Okonkwo has 3 wives, and a large farm. He keeps the skull of the first man he killed as a mug; he has killed 5 men in wars. He has many children. Okonkwo is a man of title, and is allowed to represent an egwugwu. He is well-respected, and is friends with Obierika, another well-respected man. Nwakibie agrees to lend him some yams for planting.
"Okonkwo was a man." "Did you see that man, Okonkwo?" "You are my son. Okonkwo, I am your father!"
Okonkwo is ashamed of his father Unoka. He feels his father is weak, effeminate, and made fun of by other members of the tribe. Okonkwo feels a man should be strong like a warrior, but his father is shy of blood. Okonkwo feels a man should be hard working and provide for his family, but Unoka is lazy, and a very poor farmer. Okonkwo ends up inheriting nothing from his father.
Ikemefuna called Okonkwo father. It would be unnatural for a father to kill his son. The boy was also affectionate towards Okonkwo, and it would be like a betrayal.
Okonkwo treats himself as superior to both, and he has to economically support both. His father is effeminate by the standards of the clan, and Okonkwo is grated by his father's love of talking.
Okonkwo becomes a father to Ikemefuna, and Ikemefuna calls Okonkwo father. Ikemefuna is like the second man in the house, the closest to Okonkwo's personality, and helps to develop Nwoye's manhood. Okonkwo likes Ikemefuna, but does not show his feelings towards Ikemefuna because to do so would be unmanly.
Ikemefuna is the boy that is sent to live with Okonkwo. Eventually the boy becomes much like Okonkwo's own son, and Ikemefuna even calls Okonkwo father.
Because Okonkwo treated him like a son and Ikemefuna thought of him as a father.
Nwoye denies that Okonkwo is his father after Ikemefuna's death, as he is deeply affected by the event and begins to question his relationship with his father. This moment marks the beginning of Nwoye's alienation from Okonkwo and his traditional beliefs.
Okonkwo thought his father Unoka was a shameful man because he was lazy, effeminate, a large debtor, drunkard, and a poor farmer. His father held no titles and was thus called an agbala. Unoka was also not a warrior, preferring instead to play the flute. He was not well respected in any of the villages. Because of this, Okonkwo was ashamed of his father, and did not wish to become like him. He did his best to flee from the shadow of his father.
Okonkwo's illness showed his vulnerability and fear of being seen as weak or inadequate in the eyes of his community. It highlighted his inner turmoil and the pressure he felt to live up to the expectations of masculinity and success in his society, which ultimately contributed to his tragic downfall.
Okonkwo was ambitious because he wanted to contrast himself against his father, who was an effeminate agbala. He could never forget the shame he felt as a child due to his father.
By killing someone's son, the person to continue the father's heritage, Okonkwo is banished to his motherland.