Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe - 1752 Words

The book â€Å"Things Fall Apart† by Chinua Achebe takes place in Nigeria during the 19th century. This is during the pre European imperial era. In this era the Igbo culture has a very straight forward structure of society, man is afraid of failure, and shame brought to his family. Ever man is trying to take the top position in the clan, working day and night to feed and take care of their family. Our main character, Okonkwo, has been dominated by â€Å"the fear of failure and of weakness† throughout his entire life, predominantly to blame by his father, Unoka. Unoka, throughout his entire life was considered as a coward, spending most of his days in idleness, never proving his manhood. Unoka was looked down upon by his fellow tribes men. He always†¦show more content†¦Okonkwo wonders if their is going to be a war with a neighboring clan. War does not frighten Okonkwo, he has proven his bravery in battle many times, having captured numerous human heads. Okonkwo is not afraid of death or war unlike his father: â€Å"He was a man of action, a man of war. Unlike his father he could stand the look of blood† (Achebe 10). Okonkwo has already brought home five heads from previous battles and he was still a young man. Already we know Okonkwo is a man of action, who is not afraid to get bloody on the battle field. He is even described by many of his tribes man to be the greatest warrior alive. Okonkwro rejects the ways of his father. His father possessed nothing and was know to be lazy. So, Okonkwo establishes his goal of becoming a revered member of society, possessing many titles, and achieving any sorts of predominance in the community. 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. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and of the forces of nature, malevolent, red in tooth claw. Okonkwo’s fear was greater than these. It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father. (Achebe 13) There is a larger fear inside Okonkwo, not of the things that could get