When Nwoye learns that Ikemefuna is dead, something changes within him. He recalls the feeling that he experienced one day when he heard a baby crying in the forest — a tragic reminder to him of the custom of leaving twins in the forest to die.
With the killing of Ikemefuna, Achebe creates a devastating scene that evokes compassion for the young man and foreshadows the fall of Okonkwo, again in the tradition of the tragic hero. Along the way, the author sets up several scenes that juxtapose with the death scene:. The opening scene of the chapter shows the increasing affection and admiration Okonkwo feels for Ikemefuna, as well as for Nwoye.
On the journey with Ikemefuna and the other men of Umuofia, they hear the "peaceful dance from a distant clan. In Chapter 2, the author comments that the fate of Ikemefuna is a "sad story" that is "still told in Umuofia unto this day. Before dying, Ikemefuna thinks of Okonkwo as his "real father" and of what he wants to tell his mother, especially about Okonkwo.
These elements combined suggest that the murder of Ikemefuna is senseless, even if the killing is in accordance with the Oracle and village decisions. The murder scene is a turning point in the novel.
Okonkwo participates in the ceremony for sacrificing the boy after being strongly discouraged, and he delivers the death blow because he is "afraid of being thought weak. Okonkwo has not only outwardly disregarded his people and their traditions, but he has also disregarded his inner feelings of love and protectiveness.
This deep abyss between Okonkwo's divided selves accounts for the beginning of his decline. For the first time in the novel, Okonkwo's son, Nwoye, emerges as a major character who, in contrast to his father, questions the long-standing customs of the clan. He lives with Okonkwo's family for three years before the elders order him to be killed.
His murder, in which Okonkwo takes a part, haunts Okonkwo throughout the book. Ikefuma's death irreversibly harms the relationship between Okonkwo and Nwoye. His death is also a bad omen that has a symbolic connection to Okonkwo's later exile from Umuofia.
In this sense, the death of Ikemefuna signals the start of things falling apart. Does Ezinma die? Ekwefi's sad history with her past nine children before Ezinma, all of whom died, is recounted. However, Ezinma lives past the age of three and, with the help of the medicine man, breaks away from the hold of her ogbanje, or evil spirit. How does Okonkwo die? Okonkwo's suicide is an unspeakable act that strips him of all honor and denies him the right to an honorable burial.
Okonkwo dies an outcast, banished from the very society he fought to protect. Who does Okonkwo accidentally kill? Okonkwo's gun accidentally goes off and kills Ezeudu's sixteen-year-old son. Killing a clansman is a crime against the earth goddess, so Okonkwo must atone by taking his family into exile for seven years. Who is Okonkwo's favorite child? Ezinma is also Okonkwo's favorite child, for she understands him better than any of his other children and reminds him of Ekwefi when Ekwefi was the village beauty.
Okonkwo rarely demonstrates his affection, however, because he fears that doing so would make him look weak. Who did Okonkwo kill in the end? His sickly daughter Ezinma falls unexpectedly ill and it is feared she may die; during a gun salute at Ezeudu's funeral, Okonkwo's gun accidentally explodes and kills Ezeudu's son.
Ikemefuna is a fifteen-year-old boy from a neighboring clan, Mbaino, who is given up to Umuofia as a sacrifice for killing one of the women of Umuofia. In those three years, he grows very close to Okonkwo's family, especially Nwoye. Okonkwo even prefers him to his true son Nwoye, considering Ikemefuna to be a promising, hard-working young man. His murder, in which Okonkwo takes a part, haunts Okonkwo throughout the book.
From the very beginning, Ikemefuna is the ultimate victim; his fate is completely out of his control since he is taken away by his family so early in life for a crime which he had no part in, nor any knowledge of. In his new life, Ikemefuna is subject to the whims of his new father and the Umuofia elders, in whose hands his fate ultimately lies.
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