2. Okonkwos Reasons in Committing Suicide
From the quotation above, it can be seen clearly that Okonkwo does not scare to his father. In fact, he scares to his fathers misfortune. He does not want to
be like his father. So, he does everything to avoid his fathers misfortune. That is why he tries to expel his fear of his fathers failure and weakness every time.
Okonkwo can only expel his fear for a while, but not keep it away forever. So, it is obvious if this fear appears again when he deals with his first son, Nwoye. As a
great man, Okonkwo is easy to give the mark of weakness to every person who does not resemble him. In his point of view, those who do not work and live as
well as him will be considered as lazy and weak people. His second conflict is with his son, Nwoye. It is stated in the novel that
Nwoye starts showing his laziness and weakness. Okonkwo is dissapointed to see the development of his first son because Nwoye does not do the same thing as
what Okonkwo did in his childhood. Moreover, he often makes a lot of mistake in dealing with mens business. Based on those things, Okonkwo considers his first
son as a lazy and weak person. Okonkwo cannot tolerate Nwoyes behavior. He never understands to his
first sonscondition. He is very worried if his first son grows to be like his father, Unoka. That is why Okonkwo has to eliminate laziness and weakness from
Nwoyes mind. The only reason that made his father live in a great poverty until his death was his own laziness.
Okonkwos first son, Nwoye, was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness. At any rate, that
was how it looked to his father, and he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating. And so Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced
youth. pp. 13-14
The words that was how it looked to his father in page 13 show that Okonkwo only judges people based on his own point of view.
The conflict of Okonkwo against the British is opened with the Britishs arrival in Ibo land. The story of the white mens arrival is widely known after the
incident of Abame people. There is a physical contact between the natives and the British that kills a lot of Abame people. The British spreads threats and fear
among the natives by using this tragic incident. It seems that their arrival is the fulfillment of the prophecy. By guns, the British shows that their arrival cannot be
considered as temporary. ... The elders consulted their oracle and it told them that the strange man
would break their clan and spread destruction among them. ... It is said that other white men were on their way. They were locust, it is said, and that
first man was their harbinger sent to explore the terrain. And so they kill them. pp. 138-139
Actually, the reason Of British peoples arrival is for spreading Christianity in lbo land. In fact, this new religion is used as a means to control the
natives mind. Instead of building a church, the British builds some public services, such as school, market place, hospital, court, etc. to attract the natives
attention. In Okonkwos point of view, there are two reasons why he wants to declare war against the British. First, he cannot stand to see his people go into the
Britishs hands and finally fall apart. Second, he cannot tolerate his first sons decision to join the Christians. He blames the British as the source of all terrible
things in Ibo land. When Okonkwo has a conflict with his father, his father is not actually his
real opponent. His real opponent is in his mind, how he deals with his fear of
failure and weakness. Okonkwo actually does not do the right thing in dealing with his fear. He keeps his fear by himself. He never allows other people, even his
wives, to help him solving his problem. He is so worried if other people know that the greatest wrestler like him also has fear. He does not want to ruin his own
reputation by admitting his fear in front of his wives and other people. As the result, his fear always appears every time he deals with any failure and weakness.
He always relates other peoples mistakes with his fathers misfortune. Moreover, it influences Okonkwos behavior to be more cruel and harsh. He is willing to give
his fists to his family and other people if he sees their weakness or failure. He sometimes uses harsh words to underestimate them. He never realizes that his
fathers misfortune has nothing to do with other peoples life or his success. He had no patience with unsuccessful men. He had no patience with his
father p.4... And so Okonkwo was ruled by one passion—to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved. One of those things was
gentleness and another was idleness. p.13... And indeed he was possessed by the fear of his fathers contemptible life and shameful d.eath.
p.18
The way Okonkwo solves his problem is very common. Like what people always do, he takes the easiest way he known. He does not want to spend his
energy only to eliminate his fear. Moreover, this solution is very effective to keep his fear away from his mind. He does that over and over again to fight his fear.
But he had long learned how to lay that ghost. Whenever the thought of his fathers weakness and failure troubled him he expelled it by thinking his
own strength and success. And so he did now. His mind went to his latest show of manliness. p.66
In fact, Okonkwos choice in overcoming his conflict is not the best solution. What he does is only distracting his mind from his fathers failure and
weakness into his glorious past time. Moreover, he does not bring his inner conflict to an end. So, it is obvious
that his fear remains silent in his head. His life is stuck in the past, in his glorious moment and his fathers misfortune.
Then, while he tries to expel his fear, he must face a conflict with his first son, Nwoye. Nwoye starts showing his laziness and weakness and Okonkwo
cannot tolerate his son’s behaviors. The way Okonkwo deals with Nwoyes laziness and weakness is very rude. He uses his strength and fists to correct
Nwoyes misbehavior. He never tries to handle his childrens mistakes in a more constructive way. He never uses his affection to approach his children. He tends to
destroy his childrens self confidence by giving them fists or underestimating words. He never uses his love to solve his problem with them. What he always
does is showing his strength and rude actions. Okonkwo never showed any emotion openly, unless it be the emotion of
anger. To show affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was strength. p.28
The existence of a boy named Ikemefuna in Okonkwos family actually solves the conflict temporarily. Ikemefunas arrival does not only bring a good
impact to Okonkwo, but also to Nwoye. Okonkwo is happy seeing his first sons development. Nwoye starts listening and understanding what his father says and
orders. He starts loving and doing a man job. Together with Ikemefuna, Nwoye feels enthusiastic to work in the farm. He is more diligent than before. He also
feels happy every time he spends a long time to gather and talk a mans business with his father. Now, there is nothing can please his heart than do a man like job.
Nwoye has succeeded in making his father glad. He has solved his conflict with his father.
Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his sons development, and he knew it was due to Ikemefuria. p.52 ... he knew that his father, wanted him to be
a man. And so he feigned that he no longer cared for womens stories. And when he did this he saw that his father was pleased, and no longer rebuked
him or beat him. p.54
This happy condition, does not last forever. Everything changes after Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna. He has to kill Ikemefuna because he has to obey what
his customthe oracle says. In fact, he kills lkemefuna because he does not want people consider him as a weak man, just because he is unwilling to kill his step
son. Nwoye starts questioning his fathers reason for killing Ikemefuna, but he never dares to ask him directly. He never thinks his father would do such kind of
thing, because he knows his father loved Ikemefuna very much. It can be shown after Okonkwo kills him,he fells a deep sadness.
Okonkwo did not taste any food for two days after the died of Ikemefuna. He drank palm-wine from morning till night, and his eyes were red and
fierce like the eyes of a rat when it was caught by the tail amd dashed against the floor… he did not sleep at night. He tried not to think about
Ikemefuna, but the more he tried the more he thought about him p.63
After drowning in a deep sadness because of Ikemefunas death, Okonkwo starts treating Nwoye in a harsh way again. In fact, Okonkwos abusive approach
does not solve his conflict against Nwoye. It indeed grows to be more complicated. Okonkwos conflict against his son reaches its peak when Nwoye
decides to leave his family and to join the Christians. It is a very surprising
decision for Okonkwo. How could a son of a great warrior want to join his fathers enemy? The reason is very simple. Nwoye wants to end his conflict with his
father. He cannot stand to live in the shadow of his fathers fame and success. He
wants to escape from his fathers domination and control. He wants to leave his irrational custom that has taken Ikemefunas life. He wants to choose his own path
by joining the Christians. Mr. Kiagas joy was very great. Blessed is he who forsakes his father
and his mother for my sake, he intoned. Those that hear my words are my father and my mother. Nwoye did not fully understand. But he was
happy to leave his father. He would return later to his mother and his brothers and sisters and convert them to the new faith p.152
After this tragic incident of his first son, Okonkwo starts to teach his other five sons more carefully. He has learned a valuable lesson from his past time and
does not want to be drowned for the second time. His fathers misfortune has taught him a very important lesson. He cannot change people from not having
mistake and weakness. Although he regrets his first sons decision, he cannot blame his son for all these messes. He realizes that he takes part in Nwoyes
mistake. Nwoyes leaves and Okonkwos consciousness in taking care of his sons life ends this conflict.
Then the tragedy of his first son had occurred. At first it appeared as if it might prove too great for his spirit. But it was a resilient spirit, and in the
end Okonkwo overcame his sorrow. He had five other sons and he would bring them up in the way of the clan. p.172
The last conflict with the British people is the most complicated problem for Okonkwo to solve. There are so many difficulties that hamper his effort in
bringing this conflict to an end. Most of difficulties come from the circumstances
or surroundings where he lives. This condition can be seen clearly when he is sent into exile in his motherland, Mbanta. Okonkwo and his family have to spend their
seven years in exile in order to purify Okonkwos crime in killing a boy in a funeral. Actually it was not Okonkwos mistake because his gun exploded
accidentally and the bullet killed the boy. According to Ibos custom, Okonkwo had done a female crime because he did that by accident. That is why he has to go
to his exile to purify his female crime. The only course open to Okonkwo was to flee from the clan, it was crime
against the earth goddess to kill a clansman, and a man who committed it must flee, from the land. The crime was of two kinds, male and female.
Okonkwo had committed the female, because it had been inadvertent. He could return to the clan after seven years. p.124
Although he knows the Britishs arrival in the second year of his exile but he cannot do anything. He does not use his manly action in dealing with the new
religion. He is indeed worried to his motherlands unity, but he tends to do nothing. The only reason that prevents his manly action during his exile is his
responsibility to take care of his family. He does not want to do anything that may jeopardize his wives and childrens safety.
Uchendu said, Your duty is to comfort your wives and children and take them back to your fatherland after seven years. But if you allow sorrow to
weigh you down and kill you, they will all die in exile. p.134
Okonkwo does not have any power to encourage his mother clansmen to fight back the British. Here, he does not have any capacity to decide what the
Mbanta people should do. He cannot get involved in his motherlands political matters. Okonkwo is nobody here, although the people of Mbanta still respect him
as the greatest wrestler among the villagers. As a man of action, Okonkwo cannot
wait any longer to fight the British. Waiting for seven years of his exile is not a good thing for him. Everything can change in Mbanta and especially in his clan,
Umuofia, while he is away. Okonkwo starts showing his participation in dealing with the British when
his first son, Nwoye, leaves him to join the Christians. Covered by his anger, he provokes his mothers clansmen to expel the British coercively. He wants the
people of Mbanta to declare war against the British imperial rule, but the elders of Mbanta tend to do another thing. They want to expel the British in a softer way.
They avoid any physical contact that may jeopardize their peoples lives. Okonkwo realizes that his clansmens action hampers his effort in solving his
conflict. He is indeed disappointed. The spirit of wars was upon them. Okonkwo. who had begun to play a part
in the affairs of his motherland, said that until the abominable gang was chased out of the village with whips there would be no peace... Everybody
in the assembly spoke, and in the end it was decided to ostracize the Christians. Okonkwo ground his teeth, in disgust. pp. 158-159
After coming back from his exile, Okonkwo is surprised by the change of his clan Umuofia. Umuofia has a church, school, hospital and district court. The
British government has controlled the natives life. Many people become the converts of Christianity. Some of them are people who have high title. Okonkwo
is very sad seeing this reality. He and his best friend, Obierika, have a plan to drive away the British, but it is a little bit too late because some of his clansmen
have joined the Christians. Now, they have a dilemmatic problem. If they want to attack the British it means that they have to deal with their own people. It is not an
easy problem for Okonkwo and he does not want to deal with his own clansmen
indeed. Again, another thing hampers his effort in solving his conflict. The people of Umuofia have lost their spirit of war.
... How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably
with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won. our brothers, and our clan no longer act like one.
He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart. p.176
He never wonders that his people will join the Christians. They have turned to be like women indeed. They do not have any strength to defend their
own belief, their dignity. They let the new religion ruins their traditional belief and their unity as a member of Umuofia clan. In fact, Okonkwo is a man of action
and he will never let his emotion control his mind. He then tries to gather his clansmen who are willing to fight the British with him. He is very glad when
some of Umuofia people ostracize the converts. Moreover they burn the Christians church to show their struggle toward the Britishs invasion. Okonkwo
cannot hide his happiness although his people do not want to kill the British as he always hopes.
After the church destruction, Okonkwo and the other elders are arrested to take the responsibility of their crime. They are put behind bars and have to pay the
fine for their crime. This condition does not soften Okonkwos spirit against the British. His anger grows even worse when he and his friend are treated very badly
in the prison. Now, he does not only hate the British, but also the court messengers kotma. Okonkwo has to wait for his freedom in order to satisfy his
anger and to solve his conflict. Another difficulty has stopped his struggle for a while.
The day Okonkwo gets his freedom is they day he confirms his intention. His punishment does not soften him. He is still a man of war. He will fight the
British with or without his clansmens help. Wearing his war-dress, he starts gathering his clansmen again. In the meeting Okonkwo and his clansmen agree to
fight the British with all efforts they have, although they will deal, with their own people. The clansmen of Umuofia are sorry if they have to fight their own people
in attacking the British. Okika said, ... We who are here this morning have remained true to our
fathers, but our brothers have deserted us and joined a stranger to soil their fatherland. If we fight the stranger we shall hit our brothers and perhaps
shed the blood of a clansman. But we must do it... And if our brothers take the side of evil we must root them out too. And we must do it now... pp.
203-204
In fact, their plans are not running smoothly. It is disturbed for a while when a band of court messengers suddenly come to the place where the great men
hold the meeting. The kotma wants Okonkwo and his friend to stop the meeting. Led by his anger and hatred Okonkwo suddenly withdraws his knife and kills one
of the kotma. In a flash Okonkwo drew his machete. The messenger crouched to avoid
the blow. It was useless. Okonkwos machete descended twice and the mans head lay beside his uniformed body. p.204
He does that because he knows that there will be no war against the British. The people of Umuofia have fallen apart and they do not have enough
power to defeat the British. Okonkwo realizes this thing. He then runs away and kills himself.
Okonkwo stood looking at the dead man. He knew that Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers escape.
p.205
There are some of the basic needs that cannot be fulfilled by Okonkwo, which may motivate him to commit suicide. Okonkwo is lacking of safety,
belongingness and love, self-esteem, and self-actualization. He needs the safety when he has killed a colonial official with a machete. At the time, his people have
been divided by loyalties to the colonial regime and their own religion and culture. They actually could have risen up and defended Okonkwos actions, but
they do not. They do not jump in to help him. They just let the rest of the men escape. In letting them escape, Okonkwo was left with the realization that the
white men conquered his tribe. This makes Okonkwo feels that he has nobody to support him. Then, his need of safety is not fulfilled.
The waiting backcloth jumped into tumultuous life and the meeting was stopped. Okonkwo stood looking at the dead man. He knew that Umuofia
would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers escape. They had broken into tumult instead of action. He discerned fright
in that tumult. He heard voices asking: Why did he do it? He wiped his machete on the sand and went away. p.205
In this occasion, Okonkwo also feels that he is lack of belongingness and love and also self-esteem. It can be seen when his son leaves him to become a
Christian, the tribe will not go to war against the British, and he faces execution for killing the white man. He cannot accept the change of his people. He cannot
accept the new belief. Moreover, he cannot accommodate himself to the change of his society. It is his way of bringing his conflict to an end. He is unable to solve
his problem because he deals with a great force. He cannot defeat it by himself. . There is no possibility to defeat the British single-handed. His opponents power is
indeed greater than his quality as a human being. Okonkwos self-actualization is fail too. Since the beginning of the story, Okonkwo is described as a successful
man. He will do anything to show his manliness and Igbo people do appreciate what Okonkwo does. He does not want to be like his father, an empty man. But, at
the end, Okonkwo feel that he is fail. He does not have any power to encourage his clansmen to fight back the British. Okonkwos suicide is also the answer of his
fear of his fathers failure and weakness. He spends his life to avoid his fathers shadow, but in the end he dies as what his fathers did. By his suicide he makes
people judge him like his father. Both of them are not worthy to be buried properly like a man. Okonkwo is not a great warrior anymore. He is not strong
enough to face the reality. Like a coward he runs away and escapes himself from hard and painful matters.
Obierika, who had been gazing steadily at his friends dangling body, turned suddenly to the District Commissioner and said ferociously: That
man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself; and now he will be buried like a dog... He could not say any
more. His voice trembled and chocked his words. p.208
Okonkwos decision to commit suicide is followed by his action to hang himself on the tree to kill himself. Smith said that suicide is the act of
intentionally destroying oneself, a violent self-inflicted destructive action resulting in death, and the act of killing oneself 1982: 129. Someone who has the decision
to commit suicide usually has a combination between a wish to live and a wish to die which maybe a cry for help. Okonkwo maybe needs help from somebody from
his surrounding people. It could be his family or friends, but nobody is sensitive enough to understand Okonkwos difficulties and problems. At the end, he comes
to his decision to commit suicide because nobody helps him. If only Okonkwo had friends and family understand his feeling and
problems, maybe he would not take that decision. However, he thinks that his decision is the right decision for him since there are nobody wants to help him
making up his life. Okonkwo commits suicide also as results of his inability to integrate with his new society. Durkheim 1897 as quoted in Sue 1986: 408
states that this act is categorized as an egoistic suicide. Okonkwo thinks that he should defend his Igbo religion and belief, rather than join them. It is shown from
the actions that he takes against the British people.
Okonkwos reason to commit suicide is caused by his unsatisfied on life. He wants to end his life and hopes that he will get a better life after death or at
least he will not live in a world that neglecting him. James et.al. 1990: 350 states that whenever we want to do something, we always have causes that motivate us
to do it, and so it does when we want to commit suicide. Okonkwo has an unsatisfying life that causes him to commit suicide. Commonly, so many causes
motivate someone to do suicide. He categorizes the causes of suicide only into three, they are interpersonal crises, failure and self-devaluation and loss of
meaning and hope. Here, Okonkwos causes of committing suicide are categorized as a loss of meaning and hope. According to Melges and Bowlby 1969 as quoted
in James et. al, if someone has loss of hope and meaning, he may give up trying
and take his own life, so does happened to Okonkwo. He has lost the meaning of life and he does not want to struggle his life anymore.
Okonkwos decision to commit suicide is strongly related to his personalities, especially his way of thinking. He always thinks about how to be a
successful man who never shows weakness. He never approves every single weakness. Okonkwos personalities become the reason that motivates him to
commit suicide.
46