Elvis AhnPeriod 510/1/15Things Fall Apart Theme Paper In “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, the main character, Okonkwo, lives a life full of ambition to be the best. in his village. This ambition is also driven by his determination to succeed and be more respected than his late father, who was known to be a debtor and a coward. The book revolves around Okonkwo's life and aspirations, which include his rise to fame and his fall. That being said, Okonkwo demonstrates that ambition can be beneficial to an individual's interests, but excessive ambition ultimately leads to failure. The narrator informs readers of the negative reputation of his father, Unoka, in order to establish contrast and reasoning. Despite the fact that Ogbuefi, a respected village speaker, told Okonkwo not to participate in the killing of Ikemefuna, Okonkwo disregards this and kills Ikemefuna himself. . As Ikemefuna lay dying, “Stunned with fear, Okonkwo took out his machete and cut him (Ikemefuna) down. He was afraid of being seen as weak” (61). Since Okonkwo's ambitions are based on his fear of being weak or failing, killing Ikemefuna was the right thing to do. His stubbornness in not wanting to be seen as weak pushed him to do something he hadn't planned to do or didn't want to do. Taking down Ikemefuna proves to be an immediate reaction, as Okonkwo's ambition and desire to be the strongest suddenly comes to him. He does not have the chance to fully understand the real situation, which causes him to impulsively kill Ikemefuna, whom Okonkwo loved very much. His attachment to Ikemefuna is demonstrated when “Okonkwo was internally pleased with his son's development, and he knew that it was due to Ikemefuna” (52). The murder sends Okonkwo into a great depression, as "Okonkwo did not taste food for two days after Ikemefuna's death" (63). Okonkwo falls into a period of regret and sadness; he killed someone he loved. This depression is detrimental to Okonkwo, as he loses sleep and appetite. Due to Okonkwo's ambitious mentality of not being seen as weak, he takes a step forward. After Okonkwo is banished from his home village, he travels to his homeland. There he learned that white missionaries had arrived in his home village and began converting the villagers to Christianity. He becomes so blinded by being better and better than his father that he does not want to be weak by conforming to the ways of the missionaries. He is so resistant to the new religion that when his son, Nwoye, returns from a Christian school, Okonkwo “…suddenly seized with fury, jumped up and grabbed him (Nwoye) by the neck” (151). This only shows how resentful Okonkwo is of the recent conformations. He is simply disappointed that his son has fallen under the influence of the Christian faith. If nearly killing his son because he became "weak" and started believing in a new religion is the necessary step to get Okonkwo's message across, so be it. Additionally, Okonkwo's ambition and goal to be the best in his village prevents him from seeing the finer things in life. He is so wrapped up in the idea of ​​success that he stubbornly accepts new ideas and new things. He wants things done his way. This only shows how far he is willing to go to show that he will not be weak and conform, which is what his father would do.