Ibo people and British

Over the time that the white people were in Umuofia, the Ibo people's attitudes have changed significantly. When they first came, the people from Abame were afraid of them because they had never even known that white people existed. So they killed him, and in turn, the white men wiped out all of Abame. So this situation set the groundwork for the Ibo and white men's attitudes towards each other. This situation instilled fear in the Ibo, and some haughtiness in the white men.
The white people then tried to convert the Ibo to Christianity by saying that the Ibo gods were not real. They said there is only one God, and that all the other gods are not real. This offended the Ibo people and later confused them because then the missionaries said that there were three parts of this God. The white men did not care for the Ibo's religious sentiments. Both groups of people did not try to understand each other.
Mr. Brown was the only one who tried to understand, though. He listened to what the Ibo's religion is and saw some similarities between the two religions. His conscientiousness saved the reverend after him, who might have been killed when the egwugwu burned down the church.
The British just viewed the Ibo as uncivilized people who needed to be "pacified." If the British took the time to try to understand the Ibo people, then maybe their relationship would've been a lot better, and they wouldn't have had the problems that they had.

"Mother is Supreme"

Okonkwo does not understand the Ibo proverb "the Mother is Supreme." He refuses to acknowledge the "female" virtues in himself and others because he thinks showing any emotions is a sign of weakness. Showing a sign of weakness could be perceived as laziness, and then Okonkwo would be thought to be like Unoka, his father. Because Okonkwo does not want to be anything like his father, he does not acknowledge emotions and such.
There are many examples of Okonkwo being unemotional and cold. One instance is when there is a meeting going on in Mbanta about what to do about the person who killed a snake, which is revered in the African culture. People were saying that the snake-killer should be ignored, and Okonkwo could not stand this. He wanted to go kill that person. When they decided not to, Okonkwo thought to himself that nothing like this would have ever happened in his village of Umuofia.
Another example was when Ikemefuna was killed. Okonkwo killed Ikemefuna, whom he thought of as a son and Ikemefuna also thought of Okonkwo as his father. The only reason he did this was because he did not want to be perceived as weak by others. And then when Nwoye found out about Ikemefuna's death, he started crying. Since Okonkwo cannot stand emotions, he beat his son for crying about the death of his brother.
Okonkwo hates emotions so much that he loses sight of the people in his family. He does not care for his son's feelings or his wives' feelings. Not only does his one-sidedness create emotional rifts between his family and him, but also between his community and him.

My Opinion of Okonkwo

My opinion of Okonkwo has not changed much throughout this story. I never really admired Okonkwo; he always seemed to be a harsh and ignorant person to me. I don't like Okonkwo at all, truly. He tries to show others how strong and fierce he is, and he dislikes those who aren't. But Okonkwo comes off as a mentally weak person.
Okonkwo tries to be strong by beating his wife and children for little reasons. He beats his children for showing any emotions; he beats his wife for cutting leaves off of a plant he claims she has killed. He thinks that beating people is manly, and sometimes, he beats people just to reinforce the manly image of himself that he has. Whenever he is in doubt of himself being compared to his father, he has to remove the doubt from the perception of himself. The way he does this by beating other weak people.
Okonkwo is mentally weak because he cares too much about how others perceive him. He kills Ikemefuna, who he views as a son, so he wouldn't be perceived as weak. Okonkwo comes off as a bully to me, and I dislike Okonkwo for this.