another was idleness ” ( Achebe , Things Fall Apart , 1958 , p . 21 ). Ironically , although Okonkwo determines to be a man of power , he is “ ruled ” by his own conception of masculinity . Champion describes this unchangeable flaw as characteristic of a “ heroic figure ” ( Champion , p . 273 ), but Okonkwo closely resembles the ‘ tragic heroes ’ of antiquity and Shakespeare . His hamartia is his belief that a love for anything but war is effeminate and weak is , as it sows the seeds for his son Nwoye ’ s conversion to Christianity , an event which symbolises the impending death of Ibo culture . Okonkwo wants Nwoye to become “ a great farmer and a great man ”, and is determined to eradicate his supposedly effeminate traits of sensitivity reminiscent of his father through “ constant nagging and beating ” ( Things Fall Apart , p . 21 , 34 ). His harsh patriarchal attitude means Nwoye is closer to his mother , whose allegorical and complex stories he prefers to the violent stories of war told by his father , thus identifying him with the character Obierika . Both characters are shocked when Okonkwo kills his adopted son after the oracle demands his death - he is not ordered to kill him himself , but does so because he is “ afraid of being thought weak ” ( Things Fall Apart , p . 78 ). Nwoye never forgives this act born out of masculine pride , and Obierika similarly disagrees with the murder , telling his friend that “ if the Oracle said that my son should be killed I would neither dispute it nor be the one to do it ” ( Things Fall Apart , p . 85 ). Christopher Anyokwu ’ s essay on Things Fall Apart suggests that Obierika ’ s logical nature is evidence of his possession of both feminine and masculine traits . This is an essentialist viewpoint , failing to recognise that Obierika ’ s logical reasoning and assertion that he is not “ afraid of blood ” reflect the possibility of a different form of masculinity to Okonkwo ’ s . Obierika ’ s prediction that filicide “ will not please the earth ” ( Things Fall Apart , p . 85 ) similarly implies that Umuofia ’ s traditions are not rooted in masculine aggression . Whilst Anyokwu may not fully grasp the gendered dynamics of Achebe ’ s narrative , his description of Okonkwo as lacking “ cool-headed pragmatism [ and ] compassion ” is apt , as these traits aid Nwoye ’ s decision in converting to Christianity .
When the first missionary appears in a neighbouring village , their oracle predicts that “ the strange man would break their clan and spread destruction among them ”, another example of Earnest A . Champion ’ s misunderstanding of the novel , who believes the villagers are “ totally unaware of the dramatic changes ” ( Things Fall Apart , p . 135 ) to come . Achebe is foreshadowing the fact that Umuofia will soon become a ' contact zone ’ in which Ibo culture and Christianity will grapple , the aftermath being a generational divide and eradication of tradition . Nwoye echoes his grandfather ’ s love of music when he finds comfort in the Christian hymns , which “ seemed to answer a vague and persistent question that haunted his young soul […] the question of Ikemefuna who was killed ” ( Things Fall Apart , p . 145 ). It is clear that Nwoye cannot identify with his own culture because his father is his primary example of Ibo traditions , and thus Okonkwo ’ s violence is conflated with Ibo culture in his son ’ s mind . The hymn ’ s description of brotherhood is preferable to the masculinity presented to him by his father , as shown in song ’ s likeness to “ the drops of frozen rain ” contrasted with the “ dry palate of the panting earth ” ( Things Fall Apart , p . 182 ) that represents his native culture . For Okonkwo , however , “ to abandon the gods of one ' s father and go about with a lot of effeminate men clucking like old hens ” ( Things Fall Apart , p . 182 ) is viewed as the utmost betrayal of both Ibo culture and the concept of manhood itself . Okonkwo equates their singing with his father ’ s love of music and thus equates Christianity with weakness , to the point that the missionaries are not human men , but female animals - “ hens ”. Afraid of the concept that his
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