Okonkwo, driven by blinding ambition, finally overcomes his father's legacy of shame. Or does he? In the Ibo village of Umuofia at a time when the tribe is intact, the gods are respected, and planting yams is a man's principal responsibility, Achebe tells, above all, a man's story. Like Okonkwo's life, it is clean, hard and beautiful, but finally painful when the orderly, peaceful village life comes crashing into Christianity.