Okonkwo is a self-made, well-respected member of the Umuofia clan. Though outwardly stern and powerful, much of his life is dictated by internal fear. His greatest, overwhelming worry is that he will become like his father – lazy, unable to support his family, and cowardly. When Things change he ends his own life by the end of the story. It is a disgrace to end your own life in his tribe. For all his life, Okonkwo feared dying like his father without honors at his burial. ... He ends his life because he cannot deal with the changes that the Christian white men are making in his village.