ination for a man to take his ownlife..." (Achebe 147). It is important to establish these facts because itexemplifies Okonkwo's journey, and ultimately that of the Ibo people (as Achebeintended), as tragic in nature.As stated earlier, Okonkwo was obsessed with success. This manifesteditself in many materialistic ways. First, he started out with nothing since heinherited nothing from his debt ridden father. He was forced to borrow seedsfrom a wealthy man. This was something he hated doing, but realized it was theonly way to begin to become the man he wanted to be. "I began to fend formyself at an age when most people still suck at their mothers' breasts. If yougive me some yam seeds I shall not fail you." (Achebe 16) Here we can see thatOkonkwo started adulthood, in fact supporting his family, at a very early age. He began to cultivate his farm before many of the other townspeople. Thisunfortunately lead to disaster the first year since the rains came early andmuch of his crop was destroyed. Okonkwo persisted. Okonkwo was a man possessedwith succeeding. "‘Since I survived that year,' he always said, ‘I shallsurvive anything.' He put it down to his inflexible will." (Italics by me) Thisoffers the reader a clear picture of the type of man Okonkwo was, very drivenand determined to succeed.Okonkwo also valued physical strength as an element of success. He wasknown as the best wrestler in all the nine villages and was never beaten. Heeven beat The Cat who, up to that time, had never been beaten."(Okonkwo) was tall and huge, and his bushy eyebrows and wide nose gavehim a very severe look... When he walked, his heels hardly touched the groundand he seemed to walk on springs, as if he was going to pounce on somebody."(Achebe 3)Okonkwo also possessed great wealth, including two barns of yams andthree wives. It was looked upon favorably if you took on more than one wife. This meant that you were rich enough to support...
