A man of Umuofia

Okonkwo is a respected leader in Umuofia, a group of Igbo villages in what is now Nigeria. As a young man he became famous by defeating a champion wrestler, and through hard work he has gained farms, barns of yams, wives and titles.

He is driven by fear of being like his father, Unoka, a gentle flute player who died poor and in debt. Okonkwo hates anything he sees as weak, and he rules his family with a heavy hand.