Okonkwo's Fear

To begin, Okonkwo is shown to be a self made, well respected member of the Umuofia clan. Though, he seems stern, most of his life is dictated with fear. For example,the passage states “ And indeed he was possessed by the fear of his father’s contemptible life and shameful death.”(Achebe,18/1). This helps the reader understand that Okonkwo faces many challenges in life to prove to his village and the people themselves that he is nothing like his father, Unoka and is haunted by the fact that one day he will become a man whom he promised he will never become. The passage states “ Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.”(Achebe,61/1). This helps the reader understand the reason why

Think of all the chances you never took, competitions you never entered, and people you never asked out. There is a common factor between all of them and that is a fear of failure. This theme of a fear of failure throughout the driving force behind the main character, Okonkwo’s, decisions in the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. From his earliest days seeing his dad waste his life away to seeing his entire culture fade away, Okonkwo does not want to be seen as a failure.

Okonkwo life is “dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (Achebe 13). When Okonkwo was a boy, his playmates teased him calling, saying that his father was agbala. Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was lazy. He did not work on his farm; he died in great debt. He did not acquire a single title. He did not have a barn to pass down to his son. Unoka is a type of man who is scorned in Umofia. He is seen as weak and effeminate. As Okonkwo grows older, he is determined not become a failure like his father. His father was weak; he will be strong. His father was lazy; he will be hard-working. Okonkwo earned his fame by defeating the reigning wrestling champion. Okonkwo diligently plants yam, building a successful farm. He builds himself an obi, has three wives and many children. His fame “rested on solid personal achievements” (Achebe 3). Okonkwo will not let one womanly trait sully his reputation. Therefore, he “hate[d] everything that his father Unoka had loved” (Achebe 13). One of these was gentleness. Okonkwo refuses to show any signs of emotion, except his temper. He

In the book Things Fall apart by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo is a high status ruler in the village of Umuofia. Although he is very respected throughout the village, he has many flaws that make him a tragic hero. A tragic hero is described as a character who is a high ruler of a society. They are not thoroughly good or bad, but in a sense are better than everyone. Tragic heroes usually have a tragic flaw that they realize when it is already too late. Okonkwo has many of these characteristics. He is a high ruler of society who thinks he is better than everyone, and has a tragic flaw of being afraid of weakness, which he realizes when it is too late.

In the novel “ Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe there were a number of conflicts in the story, one of the main ones being the desire that Okonkwo feels to overcome or defeat the legacy of his father Unoka. Unoka was a lazy man who liked only to play music and drink palm, he died with a great deal of debt and had no titles and no respect for the tribe. Okonkwo was ashamed and embarrassed by him for his entire life. Being the son of Unoka Okonkwo worked extremely hard to build his treasure, but he refused to show any signs of weakness or emotion as he was afraid to show anything like his father’s personality.

Okonkwo strives all of his life to become a stronger, more powerful, and a successful individual. He wants to do this because his father was a slack and lazy person who lived most of his life in debt and had no titles to his name. People often looked at his father as a women figure for the few achievements he redeemed. Okonkwo never wanted to be like his father and it eventually got to the point where he became fearful of becoming like him. Achebe uses the power of fear as a theme of to show how much it can devastate one’s

Is killing your self really worth it? In the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Is a lesson learned book, today i am going to tell you about the book things fall apart, and how Okonkwo let his pride get the best of him. The theme is never let your pride get the best of you I chose this because Okonkwo beats his wife, he kills his adoptive son Ikemefuna, and then he murders himself. All of these events could've been avoided if he never let his pride get the best of him.

Okonkwo wrestles with his fear that any sign of weakness will cause him to lose control of his family, position in the village, and even himself. Like many heroes of classical tragedy, Okonkwo’s tragic flaw, fear, also makes him excessively proud. Okonkwo’s downfall is a result of the changes created by the coming of the British Colonisers to Igbo. The introduction of the Colonisers into the novel causes Okonkwo’s tragic flaw to be exacerbated. Okonkwo construes change as weakness, and as a result of his interpretation, Okonkwo only knows how to react to change through anger and strength. He derives great satisfaction, “hubris” or proud arrogance, from the fact that he is a traditional, self made man and thinks that to change would mean submitting to an outside force (Christianity).

The first point to consider, Okonkwo had a strong sense of determination when it came to his status in the clan. Determination is firmness of purpose; the controlling or deciding of something's nature or outcome. Okonkwo’s father, Unoka has driven him to succeed. He created a strong will that he can be better than his father in every way possible. Okonkwo wanting to make a name for himself, tries to take as many titles as possible in his clan. For example, “Age was respected among his people, but achievement was revered. As the elders said, if a child washed his hand he could eat with kings” (Achebe pg.8). If you can obtain many achievements as a child/young adult it will help you in the future. Okonkwo was able to do this through his hard work and determination so he succeeded to be like the elders who had more power and a higher rank. A bond was created between Okonkwo and his elders and the clan within they lived Another instance, “Afraid? I do not care what he does to you. I despise him and those who listen to him. I shall fight alone if I choose.” (Achebe pg.201). Okonkwo proudly declares his courage to fight whoever he wants, even if he is fighting a losing battle. He has the mind that he will take out anything or anyone in his way

Does having a fixed mindset restrain people from experiencing and enjoying new opportunities? My answer is yes. In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, this becomes apparent in some situations. The main protagonist, Okonkwo, shows many times that he has a fixed mindset and is unwilling to adapt to the new ways showing themselves to the Ibo people. “Then they came to the tree from which Okonkwo’s body was dangling, and they stopped dead” (Achebe 127). By restricting himself from adapting, Okonkwo decides that taking his own life is his only opportunity to leave, no matter how shameful it is.

In Achebe’s book Things Fall Apart Okonkwo is arguably made out to be a “coward” due to the killing of the messenger and to himself. Many reader’s don’t see that Okonkwo is no coward at all, but should be considered a “tragic hero”.

In conclusion, Okonkwo exemplifies Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero. His character has many tragic flaws, including, fear of weakness, hubris, and his work ethic, which in the end lead to his death. His life and death provoke pity and fear for the audience. Okonkwo becomes noble and is a great leader overall in the story. In the end, Chinua Achebe has shown an expressive character that evidently can be called a tragic

Okonkwo is also incredibly aggressive. He regularly physically abuses his nuclear family and does so to make himself seem more masculine. His violence in order to protect his fragile masculinity goes to the extent that “his wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper.” (2.12) After the missionaries arrive in Umuofia and Okonkwo’s

Okonkwo thinks he is the owner of his household and he shows no mercy to anyone who angers him. “He ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives…lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children. Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness.” (Achebe, Chapter 2, p.8). Okonkwo beats his children and wives because of his temper which is influenced by the Igbo society; he puts on a hard exterior because he is afraid of being weak and unsuccessful. At one point, he attempts to kill his second wife with a gun because he thinks she is the cause of a tree’s death. In order to prove his power and strength, without thinking of the consequences, Okonkwo beats his youngest wife during the week of peace - a week when the village celebrates peace and who ever disrupts the peace will be punished by Ala, the earth goddess (Lycos, online). “His first two wives ran out in great alarm pleading with him that it was the sacred week. But Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through, not even for the fear of a goddess.” (Achebe, Chapter 4, p.21). Okonkwo lives in a male dominant society where men are pressured to be strong and successful; because of these influences, Okonkwo develops an inner

Okonkwo’s merciless violence gave him the appearance of being impenetrable. His brutality in the book categorized him as emotionless and callous. His drive to become greater than his father meant he cared only about himself and his own success. Okonkwo beat his own son, Nwoye, for fear he was growing lazy like