The novel, "Things Fall Apart," was written by the Nigerian author Chinua Achebe and published in the UK by William Heinemann Ltd in 1958. Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart as a way to criticize imperialism or the colonization by the Europeans, of countries not part European continent. Rather than just writing a piece of work and lecturing to people on the wrongful doing of these actions, he wrote a fictional story that documented the rich spiritual history of Africa. He shows how the lives of the civilized Igbo were altered by the cultural and spiritual consequences that were brought forth from the European missionaries by minimizing the mass of the movement and just showing one charterer`s struggle so the reader can have a better connection with the people and the problem at hand. The novel follows an inflexible and forceful member of the clan, Okonkwo, who is trying to surpass his weak father's legacy. He is a respected member and a brave warrior who is determined to hold his culture and tradition; however, Okonkwo`s rigidness and fierceness often makes him go against the clan`s laws, such as during the Week of Peace he had beaten his wife. Okonkwo's successes and failures are shown in the first part of the novel while the second part shows he shoots as his wife and hits a clan member accidentally which results in the destruction of his property and a seven year exile. He goes to his mother's homeland, which turns out to be experiencing some conflicts with the Christian missionaries. While anxiously returning to Umuofia, Okonkwo finds out much has changed while he was away. He discovers that through the disenfranchised members of his clans, the Christian missionaries had made roads into the clan's culture. Okonkwo's son is disgusted by his father for being involved with the killing of a boy that his family took care of and take in so he decides to leave for the mission school. Upon this Okonkwo decides to go against the missionaries and fight for his culture. However, after killing a government official he notices he is alone in this and decides to take his own life because he would rather die than give up in what he believes in. Ironically, the clan views suicide as a grave dishonor which leads Okonkwo being recognized as an outcast of the clan and be given no burial. Scholarly Critical Article The main topic of the article shows the life of the "great warrior," Okonkwo, and the reason why he caused so much havoc, which ultimately contributed to his death. The Ibo consider "the art of conversation...very highly" (Achebe 7) while Okonkwo was not a man of thought but a man of action. Okonkwo's "inflexible will  made him want to become a great man which he based on showing no weakness or fear, his hamartia. In the novel Achebe says Okonkwo has no patience for unsuccessful men meaning, "he had no patience with his father" (Achebe 4). Okonkwo`s father, Unoka, was the complete opposite of Okonkwo, he was a gentle, flexible, compassionate, understanding man and with his great talking skills he would borrow money, but was considered a failure because he was deeply in debt, a loafer, and barely had enough food to feed his wife and children, which are the reasons why Okonkwo hates him. For this reason Okonkwo hates gentleness and idleness because he fears it would make him resemble his father. He believes, "to show affection was a sign of weakness; the only worth demonstration was strength" (Achebe 28). Okonkwo's fear ultimately causes him to participate in the killing of Ikemefuna. Beforehand, Ogbuefi Ezeudu, a village elder told him Ikemefuna calls Okonkwo a father so he could not to be a part in his death. Age is respected and shown to be a direct connection to wisdom. Okonkwo is described as one of the greatest men of his time, but is also said to be young, which in contrasts the statement made before shows he is a great man but is lacks wisdom. With this lack of wisdom his desire for greatness makes him ignore Ogbuefi and continues to participate in Ikemefuna's killing. However, Okonkwo was not a cruel or evil man; he was a man