Okonkwo is projected as a heroic figure and a wrestler who is constantly at war with others, his legacy of his father whom he despises, his own character and finally, with the white man. Okonkwo's world consists of the nine villages from Umuofia to Mbaino and areas outside of these boundaries have little significance to him, belonging simply to that vague realm "beyond." He gives a lot of importance to personal achievements as he believes that these achievements bring honor to the village which in turn emphasizes the close tie between the individual and society. The novel is about Okonkwo's rise and fall in a culture that is bound by tradition and superstitious. Okonkwo has his weakness and it is these weaknesses that ultimately destroy the life he has created for himself. His self-determination is not only controlled by internal but external forces as well. His carelessness that results in his banishment from his village for seven years, and finally, it is again his fiery and rash temper which pushes him to kill a white man and consequently pushes him to take his own life. .
Okonkwo is a man who has grown up in a community that, because of its passionate desire for survival, places its faith in the individual quality of 'manliness.' And it is an irony of fate that makes him start off with a disadvantage, on this score - the failure of his own father. It is the need for him to live down the shame of his father that compels him to an excessive adherence of the social code. This transforms every positive value that he has to into a weakness. Also, he pursues achievement with an obsessive single-mindedness that eventually degenerates into egocentricity. He thus, virtually flounders through his life, with the minor problems, which instead of strengthening him carry him to a point of dissolution. The novel reflects this degeneration with respect to the traditional African way of life. .
Okonkwo is respected for having reached a position of wealth and status, without any support from family.
