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When a hammer meets a selection of fine china, the fine china breaks and shatters. However, if the fine china is replaced with Play-Doh (that wonderful substance that reeks of "non-toxic" chemicals), the Play-Doh molds and conforms to the hammer; it changes. This may sound utterly fruitless; however, the Play-Doh is still recognizable as Play-Do, while the china exists as a collection of glass. The china's refusal to change causes it to break. The Play-Doh …

…must set things right, based on the fact that he alone disagrees with the way things are. Okonkwo's stubbornness, his inability to comprehend the surrounding, changing world swells in him. It swells to a point where he breaks inside. It breaks and he hangs from a tree limb. What broke was the routine of his life, created to guide him off his father's path. When the surrounding environment changed his routine, he lost his self.