The Fall of Okonkwo in Things Fall ApartChinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart, uses the changes in African tribal culture brought about by European colonization to illustrate the evolution of the character Okonkwo. As Okonkwo leads his life, his experiences, personality, and thoughts are revealed to the reader. The obstacles he faces in life become numerous as time passes. Okonkwo's most significant challenge originates within himself. He also encounters problems not only when he opposes white culture, but in his own culture, as he becomes frustrated with tribal ideals that conflict with his own. The last adversary he encounters is that of the physical world, attracted by his emotional and cultural problems. The way Okonkwo deals with his opponents in Things Fall Apart creates the mechanism that leads to his final destruction. The greatest adversary in life is the one created in the mind. As Okonkwo grows up, he decides to be the absolute opposite of his father Unoka. Okonkwo perceives his father as the culmination of man's weaknesses. According to this erroneous view, Okonkwo hides his feelings deep within himself. When these emotions surface, he sees them as a sign of weakness. When Okonkwo participates in Ikemefuna's murder, he is deeply affected as he has ended the life of someone he has grown to love like a son. Okonkwo is excessively depressed after the killing, "not tasting any food for two days". (61) When he notices her confusion, he calls himself as weak as a trembling old woman. In his emotionless display of strength after Ikemefuna's death, Okonkwo actually demonstrates his fragility by hiding what he feels. Okonkwo is dominated by his private fear of appearing... middle of paper... the clan members come to decide what they should do, Okonkwo has already chosen war. When the messenger arrives to order an end to the meeting, Okonkwo is once again driven by anger and kills the messenger. He realizes that the others were not prepared to fight and comes to understand the consequences of his actions. Instead of being executed, Okonkwo decides to take his own life. Okonkwo takes his own life because he sees himself as a lone warrior in a society of the weak. This isolation is truly enforced by his decision about how to handle the conflicts he encounters. Its unitary channeling of emotions, cultural inflexibility and tendency to seek physical confrontation are brought together in a single notion. The idealized vision of a warrior in which Okonkwo lives is the vehicle that leads to the climax of Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart: Okonkwo's demise.