Okonkwo’s Misfortune

Although Okonkwo strives to be a different type of person than his father, he still faces a great amount of misfortune despite his hard work. One of the biggest things that Okonkwo has working against him is his temper. He gets angry quickly. He is punished when he gets angry with one of his wives and beats her during the week of peace. Okonkwo shoots at another of his wives when he hears her make fun of him under his breath. While these slight infractions on Okonkwo’s part have given his a reputation in his village, it is a pure accident that causes Okonkwo to be cast out of his village. At Ezeudu’s funeral, Okonkwo’s gun explodes and Ezeudu’s sixteen-year-old son is killed when a shard of the metal pierces his heart. Although all of the men recognize that the...