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.
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.
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.
One of the reasons to Landon’s misconduct is that he completely and utterly disrespects and loathes his Father figure. When a child has no respect for their family (which is where they learn to obey and venerate society’s rules) how can the child possibly respect those outside of the family? Landon’s disobedience not only is disrespectful to the authoritative figure but also to
This is one of the reasons for his mental break down. Holden sees the world as corrupt and wants to protect the children’s innocence. Holden cannot find a place for himself in the world. All of this leads to his downfall, consisting of his parents abandoning him, him not fitting in, and nobody wanting to be around him. A symbol from this novel is Holden’s red hunting hat.
No one wants to be seen as weak or a failure and be taken advantage of, that’s why people have their guards up. Things Fall Apart tells a story of a stubborn man (Okonkwo) responding to change. In Chinua Achebe’s book Things Fall Apart, he reveals Okonkwo’s fear of failure and of weakness. Okonkwo, with a deep insecurity of being like his father, known to be a poor, unsuccessful man and a failure in his society, gives his best to be successful and nothing else. Okonkwo passionately works hard to be at the top as a respected man (which he achieves) and the complete opposite of his disappointing father.
He lives in a society where men rule, and it is hard for him to show love or affection towards his family. In this book Okonkwo’s character shows intolerance towards his father’s image, feminism, and the changes in his community. Okonkwo shows intolerance towards his father who was looked at as being weak. Unoka unlike Okonkwo, had no job and no money. He instead spent his time trying to bum money off other people in the village, well aware he would not be able to repay them.
Okonkwo is characterized as being selfish because he only strives to be the opposite of his own “cowardly” father, Unoka. Okonkwo would do anything to be not seen as a weak, fearful or powerless. Achebe shows Okonkwo’s fear of being weak in the quote, “Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down (Ikemefuna). He was afraid of being thought weak.” (Achebe 61). Okonkwo is characterized in this quote as being the type of person who will do anything so that others will not think of him as weak.
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
The problem with Bone is that he is scared of his stepdad. Bone’s stepdad threatens him by saying some nasty words to him like, as he says “all the time he said he’d cut off my d*** if I told” (pg. 196). I think what makes bone leaves his family is that he doesn’t want anyone to know about the times when his stepdad abuses him. He is afraid of what the society would think of him just like when he says “no one’d believe me” (page 296).