January Monthly Connection

Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart was a very likable character for me the one issue that I had with him was that he committed suicide. I believe that ending your own life because of your problems can never be heroic. If Okonkwo had sacrificed his life to save his people that would've been a heroic death, but he sulked away and hung himself in the dark. His death did no one any good and was just basically running away. Okonkwo comitted suicide to escape the reallity that his tribe lost its heart and was slowly conforming with the Brittish. He believed they should have fought but the tribesmen acted like old women and basically gave up.
In other cultures such as the Japanese suicide is a very noble thing to do to save your honor. When samarai were captured or defeated they took their own life to defend their honor. Suicide was looked on as preferable to living with the shame of their defeat. Our culture doesn't have the belief that suicide is noble. There are laws and religions that prohibit it. People today look at suicide as murder just of oneself.
I definatly belief that suicide is not an acceptable or noble thing. The pain suicide brings to the family of the victim is all I need to say that suicide is unacceptable. For me there are a few acceptions to this. I believe that people who are terminally ill and suffering should be able to end their own life because they cant better it. Suicide can also be heroic when you consider soldiers staying behind to fight a rearguard action knowing they will die. These people sacrifice themselves to protect other people. Okonkwo did neither of these. He took his own life as the easy way out and I do not believe a true hero should do that.