Thursday 24 October 2013

What role does Okonkwo play in Ikemefuna's death in Things Fall Apart?

In the novel,
"" by ,becomes a member of 's family as part of a settlement from a neighboring
village that has wronged Okonkwo's clan. Over time, Okonwo begins to consider the 15 year-old
Ikemefuna to be a beloved adopted son and his own biological son, , becomes very attached to
Ikemefuna.

Approximately three years later, Okonkwo's village experiences a
rare attack of locusts. The village elders decide that Ikemefuna must be sacrificed to appease
the situation.

Okonkwo is advised not to attend the ceremony in which
Ikemefuna will be killed, but he attends anyway, despite the warnings. When Ikemefuna notices
one of the men wielding a machete towards him, he runs to Okonkwo for help.


In a heartbreaking move, but true to Okonkwo's character, he delivers the death blow
himself, violently killing Ikemefuna so that he does not appear weak in the eyes of the men in
attendance and the village. 

So, Okonkwo is Ikemefuna's killer; this is his
role in Ikemefuna's death.

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