Summary

Summary: Okonkwo is a famous strongman in his clan of Umoufia, in eastern Nigeria. 20 years earlier, he had beaten a wrestler who had reigned undefeated for 7 years. This sparked his fame to grow and twenty years later, he was a revered man with 3 wives, many children, and a large farm. His father was a coward and died in debt, so Okonkwo is determined for that to not happen to him. He has one son who is very lazy, and Okonkwo worries that his son will grow up to be like his father. A man from another village comes to live with Okonkwo’s family for 3 years, and forms a strong bond with Okonkwo and his son, even calling Okonkwo father. At the end of those 3 years, he is killed. Later, Okonkwo’s favorite daughter falls ill and her mother worries that she will die just like the other 9 children her mother had. Okonkwo is able to gather some medicine to save her in time, though. An elder of the village, passes away and a huge funeral is given with guns fired to honor him. Okonkwo’s gun misfires and kills the elder’s son, a crime that forces Okonkwo to be banished from the clan for 7 years. Okonkwo is shown to be a man that is afraid of showing weakness and strives to be the strongest he can. He is harsh to his children and wives, does not show his emotions, and is also brash and violent. He cares a lot for his family, but never shows it so he doesn’t appear weak.Okonkwo is used as a symbol for the stubbornness, pride, and aggressiveness that characterized many African tribes. The book frequently has flashbacks detailing previous events, such as a flashback showing several examples of Okonkwo’s father’s cowardice and other traits which Okonkwo is ashamed of, as well as a flashback about his wife’s 9 children that died soon after being born, and how the Africans believed this meant the children were all the same spirit coming back to torment their mother. The setting is mostly a complex of 9 villages in Nigeria, especially the home of Okonkwo in one of the villages.

At the start of Part 3, Okonkwo returns home to Umuofia after his 7 years in exile. Mr. Brown, the reverend in Umuofia, grows ill and is replaced by Mr. Smith, who is much more intolerant and strict. Under his new leadership, the more zealous Christians flourish. One of them, Enoch, unmasks an ancestral spirit during a festival, an act that the Africans consider equal to killing the spirit. Enraged, the villagers burn Enoch’s house, along with the church, to the ground. The District Commissioner asks the leaders of Umuofia to meet him and talk about what happened. Okonkwo is one of the leaders chosen, but the men are handcuffed once they arrive and suffer insults and abuse by the court messengers. After a few days, the villagers pay a ransom for their leaders back. The clan holds a meeting to decide whether or not to go to war. While at this meeting, several messengers from the court arrive and order the Africans to stop their meeting. Okonkwo kills their leader, expecting the rest of the clan to rebel with him, but they allow the other messengers to run away. When the District Commissioner arrives, Okonkwo’s friend leads him to a tree that Okonkwo hanged himself from and explains that suicide is a great sin, so none of his clansmen may bury him. The Commissioner believed Okonkwo’s story will make for an interesting paragraph in his book.