Pettit 1
Mason Pettit
World Literature
Mr. Richardson
21 January 2021
The mental and spiritual deterioration of Okonkwo, the protagonist of Things Fall Apart
by Chinua Achebe, is a tragic spiral of disappointment, lost hope, and grief. Okonkwo begins the
story a strong and revered warrior who is at the peak of his prestige, but as he endures tragedy
after tragedy from the execution of his near-son Ikemefuna, to his exile from his homeland, to
the illness of his daughter, he is reduced to the shadow of a man he is at the end when he
tragically takes his own life. The pride of the Igbo people in their country, village, and culture
goes through a similar transformation as the colonists worm their way into the culture into the
villages eventually resulting in a weakened national spirit. Despite the fact that both the national
culture and Okonkwo’s mental and spiritual states deteriorate, it should not be conflated that
Okonkwo’s decline is reflective of the decline of the national spirit. Abdalhadi Nimer A. Abu
Jweid makes this mistake in his paper “The Fall of National Identity in Chinua Achebe’s Things
Fall Apart”. The author in this paper makes the claim that, “The deterioration in national identity
symbolically correlates to the protagonist’s personal irresolute experience which is at first
physically powerful but in the end spiritually weak” (Jweid, 526). The author attempts to prove
his point by considering three key factors of African nationalism: aboriginality, cultural
hegemony, and subaltern.
Throughout his novel, Chinua Achebe offers a three dimensional portrayal of Igbo people
and culture. The characters have a diverse set of perspectives and values, and the novel as a
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whole battles African stereotypes perpetuated by Western culture. This comprehensive tapestry
of African culture leads to a greater understanding of Okonkwo’s strong desire to hold together
his people and not give credence to the Christians. Okonkwo notably “ground his teeth in
disgust” (Achebe, 49) when the village chose to ostracize the Christians instead of taking more
aggressive action against the missionaries. Okonkwo’s hatred of the missionaries is reflective of
the ethnic and national pride he holds. As Jweid states in his paper, “Okonkwo’s resentment of
the Christians provokes a national sense via his peoples’ fanaticism. They are committed to
ethnic aboriginality” (Jweid, 531). The author is correct that Okonkwo’s resentment is indicative
of a commitment to ethnic aboriginality; however, he loses sight of the fact that the village
doesn’t follow Okonkwo. The village chooses to simply ostracize the Christians, but Okonkwo is
consistently pushing for more aggressive action. For this reason, it cannot be accurately claimed
that Okonkwo’s national sense is reflective of the national sense of the entire village.
When the Christians arrive in Things Fall Apart they exert power over the native people
by using education and a new form of government to force their new rules upon the Igbo people.
By controlling the education system, the Christians ensure they hold power over the values of the
youth thus changing the culture of the village as a whole as these people grow into their new
ideals. Through their hegemony, the Christians are able to dominate the actions of the Igbo
people. Jweid makes the claim “Colonial hegemony reaches its peak when Okonkwo grows his
last harvest in Mbanta… This is an indication that Okonkwo is no longer able to grow food in his
own territory. The land has almost been conquered by the whites who exploit Igbo and other
villages” (Jweid, 534). This would be true except that Okonkwo leaves Mbanta not because the
Christians have stopped him from growing food, but because his exile from his homeland is
ending: “The seven wasted and weary years were at last dragging to a close” (Achebe, 162). This
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shows that while the Igbo culture begins to decline, Okonkwo is in fact rebounding from the
troubles he inherited from Igbo traditions. Therefore, Okonkwo’s mental and spiritual states do
not reflect the state of Igbo culture, and in this instance, they are completely in opposition as
Okonkwo is in the midst of a resurgence while the national identity is just beginning to form
cracks.
The idea of subaltern is inseparable from cultural inferiority. In Okonkwo’s native
culture, women are subaltern to men, and when the Christians arrive, they believe that the native
people are subaltern to the Christians. The subjugations of groups of people in Igbo culture leads
them to Christianity, and in turn the Christians use their power to subjugate Igbo people.
Okonkwo is used to a time where he was respected greatly, and his people held similar beliefs to
himself, but when he returns to his homeland, he finds himself in a much different situation. The
Christian church has grown strong and has their ability to exercise their power almost
unchecked. This makes Okonkwo cling to his culture as he knew it while he watches the village
fall away from these ideas around him: “but it was a resilient spirit, and in the end, Okonkwo
overcame his sorrow. He had five other sons and he would bring them up in the way of the clan”
(Achebe, 56). Okonkwo continues to cling onto his beliefs until he kills the missionary and he
realizes that no one is standing behind him on his mission to free his homeland from the
Christians. This causes him to lose faith in his spiritual beliefs and ultimately commit suicide.
This refutes Jweid’s claim that, “Okonkwo’s tragic end portrays the collective fall of his people”
(Jweid, 536). Okonkwo clings strongly to his national sense of identity while the village around
him begins conceding to the Christians. In the end, both the Igbo collective identity and
Okonkwo die, but they only briefly parallel, and one is not a reflection of the other.
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Abdalhadi Nimer A. Abu Jweid provides a unique perspective on the downfall of
Okonkwo and the national spirit around him, but the mere fact that both end up in ruin at the end
of the novel does not support the claim that they are inherently indicative of each other.
Okonkwo’s state is very often different from the state of the national identity, and therefore they
are two separate entities that are sometimes on parallel paths rather than symbolic reflections of
each other.
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Works Cited
Abdalhadi Nimer A. Abu Jweid. “The Fall of National Identity in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall
Apart.” Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, vol. 24, no. 1, Mar. 2016,
pp. 527–537. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=1
14346132&site=eds-live&scope=site.
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Penguin Publishing Group, 2019.