Okonkwo's Goal in 'Things Fall Apart': to Make a Difference

In the novel Things Fall Apart, the protagonist Okonkwo and his tribe, the Igbo clan lives peacefully with Okonkwo garnering many titles but his tribe tragically falls with the sudden arrival of assertive European missionaries and ultimately leads to the tragic death of Okonkwo. Okonkwo's Goal In Things Fall Apart can be analysed in this essay trought the plot of the book as this character was against the change brought by the Christian missionaries in his village, individuals should not oppose change because it brings feelings of the unknown but rather embrace change because change brings the possibility of gaining new opportunities.

Change brings possibilities that one would have never received before. In the old culture system of the Igbo, people who were considered worthless in the community, the outcasts. With the arrival of the Christian missionaries, not only did they bring a new religion, they brought a new start for these outcasts. These outcasts, seeing that the new religion “[W]elcomed twins and such abominations, thought that it was possible that they would also be received”. Learning that, two of the outcasts headed into church one Sunday morning but as soon as they headed in, “The whole church raised a protest and was about to drive these people out when Mr. Kiaga stopped them.. ‘Before God’.. ‘there is no slave or free. We are all children of God and must receive these our brothers’… ‘He needs Christ more than you and I,’ said Mr. Kiaga’”. Without the arrival of the missionaries, the outcasts would have lived their life just like their ancestors, considered “abominations” in society. But instead, the changes brought by the missionaries allowed them to break that. The missionaries did not see “slave or free,” but saw everyone as “children of God” which drastically differed from the views of the old culture where one was judged by how many titles they earned in society. Mr. Kiaga recognized that the outcasts needed “Christ more than you and I,” when talking to Igbo natives and ignored the people who were trying to tell him about the idea of osu. This change of views granted these outcasts to finally sculpt a new identity of themselves in society as the osu were allowed to dispose of the perception of others and be recieved as fellow “brothers.” Another part of the story when change is deemed good is when Okonkwo is exiled and Obierika questions his exile. Achebe writes, “Obierika was a man who thought about things...Why should man suffer so grievously for an offense he had committed inadvertently? He remembered his wife’s twin children, whom he had thrown away. What crime had they committed?”. This passage holds a questioning tone, showing that Obierikais concerned with moral incertitudes. The keyword in this passage is “thought,” because Obierika is known as someone who is respectable in the village, and since he “thought” about things, he starts questioning customs, showing that he is more willing to adapt to new changes.

Unlike Okonkwo and the traditions of the village, the missionaries gave Nwoye a safe haven and a place of comfort where he felt like he finally belonged. After learning about his dear friend Ikemefuna’s death, Nwoye questions another custom of the Igbo, leaving newborn twins alone in the forest. Achebe writes, “A vague chill had descended on him and his head had seemed to swell, like a solitary walker at night who passes an evil spirit on the way. Then something had given way inside him. It descended on him again, this feeling, when his father walked in, that night after killing Ikemefuna”. Nwoye gets the same feeling that he got on the night of Ikemefuma’s death, an uneasy feeling. This indicates Nwoye’s attitude towards the death of Ikemefuma and other customs that Nwoye deems to be atrocious. The embodiment of a chill to be “vague” shows his idea that his moral obligations to his current culture seem to also be very vague, indicating that his moral compass does not align with that of his culture. Then, when the Christian missionaries came into Umuofia, Nwoye had the perfect moment to seize an opportunity brought by change. The new missionaries allowed Nwoye to find an identity for himself. Achebe writes, “It was the poetry of the new religion, something felt in the marrow. The hymn about brothers who sat in darkness and in fear seemed to answer a vague and persistent question that haunted his young soul—... He felt a comfort within as the hymn poured into his parched soul”. The missionaries provided a sense of comfort and identity to Nwoye, both of which Okonkwo and his old culture failed to provide. All along, Nwoye’s moral compass was in question and in constant conflict due to his obligation to his old culture. The new religion hit Nwoye “in the marrow,” meaning he had a connection to this religion very deeply, unlike his old culture where he barely understood it on the surface. When the Western missionaries introduced their tradition into the Ibo society, Nwoye realized that he was a fit for their religion; a faith where he didn’t need to hide his emotions or be compelled into making decisions that he knew were not ethical. The new religion’s “poetry” answered his “persistent question,” which comforted Nwoye and enriched his “parched” spirit.

Confronted with change, individuals from Igbo society respond differently. The individuals who chose to pick up from the change benefitted. The missionaries permitted Nwoye to at last discover a feeling of personality that he never got from the Igbo culture. The outcasts started a new life. While change brought by the Christian missionaries negatively impacted those heavily rooted in their old culture, it positively affected the individuals who acknowledged and grasped the change.