company colonialism. He tries to live the traditional Ibo life; however the arrival of the "white" man into his society causes him to "fall apart." In the end of the story, Okonkwo, in frustration, kills an African employed by the British, then commits suicide which is a sin against the tradition to which he had clung to. The conflict in the novel, vested in Okonkwo, derives from the series of crushing blows which are leveled at traditional values by an alien and more powerful culture causing, in the end, the traditional society to fall apart (Carroll 82.) In Things Fall Apart, Achebe recreated the tragic consequences that took place due to the clash between the Ibo society and the "white" man. By using a character such as Okonkwo, he showed how even the strong willed people of the Ibo society, were unable to overcome the British influences.
             Traditional way of living for the Ibo society was rapidly changing in the early 1900's due to European colonialism. Many Nigerians were being absorbed by the British and straying from their traditional beliefs and values (Abraham 46.) With the advent of the white man there was a loss of native values such as communal harmony, placing society above self, respect for the aged, and reverence for achievers, which resulted in the absence of self analysis and a stable code of ethics in the society of pre-Independent Nigeria. Lured by western education and well paying jobs, the youth of the country did not hesitate to stoop to the levels of immortality and dangerous permissiveness (Amuta19.)
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