Things Fall Apart Part III

Since Okonkwo was gone for seven years he lost his place among the men who rule the clan and he could no longer have a strong influence on the decisions the clan made. The church being built in the clan causes confrontations. At first the clansmen just laughed at what the missionaries preached, but when some of their own members and the outcasts of the village started to convert they became very concerned. How could they be expected to fight against their own people? Okonkwo tries to tell the clan that it does not matter, they chose to convert and now they have to pay, because war was the only way to return to the way things were. The new government and church divides the people of the clan through religion and through commerce. The government brought in money to the markets and some people prospered from the increase of money. After Okonkwo returns from the prison with the other men he is determined to make the people see how evil the white men are and inform them that war is the only option. Okonkwo is so enraged that when the District Commissioner's messenger arrives at the meeting, he decapitates the man. He feels that no one will stand with him against these strangers and he is so angry at the motion of letting his life and faith be destroyed, that he lashes out. After Okonkwo murders the man he probably regrets his rash behavior and accepts that now he has endangered the whole clan and condemned himself to death. Okonkwo's choice to hang himself reflects his unbending will to let something foreign destroy what he stood for. His death somewhat signifies the death of the clan and how their old customs are doomed to be overrun by new ideas.