Okonkwos fearfrom things fall apart

Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, is a story of a man whose life is dominated by his fears. There are many subtle themes throughout this book. One theme that cries out over the rest is Okonkwo’s, the main character, fear of weakness as seen through his childhood, his oldest son, and eventually his death.

Since his childhood, Okonkwo was ashamed of his father, “In his day he (Unoka) was lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow”(p.4). By the standard of his clan, Unoka was a coward and squanderer. When he was a child, a boy called Okonkwo’s father an agbala. This word means “woman” as well as a man who has no title. His carelessness left numerous debts unpaid at his death. Ashamed of his father, Okonkwo worked hard and fought well to gain a reputation of high status and influence in his clan. He acquired three wives, one whom gave him his first son.

Okonkwo’s first wife, whose name is never mentioned, gave birth to his first son, Nwoye. Okonkwo saw Nwoye weak and lazy from an early age. For this, Nwoye was beaten constantly. Okonkwo was highly demanding of his family because of his obsess

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In their second year a group of six missionaries traveled to Mbanta and tried to persuade the people from their false gods of wood and stone to the one true God. At the end of the seven-year exile, Okonkwo was able to return home. Then the leaders of the clan, including Okonkwo, were taken for ransom by the church. The pacification of Okonkwo’s clan is what depressed him. He valued the success of his family and the community with his own success. Ikemefuna lived with Okonkwo and his family for three years until the time came when the Oracle said that Ikemefuna had to be killed. The pacification of the town was a reflection of Okonkwo’s failures, he thought. They captured Nwoye and he later joined their congregation. The virgin was given to Ugbeufi Udo as his wife.

To atone for the killing of his clansmen’s son, Okonkwo and his family were cast out of Umuofia and were forced to go live with his mother’s clan in Mbanta. He ignored this and upon returning sank into a deep depression which kindled the affliction inside of him. Okonkwo refused to integrate with the new visitors. He mistook this behavior as masculinity.

Approximate Word count = 786
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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