Okonkwo lives his life afraid of being seen as a failure. How does his suicide make him everything he vows never to be?

Suicide is not acceptable to the clan. It is against their customs, and so poorly regarded that they cannot even touch the body. A stranger must be called to handle the body and bury it. The clan considers the land desecrated where the body is buried and has to make sacrifices to cleanse it. Okonkwo ends his life and defies his own beliefs.