Fearing the possibility of following in his father's lazy and cowardly footsteps, Okonkwo strove to grow and prosper to become a wealthy and hardworking warrior, and a farmer to support not only himself, but his family as well. He believed that the only way to remain successful, focused, and dedicated to everything he worked for was to avoid affection and emotion for those around him; he refused to appear weak in the eyes of others. Okonkwo commits a murder and is forced to live in exile for seven years. During this time, many changes take place in his village of Umuofia: white men arrive, missionaries spread a new faith and everything is modernized, chasing the idea of ​​tradition from the image of the future. Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart infiltrates gender roles, linguistic, religious and cultural changes in the Nigerian village of Umuofia, where Okonkwo resides. This novel is a gripping portrait of Western imperialism and the clash between the European colonial government and the indigenous Africans of Nigeria in the early 19th century. The roles of men and women were extremely specific at this time of life; women did not have much control nor did they have the ability to defend themselves like women do today. They were orderly and inferior to the men of their culture, especially their husbands. Women in the Ibo culture were highly domesticated and remained in the domestic realm to provide for their men and families. The tradition of marriage in Ibo culture is not what today's society is accustomed to. The practice of polygamy was normative; men often have more than one wife, but it is against the culture for women to be married to more than one man. The roles between men and women were double standards... middle of paper ... his life. He did not want to succumb to change from the British government and missionaries. This was a “sin” in the beliefs of the Igbo tradition and it ended the novel in a dark state. I was shocked that he gave up after everything he worked for, but after analyzing the sequence of events, it made sense. The unity of his village was crumbling before his eyes, they ignored him and he had absolutely no control over the situation. He was also very terrified that he would follow in the footsteps of his father's failure and so decided to prevent that from happening. To avoid any feelings of disappointment, Okonkwo committed suicide because he knew he would have no control over the conversion of his village to the values, beliefs and religions of European expansion. Works Cited Achebe, C. (1994). Things are falling apart. New York: key books.