This
is a solid discussion question because there is no single correct answer. Readers are not told
exactly what motivatedto kill himself, so it is left up to individual readers to come up with a
plausible explanation.
Okonkwo has had some fairly rough patches in his life.
He believes that his father is a disgrace, he's helped murder his adopted son, and he's been
banished from his community for seven years. Despite those things, he is quite revered as a
great man in his culture. He is warrior of a man and wealthy as well. Consequently, he is
generally well respected, and he's grown accustomed to getting his way about a lot of things.
Okonkwo doesn't believe that his people should stand by and let the Christians in, but his
people refuse to go to war. At this point, he's not getting his way, and he thinks his people
are growing weak. He's been losing hope, and the final meeting makes him lose the final bit of
hope that he had to hold out against all of the changes he doesn't want to happen. With no hope
left, Okonkwo decides that death is better than living hopeless. This a fairly common
explanation for why he commits suicide.
Another possibility is that Okonkwo's
suicide is his final act of pride. Rules are important to him as well as tradition. He is a very
consistent character in that way, and he is not willing to live the life that the Christians
want him to take on. Rather than live in a world that is so against what he stands for, Okonkwo
chooses to die on his own terms instead of submitting to the white man's emphasis on tolerance
and compassion.
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