In Things Fall Apart by China Achebe, the theme that change is inevitable, but growth is optional is shown through character development or the lack of it within Okonkwo and other characters within the story. With the arrival of the white missionaries, the Ibo culture was set up for great change. These changes were drastic and we see that strong characters are brought out by change, and weak ones by permanence. An example of weak faradization is Okowokwos inability to adapt to its shifting culture. Even before the white men bare their teeth, Okokwno shows this by not acknowledging womens strength and important place in their culture. This can be shown in the novel several times as being a real man is important in the Ibo culture.
From the very beginning, it is established that women are weak and below men, which Okoknwo believes in greatly [&] he was s
truck, as most people were, by Okonkwos brusqueness in dealing with less successful men. Only a week ago a man had contradicted him at a kindred meeting that they held to discuss the next ancestral feast. Without looking at the man Okonkwo had said. This meeting is for men. The man who had contradicted him had no titles. That was why he had called him a woman. Okonkwo knew how to kill a mans spirit (achebe 4. )Okonkwos respect in the community and strong reputation has made him somewhat vain, and while he isnt ostentatious, he doesnt refrain from looking down on others who do not seek the level of hierarchy and masculinity he sees as required, not optional. He has an arrogant aura and has scant pity for those less fortunate or competent than himself despite his rough background Okowknwo states that He had no patience with unsuccessful men (Achebe .4).