The customs and practices of the ibo people are very complex and different. The people are very much in tune to the earth and respecting one another. The district commisioner notices this when he is preparing to arrest Okonkwo for murdering a messenger. When he is led to his house he finds him hanging from a tree. He had taken his own life which is a offense against the earth.
The commisioner then learns that the people cannot touch his body nor bury him because it will bring bad luck and fortune to their people. That was very strange for him to learn and found it very intriguing.
Okonkwo was one of the greatest men in the tribe. He was respected for being a hard worker and his farming skills. He was skilled in planting yams for his people. That was the main crop in his village and he was judge positively based on that.