Although his father was looked upon as a failure in society, in the eyes of the tribe, and by his own son, he contained something that Okonkwo never had: humility and happiness in the smallest things. He thought that those were the reasons that made his father a failure. His son, Nwoye, was more like Okonkwo’s father and this leads them to drift off in different directions. Okonkwo had grown up to reject anything that resembled his father, humility or happiness, and this leads him to live his life dominated by fear. Okonkwo's tragic flaw is that he fears looking weak and letting emotions get the best of him is what lead him to his ultimate downfall.
Daniel Arrants Things Fall Apart Draft English Honors Pr.6 Intolerance has negatively impacted people in today’s society as well as in the past. Things Fall Apart is written to follow the life of Okonkwo and his fall from greatness in his community. He has 3 wives, many crops, and is a strong warrior, all traits of a typical wealthy man in the Ibo Tribe. Okonwko’s main goal in life is to not gain the characteristics of his father, who was weak and considered a failure to those around him. He lives in a society where men rule, and it is hard for him to show love or affection towards his family.
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 (Chapter 2 Pg 3).” This quote shows the truth of how Oknonkwo was not really this cruel, tyrannical man. He lives his life in constant fear of being a failure the same as his dad. Who was very weak and considered lazy by his tribe. Even his father’s death has brought shame to Okonkwo.
He is afraid to show affection, as seen with Ezinma and Ikemefuna. In fact, he is so “possessed by the fear of his father’s contemptible life” (Achebe 18), that he does not heed Ezeudu’s advice regarding the death of Ikemefuna. Okonkwo is afraid of looking weak, so he kills Ikemefuna himself. His deep seated fear of resembling his father is stronger than even love for his adopted son. Okonkwo’s “whole life was dominated by […] fear of failure and of weakness” (Achebe 13), and while this initially aids him in his success, it is also the precise reason for all his immoral actions.
Okonkwo’s actions based on the takeover of the Christian group, proves that he is very violent beyond reason. Okonkwo was known as a strong independent leader , as well as a symbol to Umuofia. “He was a man of action, a man of war on great occasions such as the funeral of a village celebrity he drank his palm-wine from his first human read (10)”. This quote shows what Okonkwo values in a man. To him, a man works hard & fights well like him.
He is being removed from paradise because he himself defiled it and he fears death. The very thing he caused his brother to go through. To top this off, he acts shocked that he is somewhat expected to be his “brothers keeper”. The eldest of sons are looked higher upon because they are the
If you are raised with neglectful parents, you wouldn’t have a proper mentor to tell you what’s right and wrong, so that could cause you to do bad things and lose your innocence. Also, if you are raised with abusive and drunk parents, it could cause you to resent and hate them. An example of someone like that would be Johnny; he hates his parents so much that he refused his mother to let her see him in the hospital. “I've got a RIGHT to see him! He's my son!
One of the major reasons for Holden’s depression is failing at many different things. Holden does not have any close friends to talk to and has a very hard time establishing long term relationships. Another cause for his depression is the death of his younger brother Allie, he has always thought that the world would have been better off if he had died instead of his brother. There are many reasons for Holden’s depression including multiple failures, having very few friends, and the death of his younger brother Allie. A large portion of Holden’s depression comes from failing multiple times.
This made the reader wondering about what white people did to Baldwin’s father until he hated all white people. At that time, Baldwin did not get along with his father. He only realized when his father died. Baldwin never believed his white friends would betray him as his father taught him. Rejection, treated badly, and alienation had played a significant role in Baldwin’s life.
But what the villagers do not know is that he never wanted to kills his son. In fact, he feels horrible about it. Okonkwo falls into a deep depression some days after Ikemefuna’s death. Okonkwo and Unoka are truly polar opposites. However, just like his father, Okonkwo is always at odds with the values of the people of the village.