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 was a fine sailor, but was a selfish man. All he wanted was gold and to be known for it. Columbus died always thinking he traveled to India when he was always traveling to America. He was a failure and was known for being cruel. When Columbus died, no one cared for him because he proved failure instead of achievement.
The Jungle Kendall Paris July 13, 2012 Life in industrial America, particularly for immigrants and working class people was a big struggle. There were so many hardships that they had to go through such as: working conditions, unjust businessmen/wages, and poverty/starvation. “So America was a place of which lovers and young people dreamed. If one could only manage to get the price of passage, he could count his troubles at an end.” (Pg. 27) Most of the immigrants are tricked into the beliefs that they can find steady work, high wages, and a comfortable life in America.
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.
Okonkwo and Macbeth are both heavily influenced by other characters, fuelled by the expectations of their societies, and driven to act based on their tragic flaw. The reason behind all the actions Okonkwo takes can be traced back to one person; his father. Okonkwo grew up hating Unoka’s laziness and he “was ruled by one passion- to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved” (Achebe 13). This led him to rule “his household with a heavy hand” (Achebe 13), and treat his family poorly. He is afraid to show affection, as seen with Ezinma and Ikemefuna.
Willy struggled with finding his identity because he was so caught up in his chase for his “American Dream”. He refused to confront any feelings of shame because he was convinced it would make him look bad. However, in order to find one’s self, one must confront these feelings-no matter how painful they may be. Ripkoff also states that “the denial of such feelings cripples Willy and the rest of the Loman family.” (1). Willy’s oldest son Biff finally confronted these feelings in the end of the play and discovered his true identity, thus avoiding the same fate as his father.
Tragic Desire In Willa Cather’s short story “Paul’s Case”, Paul makes selfish adolescent decisions to feed his desire for a wealthy and upper class lifestyle. Paul’s struggles to break apart from what his life is and what he wants it to be. Paul’s family and mentors send him into a sea of lies and fables that he uses to create his perfect world. There is always something we may want and cannot have but we will make moves to try to achieve them. As Cather explains: “He had no desire to become an actor, any more than he had to become a musician… what he wanted was to see, to be in the atmosphere, float on the wave of it, to be carried out, blue league after blue league, away from everything” (Cather ).
It was a reflex, a “survival of the fittest” reaction that Gene did out of anger, fear, and confusion. He is already the “odd one out” and Finny seems to be his only real friend. This secret would destroy Gene’s rekindled friendship with Finny that has reached a happy, placid level. Gene recalls, “I shoved my foot against the rung of his chair and kicked,” (145). He loses himself in his emotions, but he struggles to control himself while “evolving the right way” (125) in order to survive.
Why didn’t his sons become successful? Why didn’t Biff do what Bernard did to obtain wealth? The Loman family is entirely unsuccessful, riddled with financial problems, and lives off the delusion of everyone becoming successful salesman. These family flaws led Willy to commit suicide with the idea that his death would leave his life insurance money to his family. This is the exact reason why Willy’s perception of the American Dream is distorted.
This once inner conflict soon becomes an outward conflict between Biff and Willy. Willy has a particular standards which he holds Biff to. Willy wishes for his eldest to be a salesman, as himself, absent-mindedly forgetting that his other son, Happy, has completed such a task and became the one thing he wanted for Biff. Willy is quite critical of Biff’s life choices, seeing them as failures, while Willy is losing his worldly possessions, his family and even his health because of said profession. Willy, himself, conformed rather than following his brother to Alaska, Africa or anywhere else.