Okonwo's life is much like the story of the tortoise who took advantage of the birds only to be broken to pieces by them in return. Okonwo's life is filled with episodes of pieces falling apart and aspects of his life being broken. Ever since his childhood Okonkwo has had broken relationships and experiences in his life, which will some day need to be pieced back together as tortoise's shell was. Okonkwo was first hurt by his hatred for his father, which brought their relationship to shambles. He has also had his fair share of problems with sons of his own, for example, his son not being the person he wanted him to be, and killing the boy Ikemefuna after he had accepted him into his family, and his sudden banishment from his village when his rifle killed a boy at a funeral.
Okonkwo was never very close to his father Unoka, which made getting a start in life difficult for him, because of the heavy influence man has on his son, and his family's reputation in their community. Unlike other men who were given yam seeds from their fathers, Okonkwo had to borrow seeds from other men in his village to set forward with building a farm and being able to contribute to his community, and support a family. With Okonkwo's people, it is very respectable to take multiple wives and be titled in recognition of wives, age and achievement, but Unoka had never taken multiple wives, or been titled by his neighbors. This caused Okonkwo much shame to see his father alone and peddling his money away on useless things like drinking and playing music. Okonkwo has taken to hating everything that his father stood for during his young years, so there are things in his life now that he always tries to avoid, such as laziness, and disrespect from people in his community and his household. These deeply-embedded feelings of Okonkwo's have caused problems in his life, even in his attempts to raise his own son, and Ikemefuna, whom he took in as his son.
Okonkwo's blood son Nwoye hasn't yet become the man that Okonwo believes he should be, although he is still just a young boy. This is very upsetting to Okonkwo because he still remembers his father, and he sees characteristics of Unoka in his son, and he is afraid of Nwoye becoming his father. Ikemefuna became part of Okonkwo's family after Okonkwo captured him from another village, and he soon became an ideal son to Okonkwo. One day Okonkwo was forced by tradition of his people to let Ikemefuna be taken to be killed, but he unfortunately ended up being the man to finish the job of ending Ikemefuna's life. This broke Okonkwo's spirit even further.
Before truly overcoming the devastation of losing Ikemefuna, Okonkwo attended a funeral where his rifle exploded and resulting shrapnel pierced a boy's heart. This murder of the boy, even though it was seen as a "female" crime because it was caused by accident, brought shame to Okonkwo, and he was banished from the village for seven years. Now Okonkwo has lost his neighbors and friends as well as his high position in his community, and will have to build a new reputation in his new home.
Okonkwo has lost his father, his adoptive son, his pride for his blood son, and his community, and now has to start over again. From here it appears that Okonkwo is on the road to putting his pieces back together, because he is getting a new start in his banishment home. This, however, is uncertain at this point, because his wives and children are banished with him, so he still has some aspects of his old life weighing him down. This could potentially be where Okonkwo's brokenness is fixed, because, just like the tortoise, Okonkwo's fellow people have shamed him away.
