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Okonkwo’s fear 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
obsession not to be like his father. He mistook this behavior as masculinity. He
wished his son were a promising, manly son like his friend Obierika’s son,
Maduka, who was also a great fighter. One night the town of Umuofia was told
that someone in Mbaino had killed one of their “daughters”. The woman was
Ugbeufi Udo’s wife. The blood price for the murder was a virgin and young man to
Umuofia. The virgin was given to Ugbeufi Udo as his wife. They did not know what
to do with the young boy, Ikemefuna. Okonkwo was asked on behalf of the clan to
take care of the boy. Secretly, Okonkwo grew fond of Ikemefuna, “Even Okonkwo
himself became very fond of the boy-inwardly of course. Okonkwo never showed any
emotion openly, unless it be the emotion of anger”(p.28). Ikemefuna lived with
Okonkwo and his family for three years until the time came when the Oracle said
that Ikemefuna had to be killed.
Okonkwo was warned not to have any part in
killing the boy who called him father. He ignored this and upon returning sank
into a deep depression which kindled the affliction inside of him. Not only the
death of Ikemefuna, but also the accidental killing of Ogbeufi Ezeudu’s son,
which gets Okonkwo and his family exiled for seven years, aides in his
depression. 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. 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. They captured Nwoye and he later joined their congregation.
When Okonkwo was informed of the news he strangled Nwoye in anger. He questioned
how he could have fathered such a weak son. At the end of the seven-year exile,
Okonkwo was able to return home. However, the church had taken over Umuofia
also. Nothing was the same. Okonkwo refused to integrate with the new visitors.
He thought that the clan’s failure to remove them was “womanly”. Almost happy
again, Okonkwo began to accept the new Umuofia. Then the leaders of the clan,
including Okonkwo, were taken for ransom by the church. Deeply angered by what
was happening, Okonkwo killed one of the leaders at a meeting. The pacification
of Okonkwo’s clan is what depressed him. He knew his clan would not go to war.
This desire to act violently all goes back to his father’s lack of desire. In
the end the violence settled on Okonkwo, when he hung himself. In conclusion,
all these aspects: his childhood, his first son and Ikemefuna, and his death
contribute in explaining Okonkwo’s fear of weakness. Okonkwo’s life was
controlled by his fears. He valued the success of his family and the community
with his own success. If Nwoye was weak it was because he had failed as a
father. The pacification of the town was a reflection of Okonkwo’s failures, he
thought. Not being able to control those events, Okonkwo, out of desperation or
either out of the pride in his manhood or perhaps both, killed himself.
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