Dont forget to initial next to your response.

- MG
How does Okonkwo want to approach the missionaries, and how is this different than his
communitys views? How does the clash in views (of the Christian missionaries and their
impending takeover) between Umuofias community and Okonkwo lead to Okonkwos eventual
demise? Think about what we know about Okonkwo as a character - did his
personality/demeanor lead to this fate? Include a quote.
______________________________________________________________________________

1. Okonkwo is willing to do anything, even if that means violence, in order to rid their clan
of the missionaries. This desire is not shared by everyone though, There were many men
and women in Umuofia who did not feel as strongly as Okonkwo about the new
dispensation (163). Okonkwo has no patience or acceptance for the white men and their
new religion unlike others in the clan. He sees anyone who converts as a traitor,
including his own son. He worries that by embracing these new comers and their religion
the Umuofia will lose themselves and all their power and purpose. And so when he
people forsake him and his attempts to rid them of the white men Okonkwo no longer
sees a future for himself and so he takes matters into his own hands and ends his life. MJH
2. Okonkwo wants to take a violent approach to the missionaries from the moment they
arrive, whereas other members of his clan are more accepting of them. The others let
them slowly take over, by letting them build a church, and by letting them recruit people
from the clan. They want a piece of land to build their shrine, said Uchendu to his
peers when they consulted among themselves. We shall give them a piece of land
(138). As the missionaries gained more and more power, Okonkwo was pushed into a
corner, and when he finally lashed out, he ends up killing one of his people, and then kills
himself. This wouldnt have been possible if the clan wasnt so accepting of the
missionaries. However, Okonkwo is a very proud person, and this character flaw also
played a big part of his actions. -MR
3. Okonkwo is a very violent person. He is unable to think of any other way to solve
problems than by using force. However, he finds that his community is unwilling to
cooperate with him, and this causes him distress. After using his last bit of force to kill a
white man, Okonkwo realizes his efforts are not working: He knew that Umuofia would
not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers escape. They had
broken into tumult instead of action (188). At this moment, Okonkwo knows he has
failed. By losing his temper and killing the messenger, he has showed weakness in the
eyes of the other villages. Since failure is Okonkwos biggest fear, he can no longer live
with himself and this is what leads to his demise. - AM
4. Okonkwo believes that they should have met the missionaries with force, and violence to
rid them from the village. As time goes on however and no action is taken the rest of the

5.

6.

7.

8.

community believes that violence is not the appropriate response because the village is
now divided, because of all the members who have converted. But he says that our
customs are bad; and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our
customs are bad. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned
against us? (124). Okonkwo can only find a solution through violence, his thoughts are
completly one sided and he can not seem to be able to reach a compromise. Okonkwo is
so consumed in being manly that when he returns back home he wants to remind
everyone how strong he is. But because he is so incapable of thinking rationally in order
to reach a solution, other than violence he isolates himself from the rest of the tribe and
their idea of peaceful approach. After Okonkwo reaches the realization that the rest of
the tribe will not side with him he sees no purpose and takes his life. -S.F.
Okonkwo takes a violent approach when it came to dealing with the missionaries.
Okonkwo is very resistant to all of the new changes that the missionaries want to
undertake. He doesnt believe that a peaceful approach would be able resolve anything so
he takes a v
Okonkwo believes the best response to the missionaries is simply to force them out, with
violence if necessary. Most of the other villagers favor simply leaving them alone,
believing they pose no threat to the village. This is very frustrating for Okonkwo, who
sees his fellow villager as being weak: He mourned for the clan, which he saw breaking
up and falling apart, and he mourned for the warlike men of Umuofia, who had so
unaccountably become soft like women (129). Okonkwo is disgruntled and thinks the
men in Umuofia need to be stronger. This connects to his personal obsession with
strength and masculinity; passively allowing another religion to take root goes against
everything he strives for. Ultimately he decided to fight the colonists with violence, but
when the village did not support him, he killed himself. He took this act because he felt
that Umuofia had totally abandoned the beliefs he thought were essential, and that there
was no more place in it for a man like him. -SM
Okonkwo does not like the missionaries being in the village and wanted to chase them
out. He is not a fan of change and is already out of his comfort zone from being in a new
village so it is not surprising that he wants to respond to the newcomers with violence
Okonkwo who only stayed in hope that it might come to chasing the men out of the
village or whipping them (103). But besides the wish for violence Okonkwo doesnt
really think about the missionaries. When Okonkwo leaves he does so with the belief that
the missionaries are crazy and he continues on with his business, if he wasnt going to
fight the missionaries then there is no reason for him to continue thinking about them. AN
Okonkwos view towards the missionaries differs substantially from his fellow village
members. Okonkwo believes that the missionaries should be confronted with force, as to
push them away from the village and preserve the traditions of the village. The village
does not feel as strongly as Okonkwo and decides not to take action upon the new

missionaries. Eventually the missionaries began to slowly grow and fester into a mass of
churchgoers, eventually building their own place of worship. This was mostly fueled by
Mr. Brown going door to door and taking in slaves, the lazy, and any other undesirable
villages that were thought to have had little use (Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor, Your
Huddled Masses) He went from family to family begging people to send their children
to his school. But at first they only sent their slaves or sometimes their lazy children
(166). The inevitable turnover of the entire community acts like a melting iceberg,
Okonkwo being a polar bear running out of places he can confide in. This sense of
enclosing familiarity eventually places Okonkwo in and very uncomfortable position of
vulnerability, a feeling of which he is not use to. It frightens him. This is what eventually
leads to his death. Okonkwo was built in the image of his society, and embodies all of its
virtues. As the missionaries become more and more influential, the question becomes,
what happens to this image once it is no longer needed? The book answers that question
in a very grim way. The Image dies, but is not forgotten. -WJ
9. Okonkwo wants to get rid of the Christian missionaries via violence similarly to how he
deals with the majority of his other problems. Many of the other Umuofians didnt share
the same views on the missionaries though, There were many men and women in
Umuofia who did not feel as strongly as Okonkwo about the new dispensation (163).
He has no patience or acceptance for anyone who converts to Christianity and sees
anyone who converts as a traitor including Nwoye his son. He thinks that converting to
Christianity rids their clan of all power and culture (which it kind of did) and so he hangs
himself because the rest of the Umuofians did not agree with Okonkwo. -LKA
10. Okonkwo want to deal with the missionaries like he approaches most problems, with
violence. [Okonkwo] had lost the chance to lead his warlike clan against the new
religion. (121). The use of the word warlike implies that Okonkwo wanted to lead his
clan in war against the religion. The other members of the village dont share this view
with Okonkwo, Okonkwo stood looking at the dead man. He knew the that Umuofia
would not go to war (144). In order to fulfill his need to do something about the
problem, he kills the messenger. This action is the last one that definitavley separates him
from his clan as they would never do such a thing. This action finally has manifested
itself, as it was bound to happen through the last few chapters of the book. As Okonkwo
only has his power when he is strong with the clan, and as he is now split with the clan he
has lost much of his power and, because of his definition of self-worth, he believes he has
lost everything and he kills himself. AD
11. Okonkwos personality and fear of failure leads to his death. But his whole life was
dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness. It was deeper and more intimate than
the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and the forces of
nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw. Okonkwos fear was greater than these. It was
not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be
found to resemble his father, (9-10). Okonkwos fear of failure runs so deep that his

main mission in life is to not fail and be the perfect image of a man. He will do anything
not to end up like his father, even if it means killing himself. Okonkwo knew that he
would be killed by the missionaries, and decided to beat them to it and kill himself. Being
killed by missionaries would be a failure that Okonkwo felt was worse than suicide.
Okonkwo never thought about anyone in his family when he was going to die except for
his father. This is unusual for okonkwo because he usually just pushes the image of his
father out of his mind, but this action was all in thought of not being like his father. -AB
12. Okonkwos first thought, as always, is violent, but his tribe members do not always
agree. There were many men and women in Umuofia who did not feel as strongly as
Okonkwo about the new dispensation (163). His whole life, he has been taught that
violence is the way to get power, and to get what he wants. He doesnt initially
understand that it will not work to use violence to win this time. The white men are too
strong and too controlling. When violence fails to work, he realizes how much his culture
has changed. Unable to conform to or understand this new cultural reality, the only way
out he sees is another violent one: death. (MSC)
13. Okonkwo approaches the missionaries with a completely different view than the other
villagers of Umofia. He wants Umofia to fight against the missionaries but instead, he
returns from exile to find that 'the warlike men of Umofia' had 'become soft like women'
(168). This quote also illustrates the rift between Okonkwo and his fellow clan members
beginning to form. This rift eventually pushes Okonkwo to violence, and to ultimately
hang himself. ~SN
14. From the moment Okonkwo hears of the white man, he is suspicious and ready for the
worst. Okonkwo was a strong-willed and fighting man. Left alone, nothing would have
come of it, but the continued aggravations of the tribe by the white men force his hand,
and in a fit of violence, he commits a crime which he must be destroyed for. It didnt help
that he was alone in this endeavor. United as one, his people may have bought more time
for themselves, and maintained independence. But Okonkwo simply could not survive in
the new environment of the white mans influence. -NL
15. Many people in the village do not feel as strongly about the missionaries as Okonkwo. He
feels like they must be stopped, at any cost. This attitude is what eventually leads to
Okonkwos death. He is so against anything that goes along the Christian beliefs that he
disowns his son, Nwoye, for being interested in Christianity. Okonkwo believes violence
is necessary in order to restore order in the village. When he kills the court messenger,
Okonkwo believes this will help his people realize the lunacy and madness the white men
have made them believe. Okonkwos machete descended twice and the mans head law
beside his unformed body(204). -JG

Dont forget to initial next to your response.

How does the District Commissioner view the Igbo people? What is the danger of his single
story, The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger (think about the specific words
used in the title)? Why might Achebe end the story like this? Include a quote.
______________________________________________________________________________
1. The District Commissioner thinks of the Igbo people sort of like wild animals that need
to be tamed, as can be seen in the title of his book. He sees their tribe as primitive and
by aiming to pacify them, he implies that he thinks of them as violent or crazy, and that
they need pacification or civilization. It seems that one of the main reasons he comes to
their tribe to improve them isnt because he wants to help them, but rather because he
seeks recognition back in Europe - basically, he sees them as his book material: The
story of this man who had killed a messenger and hanged himself would make interesting
reading(147). He has no sympathy for Okonkwo, he only looks forward to making a
paragraph out of him. I think Achebe closed the story on this note to point out how this
culture was basically killed for selfish and frankly stupid reasons. -CB
2.

3.

The District Commissioners treatment towards the Igbo people is racist, tyrannical, and
degrading. He treats them as if they are beneath him, as if they are uncontrollable beasts,
unable to comprehend or do anything (except maybe manual labor.) He speaks to the
Igbo people as if they are children, in a patronizing and demanding voice. If any man illtreats you we shall come to your rescue. But we will not allow you to ill-treat others
(178). In this statement, it is as if he is scolding a child, and that shows how his level of
respect for the native people is nonexistent. MMM

The District Commissioner has very little respect for the Igbo people. He is racist and
tries to corrupt their culture by bringing in a justice system. The Commissioner respects
the beliefs of the clan at first when Okonkwo dies and sends strangers to take the body
down. He then realizes that the beliefs of their culture are primitive and decides to go
against their beliefs: The resolute administrator in in him gave way to the student of
primitive customs, (147). By saying that he is a student to primitive customs, he means
that he is going along with their beliefs that he once thought were wrong. I think Achebe
wanted the book to end this way to show the danger of a single story. Everyone will only
know about the Igbo people through the District Commissioners eyes. Mr. Brown,
Reverend James Smith, and Okonkwo are perfect representations of the fact that not
everyone views the culture the same way depending on personality, if you are a part of it,
or what you are there for. -AB
4. Due to the single story views of the Igbo people, the District Commissioner does not
view the Igbo people as very civilized. He comes from a society where there is a queen
who has power over everyone and there is a very powerful religion that keeps everyone

within a very strict government. When he sees the way the Igbo people act and govern
themselves he is only able to see how rowdy and uncivilized they are because their ways
of living are much different than his. He is trying to show the Igbo people what good
government and society looks like and feels like and reminds them constantly about what
they are missing, The District Commissioner spoke to them again about the great queen,
and about peace and good government (182). He thinks that if he shows them and tells
them how peaceful everything is when they follow his way of living they will want to
live that way too. His experiences are a bit more difficult than he set out for though. The
tribes do not see his way as a good way to live because they have lived their way for so
long. They are constantly getting into trouble with him and getting out of it. The book
that he plans to write proves his views on the tribe with the title The Pacification of the
Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger. The title proves that he sees the people as hostile
and in need of change and the book is about his plans on fully accomplishing this task. AR
5. The District Commissioner has a very one-dimensional view of the Ibo people. He only
sees the shell of their society, the part that interacts with the British, and none of the rich
culture than lies inside. When he arrived in Africa, he clearly expected the people to be
wild barbarians, interesting enough to write a story about. Therefore, this is exactly what
he sees. He believes that the Ibo need an outside force to pacify and educate them
against their primitive ways. He goes as far as to say that they are in need of
civilization He had toiled to bring civilization to different parts of Africa (147). Achebe
ends the story with the description of these outrageously offensive opinions to show how
little outsiders understand about deep cultures due to the single story in which they have
been living. -AH
6. Throughout history European settlers have always had the belief that it was their duty to
spread their knowledge of the world and their religion with those less-civilized than
them. The District Commissioner is no different than other Christian missionaries to the
Igbo people as he believes that the people are less-civilized and second class than the
Europeans. His danger of a single story belief is that all peoples not normal, or those
that have different beliefs than him, are inferior and need to be taught the ways of a
European to become truly civil and deemed human. We shall not do you any harm,
said the District Commissioner later, if only you agree to to co-operate with us. We
have brought a peaceful administration to you and your people so that you may be
happy.(137). The District Commissioner ignores that the true well-being or what the the
Igbo people truly want. A reason Achebe most likely ended the story where he did was,
even though we did not get a final glimpse of how the story ended but the suicide of
Okonwho gave us light of which way the story was heading in the future for the the Igbo
peoples. M.N
7. The district commissioner wants to empower himself through the diminishing of
others.Therefore being one of the first europeans if not the first, to write about Umuofia

he has the ability to put them down in history however he feels will benefit him the most.
In this way he can write his opinions as facts, and use them to his advantage in gaining
control of the clan and its surrounding areas. Every day brought him some new
material. The story of this man who had killed messenger and hanged himself would
make interesting reading. One could almost write a whole chapter on him. Perhaps not a
whole chapter but a reasonable paragraph, at any rate. There was so much else to include,
and one must be firm in cutting out details. (147-148) MAK
8. In many years in which he toiled to bring civilization to different parts of Africa he had
learnt a number of things. One of them was that a District Commissioner must never
attend to such undignified details as cutting down a dead man from the tre. Such
attention would give the natives a poor opinion of him. (147) I think the Commissioner
thinks the Igbo people are inferior. He believes he is the superior and the leader of the
group. In this quote, it shows that he thinks of himself as a superior figure by not
bothering with the small peasant duties. The dangers of the one-story idea from the
Commissioners perspective is that his side of the story will be more twisted than
Okonkwos side of the story. Since the Commissioner thinks of himself as a more
powerful and superior man, that causes him to be closed minded and therefore twist the
story. -AS
9. The District Commissioner, like most caucasian people at the time, believed that he and
his culture was superior to Igbo culture in every way possible. He saw them only as a
way to rise up through the ranks of his own society. He saw them as less than human,
living in a primitive society and as a white European, it was his duty to educate and
replace their traditional culture with his. The Commissioner has only one experience with
the Igbo people and due to this, he has developed a single story about the people; that
they are all primitive savages living in a heathenistic manner. In the many years in
which he had toiled to bring civilization to the different parts of Africa [the
Commissioner] had learned many things. One of them was that a District Commissioner
must never attend details such as cutting a hanged man from a tree. Such attention would
give the natives a bad opinion of him. (191) The Commissioner had a totally skewed
view of Africans, and putting it into his book would have made all Europeans think the
same things he did, that there was no culture in Africa and the natives were all animals,
needing to be taught how to live a righteous life. -LK
10. The District Commissioner sees the Igbo people as untamed animals. He does not see
them as people that demand his respect or even human beings at all. He is disgusted and
infuriated by them, The Commissioner did not understand what Obierika meant when he
said Perhaps your men will help us. One of the most infuriating habits of these people
was their love of superfluous words, he thought (189). As shown he is barely able to
tolerate them. He does not think of them as on the same intellectual level as himself. Not
only in that they are uneducated but that they are simply incapable of ever achieving the

same intellect and therefore worth as himself. The danger of the single story in this case
is that it has shaped the Commissioners view of the Igbo people into something negative
and unchangeable. It has made it so that when he looks at any of them he sees the same
thing, something that needs to be tamed and controlled. -MJH
11. The District Commissioner views the clan as a bunch of savages, and thinks that he was
doing them a favor. ... a District Commissioner must never attend to such undignified
details as cutting a hanged man from the tree (191). After all of his time in Africa, he
still doesnt understand their ways and refuses to respect them. The title of his book also
suggests that he sees them as uncivilized, and that they just serve as amusement, and
arent humans in the same way he is. He didnt take the time to learn about the culture,
and so he cannot intelligently write about it. Achebe might have ended the story like this
to show how many documents about Africa rarely show the fully story, and how the
authors rarely understand the complexity of the cultures. -MR
12. The District Commissioner has a very low view of the Igbo people. He sees them more
akin to animals than himself and he is not the only person who hold this racist belief.
When he has his men take Okonkwo and a few of his tribesmen prisoner he has his men
shave their hair which is not only degrading but is a reminder that he enjoys using his
power over the Igbo men. He is writing a book about his great triumphs in civilizing
these people and the title of the book is the perfectly shows his view of the people that
live on this continent, The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger,
(148). He is so steadfast in this belief that he is better than everyone in the land he
decides to write a book about it, the perfect example of his superiority complex. -AN
13. The District Commissioner thinks of the Igbo people as less civilized people who need to
be christianized and even then will be less valuable than himself from his point of view.
The Commissioner did not understand what Obierika meant when he said perhaps your
men will help us. One of the most infuriating habits of these people was their love of
superfluous words, he thought (189). He does not think that the Umuofian people have
anywhere close to as much intelligence as himself and he thinks that they are all
uncapable of even achieving a similar level of intellect to himself. -LKA
14. The district commissioner does not have the ability to acknowledge the igbo people as
civilised humans. The commissioner does not respect the community because he believes
they are primitive, just because they conduct their village and everyday lives differently
than how he thinks they should. Achebe uses this line to end the book to show how
powerful one story can be. The title of the commissioners book is a strong statement that
would lead us to believe that the igbo people are primitive and naive. Without any prior
knowledge to their culture or their way of life. You might believe that the Umofian
culture is untamed and wild. Achebe putting this at the end of the book gives us a strong
message. The whole culture and the book boils down to one title, the rest is dismissed, by
just reading the book that the commissioner wrote that is all you would believe. -SRF

15. The title of the District Commissioners book says it all: primitive. He does not
understand the Igbo people, or their culture, so he sees it as primitive and uncivilized. He
views them as animals, and he must tame them in order for them to be happy. We shall
not do you any harm, said the District Commissioner later, if only you agree to to cooperate with us. We have brought a peaceful administration to you and your people so
that you may be happy (137). The way that he has been raised, and what he has read,
leads him to believe that the Igbo people arent satisfied with their life. Because he does
not - and cannot - understand their culture, he assumes that they cannot be happy with it.
He also assumes that they will in turn not understand or be happy with his culture. He is
pacifying them. He is making them less wild and more civilized, in his opinion. And to
him, his opinion is the only one that matters. (MSC)
16. The District Commissioner sees the Igbo people as uncivilized. He refuses to understand
that they have a well developed society, because it is so different from his own. The
District Commissioner spoke to them again about the great queen, and about peace and
good government. But the men did not listen (182). He is convinced that he must save
the Igbo, because he assumes that they have no government or any means to keep peace.
The District Commissioner essentially views these people as animals, and when they are
unwilling to listen to him, it only encourages this one-sided way of thinking. By the end,
the Commission has learned nothing, and Achebe uses this as a way to explain why so
many accounts exist that paint the picture of these people as being primitive and
needing pacification. - AM
17. The District Commissioner thinks of the Igbo as uncivilized, primitive people with no
society or culture to speak of, who need to be forced to accept British rule and culture. He
claims to be interested in their customs, but sees them merely as curiosities, and thinks of
their society as inherently inferior to his own. Achebe ends the book with the District
Commissioner thinking about his own to show the way that the stories of Africans were
twisted and suppressed. The commissioner muses, The story of this man who had killed
a messenger and hanged himself would make interesting reading. One could almost write
a whole chapter on him. Perhaps not a whole chapter, but a reasonable paragraph, at any
rate (148). At the end of an entire book about Okonkwos story, have the commissioner
consider writing a paragraph about him shows how he is ignorant of the complexity of
the culture and lives of Africans. A book like his will give readers in the West an image
of Africa as barbaric and uncivilized, and all the richness of Umuofias culture, just one
village in the continent, will be lost entirely. -SM
18. The District Commissioner views the Igbo community as uncivilized and in deep need of
Western Imperialism. He thinks their customs, traditions, economy, family life, etc. are
all primitive early ways, just waiting for the West to come save them. To him, he is doing
the Igbo people a favor. He will bestow onto them the right ways of the world and save
them from their savage culture. His book is called The Pacification of the Primitive
Tribes of Lower Nigeria explains his views perfectly. Pacification implies he is making

them less violent and primitive clearly communicates his superiority. The District
Commissioner spoke to them again about the great queen, and about peace and good
government. But the men did not listen(182). This shifts the blame off of the Westerners
and onto the Igbo people. He claims that he tried to tell the primitive tribes about peace
but they could not, would not listen. --CK
19. The biggest problem with single stories is they influence the reader based on whats
written. As the District Commissioner was one of the few who had viewed the clans of
Umuofia, he planned to write a book on his experiences with these savages. He being a
superior being amongst these uncivilized savages would lead him to write a book
putting down those of Umuofia decent along with other clans similar to it. Everyday
brought him some new material. (191) This showed the D.c thought nothing of
Okonkwo and his people, besides writing about them and making money. -EG
20. The District Commissioner did not see the Igbo people as a civilized community, as
implied by the title of his book, The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower
Niger. This single story view is very dangerous because it only provides one perspective
on a group of people, a perspective that may be twisted by bias.
21. The single story from the commissioner's perspective is that the Igbo people are
savages and basically told that they are completely uncivilised. The title, The
Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger implies that the Igbo people are
much less than them and not a part of society without them. This single story doesnt
show the real story of the Igbo people and continues the unrealistic views in other parts of
the world. -KA
22. The District Commissioner has one story of the Igbo people. He has been told by his
society that they are uncivilised, primitive and unintelligent. He has no reason not to
believe this, it fits very well into his world view and allows him to do his job without
qualms. Because the DC does not see the Igbo people as on his level or even that human
he approaches his job without empathy or morality. He uses his one story to push his
ideas on others. -CB
23. h
24. The commissioner views the peoples of Igbo and Africa in general as primitive and
inhuman. Such a book as he is writing proves so. There is no respect in his actions or
words. Achebe ends on such a note to show the trajectory of European opinion in the
following years. -NL
25. The commissioner views the people of Igbo and Africa as inferior to the Europeans.
Although he pretends like he interested in their culture and well being, he sees the people
of Igbo as savages, not deserving of equal treatment. The District Commissioner saw the
Igbo people as nothing more than a way to exploit and make money Everyday brought
him some new material(191). Unlike the other missionaries, the Commissioner had no
interest whatsoever in the Igbo ideals. NP.JR