Okonkwo Being Exiled

Edward Said states being exiled is often “un-healable” and “enriching” for people. Although it seems ironic to use these words to describe the feelings one experiences while being exiled, Said’s descriptive words are accurate. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the author sheds light on being exiled as both destructive and augmentative as Okonkwo is forced out of his homeland. During this punishing period, Okonkwo realizes having sympathy towards people is not foolish and breaking traditions should not be seen as a crime.
Okonkwo stands by the principle that one should not show his or her weaknesses to others. After seeing his father die lonely and powerless, Okonkwo makes a vow to never become like his father. For him, this means never wasting a day not working or showing sympathy for people, including his family members. “Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through” (30). Even though it is Peace Week, a week when no one is supposed to inflict harm on others, Okonkwo still chooses to beat his wife Ojiugo because he does not want to show mercy to his wife as he believes it would make him look weak. His thoughts on being manly and merciless shifts slightly after he is exiled to Mbanta, his motherland, after
Although he feels out of place because he has to live in a new home surrounded by new people, he also learns how to become more lenient about following his customs or social norms. He realizes if he is in a situation where he can save his tribe from falling apart, and it requires him to against his tribe’s customs, he will do it because it does not matter how many titles he earns during his lifetime if his tribe will become extinct. Although it is easy to assume Okonkwo’s tribe is wiped into almost extinction a couple of years after his death, his suicide allows his tribe to exist a little