The Ibo

At first the Christians treat the Ibo people with some respect and they try to ease them into becoming Christians. Some Ibo people mostly the osu join them. Then the natives begin to get hostile to the converts and ban them from the quarry and river. Soon the missionaries begin to get a less forgiving and begin to insult the Ibo peoples’ ways like their religion, justice system, and all around life. The Ibo people get angry at them for this and they return the favor by frequently chasing them out of town and beating them. By now a lot more people convert and the Ibo begin to fall apart. They are more lenient on their ideals and customs. They begin to convert to British and Christian customs, but they still follow some of their old customs on the side of their new religion. This is not ok with Mr. Smith he believed it should be his way or now way. This posses a problem to the Ibo people and they have to chose one or the other.

How Okonkwo is Lacking!

Okonkwo believes that emotions are weak. Females are all about the emotion and so in contrast Okonkwo thinks that all women are weak. Women have the rare ability to console and comfort you in your time of need. This is one virtue that most if not any men don't have. Being as stubborn and one-minded as he is he will never learn that showing emotion can actually strengthen relationships and can be a valuable asset in ones life. It causes Okonkwo to lose his son Nwoye to the Christians because he doesn’t show love to him and this confuses and frustrates Nwoye. This makes Okonkwo think that he has a bad chi and he thinks that Ekwefi adopted Nwoye because he thinks if it were his son he wouldn’t have left him. So he basically disowns him as a son and Nwoye does the same and disowns him as a father. He evens beats his favored wife Ekwefi because he believes that if he is nice to her that he will be view as weak and that he will lose respect in the village. Which is disproven by a fallen kinsman who was very close to his wife and widely respected by his fellow tribesmen.

Okonkwo A Man?

No, I believe that Okonkwo is the opposite of a man. He is the very being that represent weakness. Physical strength although powerful is nothing without restraint and control. Who in their right mind would think that he was worthy of anything but a slap across the face from one of his three wives. He abuses his wives for either a stupid or pointless reason. Such as to release his frustration or because they cut a few leaves off a banana tree. Okonkwo also believes that he must put fear into people so he is seen as strong. Even though he is the one who is afraid of becoming like his father. He fears that he is going to become a lazy, gentle, unsuccessful slob like his father. Although it’s good to not be lazy and unsuccessful, it is a bad idea to become successful through the pain and suffering of others. Instead he should strive to be a strong person morally and physically. And gain the respect of others through your kindness to others and your ability to help people in their time of need.