In Chinua Achebe 's novel Things Fall Apart, the author depicts Okonkwo 's relationship with two of his sons, Ikemefuna and Nwoye, in order to emphasize his choice to oppress weakness, and how it eventually …show more content…
The author uses his death to further illustrate how detrimental it was to him to lose his sons, one biological and one adopted. Ikemefuna was passed from his own hands and his harsh words and actions drove Nwoye from the family. He avoided confronting himself about these issues and let his subconscious take care of it. Yet, it was too much for him to handle. Slowly he became more and more mentally ill, and finally decided death was the best option. Somehow in his childhood he had formed such a negative view of his father that he wanted to never be like him in any way. He tried his hardest to work as much and as well as he could, and be as "manly" as possible. On the surface, it was like the two were polar opposites, and it seemed like he was accomplishing this goal. Though at death,and upon deeper inspection, they were the almost the same. Okonkwo 's father had fits of depression, which allowed the reader to view the other side of this man, he struggled with psychological troubles like his son. Both bore a shameful death and were treated as outcasts, although most disagreed with Okonkwo 's burial. The stark difference between the two was that Okonkwo died deeply saddened, unable to forgive his clan, where as his father died happily, enjoying his music and the free way he lived his life. In life, as in death, a person is the way