have to start building up again from the bottom.

Even from the beginning of the book I tried to read it without putting my personal opinion on some of the traditions and beliefs but I found it really hard. Looking in as a person living in a civilized society some of their beliefs seemed to be for lack of better words "simple" and "savage."

To me the signs of savagery came in during Ezeudu's funeral the fact that people ran around and one of the egugwn's had to be contained with ropes seems crazy to me. Usually when I think of funerals I think of sadness and silence not trying to restrain a spirit with ropes. The simplicity of the beliefs appears when it is stated that it is wrong for a person to die during peace week because a person on their death bed can't control when they die. I found it interesting that there were signs of people wanting to change like when Ezueda said "If a man dies at this time he is not buried but cast into the Evil Forest. It is a bad custom which these people observe because they lack understanding." (Achebe 32) This shows that even people within the tribe didn't agree with some of the beliefs because they thought them to be simple as well.

Guess what I'm trying to say is that in some cases like Mr. Brown introducing education the European missionaries was beneficial to them in that it took them away from some traditions and beliefs that made no sense.

Connecting with Xuan's comment, I too noticed the relation between the locusts and the white mans arrival. What I found interesting however was the the arrival of the locusts was a happy time, the clans people saw this as an abundance of food source, so do the missionaries and their new religion serve as "food" for the clans people? They are feeding of the words of the white man, some beginning to question, like Xuan mentioned, Nwoye seeks answers to his clans practices.

I can't help but relate the the poem to this portion of the story. The core of the book holds most relevance to the words used and to me serves as the core or slow climatic process to everything "falling apart."
The Poem from which Chinua Achebe named this book from is interesting in context to the story. Having read it over and over I connected several words with events in the text, finding it most often directly related to Okonkwo. He the Falcon that cannot hear the Falconer. He was always in his own mind, not willing to listen to others, he wanted his way and that was it. An aspect i can best associate with his dominant male person he had so feverishly built up and tried to maintain no matter the situation.(best example I can think of, is the killing of Ikemefuna, the young boy in which Okonkwo let into his family and raised as his own.) He cared strongly for the boy, yet to avoid being seen as weak he attended, almost taking part, of his killing.

"Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;"
This line in the poem, to me, clearly represents how the leaders of the clan, those who kept it together could not stand strong when their people began to give up on them and leave their traditions and join the "white man". Specifically when Okonkwo is banished, he is the center of the village, when he left due to exile things went down hill. The last line of the poem also suggest the betrayal of the clans people and the slow creeping control the missionaries tried taking upon the clans people.

Agreeing with most thus far, Okonkwo only option is to spend the duration of his exile in his mothers homeland. Agreeing with Tamisha, Okonkwo must learn to have respect for women, because now, his mother is his only choice, his only option. And the quote "mother is supreme", for me shows that women are life givers, with out women, no one would be around, thus giving Okonkwo this realization.

I find it ironic that Okonkwo must find refuge in his motherland, because he finds women to be the lowest form of human. Uchendu's speech about the value of women is powerful and should have had the greatest effect on Okonkwo. But instead of learning from this speech and gaining a new respect for women, Okonkwo remains the same proud man, and spends his time in Mbanta planning his return to Umuofia. Irony makes an appearance again; Okonkwo hits rock bottom, but does not build himself back up with compassion and gratefulness, like the audience expects a man in his position to do, but with anger and desire for revenge. Achebe is making a statement about pride, and fear. They can be a human's greatest downfall.

I agree that Okonkwo must reside in Mbanta, his motherland as well as with Terry when he says that Okonkwo “cannot truly metaphorically "go anywhere"”. ALl in all, Okonkwo has to set free his uptight behavior.
Like Stanley, I also found the quote “Mother is Supreme” interesting because it provides insight to why Okonkwo was exiled to his motherland, which ended up being to teach him a lesson that “mother is supreme”. He would be banished to Mbanta because the crime he committed in Umofia was unforgivable.

Also I notice like Jessica that Okonkwo picks himselfback up by getting strength through desire and anger. I agree with her observation that "[pride and fear] can be a human's greatest downfall."

I agree with Jessica on the irony of Okonkwo's new living situation in his motherland. Like Medjine, I tried not to put in my personal beliefs but found it difficult to not think little of Okonkwo when he beats his family senseless for looking at him wrong or doing something wrong or saying something wrong. I found Uchendu's speech about women very powerful and i smiled when Okonkwo couldn't answer his questions because he needs a wakeup call on what to value and appreciate.

The one moment I began to like Okonkwo's character was when he showed up with Ekwefi to ensure his daughter's safety. With machete in hand, it was a new Okonkwo, not a savagely Okonkwo. "Tears of gratitude filled [Elwefi's] eyes"(108) - this moment shows that there is a kind part of him. I think he may have changed overtime especially when dealing with his father because this side of Okonkwo reminded Ekwefi why she had fallen in love with him in the first place.

I find Ekwefi's character to be the strong female role in the story. She didn't always obey Oknokwo, and would give Ezinma eggs when she wasn't supposed to behind his back, or would follow a priestess to who knows where in the middle of the night. I think that is why Okonkwo is so fond of Ezinma, because Ekwefi raised her to be tough and because of her tough attitude, even Oknokwo had wished she was born a boy so he could have raised a strong offspring to become like he has.

After reading about Okonkwo's exile from his tribe I felt nothing but sympathy for him. This is because Okonkwo's biggest priority in life was to be one of the head leaders in his tribe. I felt that Okonkwo's exile only set him back in life and left him feeling useless. The worst part about Okonkwo's exile is that it wasn't even a result of his temper, but an accident. I felt sad for Okonkwo because a thoughtless mistake had delayed everything he had worked for, for another 7 years.

While reading the second third of this book, I questioned if Okonkwo would come back to his regular home and be immediately accepted into his tribe after 7 years. I also couldn't help but worry about Okonkwo, especially because being exiled from the tribe meant that he had to go to his mother's land, where he would most likely be at the bottom of the tribe.

Although it seems like the only place Okonkwo has to go is his mother land Mbanta, it did not seem like he learned much from being exiled. Instead, he gave the impression that he was still angry, and more than anything, yearned for revenge, like Jessica mentioned. A great need to re-establish his authority and leadership in his father land Umuofia, was also present, it seemed. He saw the Christian missionaries' hope to convert his people to Christianity as a sign of complete disrespect for his people's culture and religion, because, like everyone here mentions, the missionaries were leading his clan to abandon traditional customs and values Okonkwo had fought hard to preserve. Thus, the reason why he was so angry when the missionaries were ostracized, instead of being killed like he hoped. In addition, when one of the oldest members of the Umunna rises to thank Okonkwo at the end of chapter 19, he warns that the younger generation will succumb to the "abominable religion"that has settled among them, because they "do not understand how strong is the bond of kinship"(pg 167). The reader can assume that this worries Okonkwo, considering he's a strong advocate of his clan's traditional customs and values. This is why I believe that he will return to his fatherland Umuofia, in an attempt to both put an end to the increasing loss of his clan's religion and customs, and to re-establish his power and leadership.

Where else does Okonkwo have to go? As someone used to say, a man who was at the top of his game has no where left to go but down. He has to lose most of his possessions, his life that was so prominent in Umofia. This type of exile could mean many things. As Jaclyn said, Okonkwo, who hasn’t the clue how to answer Uchendu’s question, needs to realize he isn’t the greatest nor wisest of all men. I’m not surprised he still has feelings for his past life, and still dreams of the day he would rise up like the falcons and come back to his homeland, on top of the Falconer’s shoulder. And like Terry and Haley, I believe that Okonkwo can metaphorically go anywhere. He still has his youth and very much the family he has with him.

However that one gyre that came into play near the very end seems to be the climbing downfall of not only Okonkwo’s life but of his culture’s life. It was his leaders in Mbanta that decided to let the white men stay in fear of being compeletely destroyed like their sister town of Abame. It was because “many of them believed that the strange faith and the white man’s god would no last” (143) that they allowed things to fall. In Okonkwo’s case, that was Nwoye’s conversion to the new faith. It was the naivety of the tribe that allowed for the white men to take over. Do these tribal people deserve what the white men brought with them though? As Jaclyn has said, there is also a kind side of Okonkwo that we see when Elwefi’s daughter had been taken away by agbala and Chielo. I believe it was Achebe’s intention to show that all life had a good and bad side, and they to were normal people, trying to live normal lives in their upbringing. It’s obvious now, since we’re so far into the future, that we already know that the white men will win this war in the new era.

We all pretty much answered the question: “where does Okonkwo have left to go” for the first part, but after his exile where else can Okonkwo go? If he goes back, the white men will be there, is he stays the white men will be there. Okonkwo and his people can go nowhere but try to find another home. They need to accept this new culture and lose their old ones if they are to live. However he and most of his people don’t, and I love it. It’s this clinginess to their father’s custom that separate faiths, the white men trying to change fates and the African men trying to keep it. It is now, that things actually fall apart.

I agree with what Harris has to say, to an extent, about the idea that "a man who was at the top of his game has no where left to go but down." For many successful people, there is no end to their success if they know how to handle themselves and appropriately embrace that success. However, Okonkwo, as he has proved throughout this novel, clearly cannont manage his own success. I can't help but think about the great position that Okonkwo was at the beginning of the book; he was famous throughout his villiage for all of his amazing accomplishments and many people admired his strength and how much he differed from his lazy father. Now, in the second part of the book, it literally seems like he is completely losing it. He has killed two people (one of those people being like a son to him for 3 years) and is now being exiled for 7 years. I definitely agree with everyone that is saying that they connect this part of the book to the poem. It really seems like things are falling apart and that "the center cannot hold" any longer because of everything that is going on, from Okonkwo being exiled to Nwoye going out on a limb and questioning the religion that surrounds his clan.

I also completely agree with what Jaclyn had to say about Okonkwo showing up next to Ekwefi to make sure that their daughter was safe when she was extremely ill. Throughout most of this book, we've seen this barbaric side of Okonko;a man who constantly feels the need to impress everyone else by going to ridiculous measures to show his strength. But in this part of the book, we see a softer, father-like side of Okonkwo. He is not turning to violence because he wants to prove his strength and masculinity, but to protect the daughter that he loves.

I was quite shocked when Okonkwo was forced to leave his homeland, but unlike Grace, it was difficult for me to have pity for this man. To me, Okonkwo was extremely territorial and the power he held over his family and his tribe was turning him into a harsh and cruel individual. Like everyone else has been commenting, the center has indeed fallen for Okonkwo and his family. It's a shame though to see all of Okonkwo's efforts of success being squashed in a matter of seconds. He worked so hard not to turn out like his father, but now I'm afraid he's following in his footsteps.

Obviously, he must return to his motherland, as everyone has already answered, but I think this will be the best situation for Okonkwo. He needed an escape from the new travelers and their religion before he did anything else that might have gotten him into a large amount of trouble.