Suicide has existed since the time of the ancient Egyptians, where suicide violated none of the moral or legal codes of the time, and the people saw it as simply a way to escape unbearable suffering. The first time humanity looked down upon suicide occurred in 305AD, when Saint Augustine publicly denounced it as a sin (Crouch). Due to her claim, suicide became an act immersed in shame and disgrace, and there were very few reports of suicide (DePaulo). During the middle ages, authorities refused proper burials for the victims of suicide, and their bodies would be dragged through the streets. All the possessions the victim and their family owned were confiscated.
His father, Unoka, is cowardly and spendthrift person, who died in disrepute, leaving many unsettled debts. For the fear of being like his father, Okonkwo becomes a rich and respectable man, and be able to take care of his three wives and eight children. But, unfortunately, tragedy happens. Once, at a large funeral, Okonkwo’s gun explodes and kills one powerful clansman’s sixteen-year-old son by accident. Because killing a clansman is a crime against believes in the clan, Okonkwo must take his family into exile for seven years in order to atone.
How come he became an outlaw? Everyone who has read <水浒传> can tell the reason. We know Song Jiang had a wife who was unfaithful to him, but it was not the reason that he killed her. The real one was that Yan Poxi took a very important thing from Song Jiang. Out of rage, he killed her unpurposely.
This would suggest that through the labelling theory crime is socially constructed and is only perceived as a crime when society labels it as that. This theory offers evidence as to why some people are labelled as criminals, whilst others who commit the same crime are not. Becker argues that the labelling theory is useful in explaining crime and deviance as it provides evidence as to why some people are seen as ‘criminals’ when a large proportion of society have indeed committed what would be deemed as a criminal act. Cicourel conducted a study on the Metropolitan Police service (MPS) to find out if the procedures and policies they followed influenced the way in which they treated certain people.
Okonkwo had a horrible temper and this caused him to be very violent. He depicted these actions by beating his family in effort to control them, he believed his first son Nwonye was like his father therefore, he beat him often in attempt to make him more manly. He also beat up his second wife because he came back from outside and his afternoon meal had not yet been prepared, disregarding the fact that it was a peace week and every family was supposed to be peaceful. He made poor decisions by participating in the killing of the boy Ikemefuna who lived with him and called him father, after he had been warned not to participate in his killing. The continuous disagreement between Okonkwo and the new religion, people, and values adopted by his society results in his life falling apart and suicide, at the end of the book.
Many people believe that it may be due to the economy and the struggle of people living in poverty to provide for their families. However in many of the recent shootings the firearm abuser has had either mental or emotional distress in different forms. One example of this is the recent fire fighter shooting that took place in Webster, New York. Sixty two year old William Spengler armed with a Bushmaster .223 Semi-automatic rifle the same firearm used in the Sandy Hook elementary shooting a few days before, implemented a horrible act on December twenty sixth of 2012. The rampage that ensued on this day started mainly after William received the news of his mother passing.
Okonkwo wants to be nothing like his father, so he becomes a warrior, a farmer, a family provider, and successful overall. Oknokwo also doesn’t like anything that reminds him of his father, which is why he is hard on his oldest son, Nwoye, because he doesn’t do work around the house. One day someone from the Mbaino village killed the wife of an Umuofia clansman. Okonkwo was upset about what happened but he said he would not attack the entire village under certain terms. The Mbaino people agreed with them and gave them a virgin and a fifteen-year-old boy as a slave.
Okonkwo’s tragic flaw is his fear of weakness and failure. Okonkwo is impulsive; he acts before he thinks. Consequently, Okonkwo offends the Igbo people and their traditions as well as the gods of his clan. Okonkwo is advised not to participate in the murder of Ikefemuna, but he actually kills Ikefemuna because he is “afraid of being thought weak.” Tradition was very important to Okonkwo as it was with most of the clan. Order was maintained by tradition and Ibo tradition was steeped in superstition.
There are many issues surrounding organized crime. There is the matter of defining organized crime; the questions concerning who and why those become involved in organized crime; the crimes perpetrated by these criminal enterprises, and lastly how this phenomenon of organized crime can be controlled. Although there is tremendous complicity of the public through their support for many of these illegal goods and services, society expects law enforcement to control organized crime. Some believe organized crime can not be stopped, but it should be controlled because of the impact organized crime has on international business and American society. There is a lack of agreement around the term, organized crime, and this creates difficulties when trying to understand the behaviors and characteristics of organized crime groups.
Okonkwo, afraid of being viewed as soft-hearted and weak, participates in the killing of Ikemefuna. The clan elders advised him not to partake, but he did so anyway. Nwoye is not only emotionally broken, but spiritually as well by the killing. Okonkwo is shaken as well, but he continues to try to become a lord of his clan. Nwoye constantly disappoints Okonkwo, which leads to a great love for his daughter Ezinma.