Okonkwo as a Man

Within the first sentences of the novel Things Fall Apart, Okonwo's characteristics as a man are shown. Okonkwo grew up being ashamed of his father and continued to feel that way even after his death. Watching his father do nothing with his life and make nothing of himself forced Okonkwo to hate everything that his father loved and he closed himself off from emotion. His main goal was to be a real man, unlike his father. It is said in the first chapter that Okonkwo is the way he is because he is in fear of being like his father; as an agbala or in debt.
Okonkwo shows little to no emotion because in his culture that is how a man should act. He is strong and made a name for himself because of that. He has many wives and children, which are the only things he shows any sort of feelings for. As a man, he is a genuinely good individual but because of his fear of inadequacy and his quest to be the opposite of his father, he sometimes commits malicious acts just to ensure his pride. The perfect example of this situation would be when he murdered Ikemefuna. He was very fond of the boy who referred to him as father, but he killed him so that he did not seem weak to others. Okonkwo felt remorseful after his act, but soon got over it. In many cultures a man who cries or shows that something has hurt him he is considered weak which is why Okonkwo acts the way he does.