Persuasive Writing: Things Fall Apart (Achebe Chinua) In the story, Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo killed Ezeudu’s son and for a punishment was he was exiled for 7 years. Most people say, “Oh that’s too harsh” or “why not 7 months?” but if they really knew Okonkwo well enough they would know that he isn’t such a kind heart person and he deserves this punishment. One reason why Okonkwo deserves this punishment is because he always beats his wife’s and children. If they ever did something not to his liking he would beat them very hard. He wouldn’t care if someone tried to stop hi, or if it was hurting them, he would beat them until they learned their lesson. Here’s a quote for an example of Okonkwo beating his wife’s, “Okonkwo knew she was not speaking the truth…… and when she returned he beat her very heavily.” (Achebe pg. 25) Another reason why Okonkwo deserves this punishment is because he killed Ikemefuna. One day Okonkwo, Ikemefuna and a couple of men were walking through the forest and all of a sudden one of the men took his machete and hit Ikemefuna. When Okonkwo saws he took his machete and finished him off. In the story Achebe writes, “My father, they have killed me, as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being weak.” (pg. 53) The last reason that Okonkwo deserves this punishment is because during the week of peace he beat his second wife. During the week of peace you are not supposed to do any work and you were especially not supposed to beat/hurt anything or anybody, but for Okonkwo he didn’t care. He did not care about anything but himself.
