Suicide is never an easy topic to talk about. In Things Fall apart written by Chinua Achebe, suicide came as a surprise toward the end of the novel. Everyone may have theories about why they think he killed himself, but there was never a clear reason why Okonkwo did such a thing. There were many contributing factors events that had led up to his suicide, after he came back from his exile is when everything started to get out of control. Okonkwo’s perception on his own masculinity started to diminish as soon as he came back from his exile, because he was no longer in charge; he could not stand seeing himself any less than the top ruler, and therefore he took his own life. One of the many events that led up to Okonkwo’s suicide was his father.
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It all started when Okonkwo’s gun accidentally went off at Ezeudu 's funeral and killed Ezeudu 's son. Even though it was an accident, he had committed a crime that had offended the Earth Goddesses. “It was the dead man’s sixteen-year-old son… Okonkwo 's gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy’s heart” (124). Immediately, Okonkwo was sent to his motherland, Mbanta, for seven years. The same night Okonkwo committed the crime he left right away. Following Okonkwo and his family leaving, a group of men including Obierika went to tear down all of Okonkwo 's huts and kill all of his animals. “They had no hatred in their hearts against Okonkwo. His greatest friend, Obierika, was among them. They merely cleansing the land which Okonkwo had polluted with the blood of a clansman (125). Obierika, being Okonkwo’s best friend, did not want to tear down Okonkwo 's huts, but had to to please the Earth Goddess. The seven years in exile really affected Okonkwo. When they arrived, his family help build huts for all of his family, they even gave him a farm and seeds to start a yam farm. They were all nice to him but is was not the same to Okonkwo. He was not comfortable with his exile, he tries to distract himself with his yam farm but “work no longer had for him the pleasure it used to have”
It all started when Okonkwo’s gun accidentally went off at Ezeudu 's funeral and killed Ezeudu 's son. Even though it was an accident, he had committed a crime that had offended the Earth Goddesses. “It was the dead man’s sixteen-year-old son… Okonkwo 's gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy’s heart” (124). Immediately, Okonkwo was sent to his motherland, Mbanta, for seven years. The same night Okonkwo committed the crime he left right away. Following Okonkwo and his family leaving, a group of men including Obierika went to tear down all of Okonkwo 's huts and kill all of his animals. “They had no hatred in their hearts against Okonkwo. His greatest friend, Obierika, was among them. They merely cleansing the land which Okonkwo had polluted with the blood of a clansman (125). Obierika, being Okonkwo’s best friend, did not want to tear down Okonkwo 's huts, but had to to please the Earth Goddess. The seven years in exile really affected Okonkwo. When they arrived, his family help build huts for all of his family, they even gave him a farm and seeds to start a yam farm. They were all nice to him but is was not the same to Okonkwo. He was not comfortable with his exile, he tries to distract himself with his yam farm but “work no longer had for him the pleasure it used to have”