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Okonkwo is one of the leaders of a clan that lives in an Igbo settlement named Umuofia. Umuofia is a very powerful clan as in this clan there are many leaders with titles. Surrounding the clan of Umuofia, there are many other clans but in this novel, Achebe highlights activities of two major clans, Umuofia and Mbanta.
Okonkwo had defeated a great wrestler in Umuofia, Amalinze The Cat, twenty years ago, who had held the title of the strongest wrestler in Umuofia for a period for seven years but was eventually defeated by Okonkwo.
Okonkwo becomes a rich and prosperous man, has many wives as the practice of polygamy was common and he has many children.
Once a woman from Umuofia clan is killed by someone from a neighbouring clan. As a result, it is decided that the neighbouring clan has to surrender a boy to the clan of Umuofia. It is a fourteen years old boy, Ekemefuna, who is brought into the village of Umuofia. The people in all the neighbouring Igbo communities fear Okonkwo as he is a strong and powerful man and thus conclude that it is better to hand over the boy, Ekemefuna to Umuofia and Okonkwo is entrusted with the responsibility of taking care of him.
Unoka, Okonkwo’s father, was a failure in his life as in Okonkwo’s view, his father was lazy and did not take up the responsibility of taking care of his family and instead he would borrow money from people and wasn’t able to repay the debts before he died. He thus left a burden of huge debts on his family after his death.
If a man in the African community was not strong or successful and didn’t take care of his family, they called him Agbala which in the African dialect, is another name for a woman as well as the name for a man who has no title status. So, Okonkwo’s father was called Agbala. Okonkwo didn’t want to be like his father. In fact, he had decided very early in his life that he would not be like his father and instead he wanted to be strong, brave and prosperous.
In Okonkwo’s house, his wives and children are terrified of him as they don’t know when he would unleash his temper. The coming of Ikemefuna into the house of Okonkwo is a very important development in the plot.
The African communities observed the ‘week of peace’. It was decided by the elders of the community that everybody at the level of the family and community would observe peace for at least one week. Unfortunately, Okonkwo is not able to keep up the week of peace. He is a man known for his aggression and during the seven days period of peace, he beats his youngest wife. She had gone to her neighbour’s house to do her plaits and took a lot of time doing that. When Okonkwo returns to his house, he is enraged to find that the lunch is not cooked and thus beats her severely.
Okonkwo is consequently punished as he violates the week of peace. It can be concluded that Okonkwo has a fiery temper and that he is driven by the notion of success. He is always thinking that he should not be like his father as he was considered weak and instead should be brave, strong and be able to control his clan.
Another important incident in part one of the novel is the celebration of the festival of the new yam which was celebrated with great gusto in the household of Okonkwo and also in the community.