during the week of peace, and he tries to kill Ekwefi with his gun. The narrator tells us that his wives "lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper." (Achebe, 13) So there is clear evidence of his hostility towards women. He thinks of them as inferior, and shows that in his words and his actions.Another component of Freud's theory of homosexuality is its causes in childhood experiences. Generally, homosexual men are close to their mothers in childhood, and distant or hostile to their fathers. Okonkwo, we are told, is ashamed of his father, and the reason for his shame is important. His father has been called an "agbala" - that is, a woman. Because he does not love violence, and has taken no titles, he is considered effeminate, and unmanly. It could be argued that Unoka, too, is a homosexual. For one thing, he has only one wife, whereas most men have multiple wives. But he also does not conform to his society's ideal of a good male.In response, Okonkwo is determined not to be like his father. He is ashamed of his father's sexuality, and decides that he must be the opposite. It is clear, however, that he overreacts to this situation. Okonkwo is not going to be just an ordinary male; he is going to be a supermodel of masculinity. The intensity of his reaction indicates that he is determined to hider something. He is not just repudiating his father; he is condemning his own homosexual impulses. So this is the irony, and the paradox, of his situation. His obsessive determination with being a male - with being heterosexual - is clear evidence that he is actually homosexual.With this fact in mind, it is easier to understand Okonkwo's attitude towards his own children. He thinks of Nwoye as "unmanly," even though there is nothing to suggest that Nwoye's sexual orientation is anything other than heterosexual. And there is a special irony is Okonkwo's pleasure in Nwoye's relationship with Ikemefuna. He feels that his son ca...
