Things Fall Apart Quote Analysis

In Okonkwo’s early years he was disadvantages compared to other boys in his village. His father was a lethargic man who held no titles. He died of an evil disease and was henceforth an abomination in the eyes of the village. Okonkwo was scared by this as a child, Achebe writes “he was possessed by the fear of his father’s contemptible life and shameful death” (Achebe 18). The reader will see later that this creates a quandary for Okonkwo.

Okonkwo is a wealthy and respected warrior of the Umuofia clan. Umuofia is one of the nine clans that are connected. The village consists of Igbo people in the African country of Nigeria. His fame became solely from personal achievements. Okonkwo was much unlike his father who was poor, a debtor, and basically a failure to his people. When his father died all, he took with him was debts that were never paid. In the village of Umuofia, a man is judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father. Okonkwo had great things planned for his life and wanted to be the nothing like his father whom he was so ashamed of. He had to start from scratch because his father wasn’t able to leave

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).

Okonkwo continually rejected the ways of his father, who was deeply indebted to other members of Umuofia, holding no titles, to the point where Okonkwo’s “whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (16). He transferred his fears into the context of Umuofia and the traits that society valued, but what was really the driving force in his decisions “was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father” (17). The values of Umuofia resembled the polar opposite of what Unoka was and Okonkwo twisted his motivations around in his mind and presented them to himself and the community as derived from Umuofia’s traditions. From this delusion, Okonkwo established his ultimate goal of becoming a revered member of the village, possessing many titles, and achieving anything necessary displaying his prominence in the community.

Okonkwo's first and most prominent flaw is his fear of becoming a failure. It is greatly influenced by his father, but Okonkwo takes his fear to the extreme. Okonkwo's father was a very lazy and carefree man. He had a reputation of being "poor and his wife and children had just barely enough to eat... they swore never to lend him any more money because he never paid back." (Achebe Page: 5) In Umuofia, a father is supposed to teach the children right and wrong, and in this case, the lessons were not taught, but self-learned. Okonkwo had to rely on his own interpretations of what defined a "good man" and to him that was someone that was the exact opposite of his father. As a result of his own self-taught conclusions, Okonkwo feels that anything resembling his father or anything that his father enjoyed was weak and unnecessary. Because of his fear to be seen as weak, Okonkwo even strikes down a child that calls him father: "(and as the machete came down] Okonkwo looked away. He heard the blow... He heard Ikemefuna cry 'My father, they have killed me!'... Okonkwo draws his machete and cuts him down, he does not want to be thought weak." (Achebe page:61) The fact that he kills the child shows that the way that he thinks is wrong, that reputation is more important than the life of a child. Although it is a shame to be

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

The narrator presents Okonkwo to be a representation of masculinity and dominance as he strictly rules his household; however, Okonkwo focuses so much on becoming the opposite father that he fell weak to this fear. In other words, even though Okonkwo’s powerful character may represent him as the stereotype of strength and masculinity, he is in fact vulnerable to his overwhelming fears of becoming weak or a failure like his father, and installing fear

Firstly, Okonkwo’s fear of being akin to his father plays a major role in characterising Okonkwo. This fear, in particular, is one of the earliest, in-depth portrayals of what motivates Okonkwo’s hard working nature and determination. Okonkwo’s distaste for his father, or men akin to his father, is first revealed in the characterisation of his father, Unoka. The quote: “He had no patience for unsuccessful men. He had no patience for his father” (ch1, pg3) shows the comparison of Okonkwo’s father to an unsuccessful man. This comparison allows the reader to infer that the Unoka held traits, such as inertia, and idleness, which made him unproductive. This is built upon further with the quote: “Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness... It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father… And so Okonkwo was ruled by one passion – to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved. One of those things was gentleness and another was idleness.” (Ch2, pg 12). This use of direct characterisation to portray Okonkwo’s father reveals what Okonkwo is afraid of becoming by describing the attitudes displayed by Unoka that Okonkwo, therefore, avidly tries to avoid. This allows the reader to infer a reason for

It was the fear of himself, lest he be found to resemble his father” (Achebe). This is suggesting that the reason why Okonkwo is more aggressive and doesn’t show his emotions is because he is trying to redeem himself from his father legacy. Because of this Okonkwo doesn’t approve of the colonist because not only are they coming in and changing the things he has always lived by. but they are also a reminder of his father. Okonkwo sees the colonist as weak and “agbala”, as his people call men who hasn’t taken a title, and they represent everything he has always tried not to become.

In the book, Okonkwo was the tribe leader in Umuofia and wants to carry on the traditions that have been in his tribe for years. While he is known as being a leader, the character struggles daily with not wanting to be like his father who is lazy, and weak. Therefore he avoids everything possible to not be like him. Which leads into more of a bigger issue that is not being weak in front of anyone.

Okonkwo’s fears affected his life by making him a hard worker, merciless, and causing his downfall. To start with, Okonkwo’s fear of becoming like his unsuccessful father drove him to be a hard worker. The narrator states, “Fortunately, among these people a man was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father. Okonkwo was clearly cut out for great things” (Achebe 8). Okonkwo soon became a wealthy farmer with three wives, and has a barn full of yams.

Okonkwo fears failure and laziness, but he is also afraid of change. To change his way of life, his mindset, and morals passed down from generations made this proud Ibo man resent the new culture presented to him and his people. Because Okonkwo could not adjust to the new lifestyle, it illustrated to the readers how one’s selfish fears can destroy a person mentally.

Fear may be the most driving force in this book for most of the characters, specifically Okonkwo. Okonkwo had a terrible childhood full of resentment toward his father. Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was a lazy beggar. He barely worked so his spouse and children had very little to eat and nearly no money. However, Unoka worked to get money with the slyness of his tongue. He would ask friends and relatives for money and/or food. By the end of his life, Unoka had piled up so much debt that people were coming after him nearly every day to be repaid. When he was a child, Okonkwo was afraid he would not have a meal due to his father’s irresponsibility; this fear left a scar so deep that he let the fear of becoming like his father drive him to work harder

Constant fear of failure is a driving force that directs Okonkwo's actions and shapes his beliefs while Scar’s fear of death and loss of power cause him to be weak and abandon his ideals. For example, in the beginning of the novel, Ikemefuna is sentenced to death and Okonkwo kills him: “Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut

Okonkwo’s family bonds are considerably strained from his abuse and distinct lack of emotion. Any positive emotion Okonkwo has for his family, he shows inwardly. Okonkwo considers considers emotion soft and feminine: A weakness that we only make him resemble his father. By materially providing for his family and being “The Alpha Male”, Okonkwo presumes he is better than his parent. Yet, Okonkwo’s abuse and indifference makes him an unlikely candidate.