'Things Fall Apart" tells the story of a man named Okonkwo and how his life changes when faced with different obstacles. He begins as this strong warrior who was more than determined to not turn out anything like his father. He was very well-respected in his tribe and also admired. One of his shortcomings was that he never showed any type of feelings because he looked at as a sign of weakness. There were a few times in the story when he showed that softer side, but always in private. When he took part in the killing of his adpoted son, he saw it as doing right by the boy. When his daughter was sick, he watched over her even though he was not supposed to. Those two examples prove that he was definitely capable of expressing feelings, but didn't let it show based on his own selfish pride. Throughout the story you can see the rise and fall of Okonkwo and how it is affecting him. When he was exiled to his motherland, he felt like he was losing himself, because he didn't have the same power he once had. He had high hopes for his return to his tribe, but that was soon ruined when he realized that things were no longer the same. A possible theme for this novel could be power versus powerlessness. An example of this is when Okonkwo went from being one of the most important men in the tribe, to not being able to rally against the missionaries that were taking over. The battle that was primarily man vs. self became too much for him to handle and he had to take drastic measures. The men of the tribe had to discover their comrade hanging from a tree after he took his own life. Even though suicide was frowned upon in the tribe, it is believed that he would have rather shamed himself by committing suicide than to let the missionaries rule over him.
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