Okonkwo
The protagonist. A powerful, feared, and deeply insecure man who defines himself by what his father was not. His inflexibility makes him effective in a stable world and catastrophic in a changing one. His arc ends in isolation and suicide.
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Characters
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Contents
Characters
Who matters and what they help you prove.
Unoka
Okonkwo's father. He appears only in flashbacks and early scenes, but he controls the entire novel. His laziness and gentleness become the negative image Okonkwo spends his life running from.
Nwoye
Okonkwo's eldest son. Sensitive and thoughtful, he is everything his father despises. He converts to Christianity less out of belief than out of a need to escape his father's world. His departure is the personal wound Okonkwo never recovers from.
Ikemefuna
A boy from a neighboring village who lives with Okonkwo's family for three years. He becomes a surrogate son to Okonkwo and a brother to Nwoye. His killing by Okonkwo is the moral center of the novel.
Obierika
Okonkwo's closest friend. He questions things Okonkwo never questions, including the killing of Ikemefuna and the logic of exile. He functions as a contrast to Okonkwo and as the person who has to deal with the aftermath of Okonkwo's death.
Ezinma
Okonkwo's favorite child, daughter of his second wife Ekwefi. Okonkwo repeatedly wishes she had been born a boy. She is sharp and perceptive, and her relationship with Okonkwo is the most tender one he has. She survives the novel; he does not.
Mr. Brown
The first missionary in Umuofia. He takes a patient, respectful approach to conversion, learning about Igbo beliefs and building a school. His method is slower but more effective than confrontation.
Reverend James Smith
Mr. Brown's replacement. Rigid and intolerant, he pushes the converts toward open conflict with traditional practices. His arrival accelerates the breakdown between the church and the village.
The District Commissioner
The British colonial official who appears at the end. He never understands what he has destroyed. His plan to write about Okonkwo in a few sentences of his book is the novel's final, devastating image.
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