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Ashley Reddy
Mrs. Chutkos
ENG2DB- 01
Tuesday October 28, 2014
The Trigger to Vulgarity
Throughout literature, the actions a character chooses to take are impacted based on what
or whom they are being influenced by. This statement also runs true in modern society for the
average person. In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the protagonist Okonkwo, is
prompted to act in a violent manner by internal and external forces. Okonkwos actions are
influenced by forces which include his inner conscience, other characters in the book, and the
community he lives within.
The internal force in Things Fall Apart is displayed as Okonkwo fights his conscience
about what the right and weak action is to take. In the novel, the boy Ikemefuna becomes like a
son to Okonkwo because he displays masculinity and obedience, which are both qualities that
Okonkwo admires in a young man. Okonkwos inner struggles and his fear of being called weak
is evident when he murders Ikemefuna. He heard Ikemefuna cry Dazed with fear, Okonkwo
drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being called weak. (61) Instead of
acknowledging his fears as warnings, he sees them as weaknesses and kills someone he has
grown to love. Furthermore, he does not want to be caring or sympathetic like his father, Unoka.
Several times in the novel, Okonkwo harms his family because of the struggle within himself.
This is when his frustrations come out and influence the actions he takes because of it.
Okonkwo gave her a sound beating His anger thus satisfied He pressed the trigger and there

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was a loud report accompanied by the wail of his wives and children. (39) Okonkwos family
does not inflict any harm upon him but due to his emotional frustration with himself he beat and
almost shot one of his wives. Provoked by himself, he administers pain onto others. At one point
Okonkwo even admits his problems and says, It was not external but lay deep within himself. It
was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble, his father. (13) In each situation he
fights his own urges of weakness and instead, reaches towards violence. The saddest thing is that
he knows he is only fighting himself, yet continues to inflict self-judgment which in turn makes
him unreasonable and unstable.
The people whom Okonkwo surrounds himself with, whether it is family, friend, or foe,
are continuously influencing the actions he takes towards them. He frequently beats his wives
due to the lack of defence they have against him. Okonkwo knew she was not speaking the
truth And when she returned, he beat her very heavily. (29) He does not give his wife a
chance to explain herself and instead beats her in front of anyone who watches the brutal act.
This violent and cruel action towards his spouses is reoccurring and each time the fight between
them is merely cowardice because there is no real struggle on the wifes side. Okonkwo is
incapable of showing affection or communicating with people, therefore he resorts to violent
tactics to resolve issues or problems. This same violence is shown towards his son Nwoye simply
because he choose a different way of life than his father. Nwoye among the Christians
Nwoye turned round to walk into the inner compound when his father, suddenly overcome with
fury, sprang to his feet and gripped him by the neck. (151) Okonkwo is upset with Nwoye
because he finds out Nwoye is associating with the Christians. The conflict between father and
son leads to violence which seems to be the general response Okonkwo shows towards people.
The last man Okonkwo shows violence towards is a European messenger. In a flash Okonkwo

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drew his machete Okonkwos machete descended twice and the mans head lay beside his
uniformed body. (204). The conflict with the white men enrages Okonkwo and he kills him. In
this book, Okonkwos violent actions are constantly provoked by individuals that live in his
community. Although these savage behaviours occur repeatedly, Okonkwo never truly learns
from them.
Okonkwo encounters society from the beginning to the very end of the novel Things Fall
Apart. As soon as the story starts Okonkwo wrestles Amalinze the Cat, but solely because he
wants to make a name for himself in the Igbo society. Okonkwo was well known His fame
rested on solid personal achievements. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honour to his
village by throwing Amalinze the Cat. (3) The individual purpose of the match is to be deemed
successful in the eyes of society. Due to his fathers lack of masculinity, Okonkwo has to
struggle in the Igbo community to show his strengths and become famous. Nevertheless, as the
story progresses, he is faced frequently against the society he lives in. The effect it has on
Okonkwo is clearly shown when he is forced into exile for seven years to Mbanta. The only
course open to Okonkwo was to flee the clan. (124) The external influence of society is the only
reason Okonkwo has to flee is that murdering a clansman is not accepted in the Igbo society. It is
not a sign of remorse by Okonkwo, but a symbol of how much power the clan has over him and
his family. The actions Okonkwo takes exemplify his struggles to cooperate and fit in with
society, but they also lead to the most tragic event in the end. Then they came to the tree from
which Okonkwos body was dangling and they stopped dead (207) Okonkwos final action is
killing himself, and the primary reason behind it is because of what the society around him has
become. He tries to be happy even with the arrival of the white men but as the society around

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him starts to evolve, Okonkwo cannot change with it. After losing his son and friends to this new
way of life, he cannot bear the pain and takes his own life.
Subsequently, every action Okonkwo takes through the entire span of Things fall Apart is
influenced by internal forces within himself and external forces within the Igbo society and
individual people. Whether he is acting in violence, fear or happiness, Okonkwo is provoked in
some manner. These conflicts which determine how he acts are all part of a domino effect which
happens to end at the tragedy of Okonkwos suicide. Conflict is inevitable in any scenario and
where there is conflict there will be an appropriate action to follow. Everyone is influenced by
something, it is simply the way one acts after being provoked that determines what type of
person they are.

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Work Cited
Achebe, Chinua. Things fall apart. New York: Anchor Books, 1994. Print.