Passage Analysis: Things Fall Apart Essay

Things Fall Apart: Passage Analysis

Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of 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 nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw. Okonkwos fear was greater than these. It was not external, but lay deep within him. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father. Even as a little boy he had resented his fathers failure and weakness, and even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him that his father was agbala. That was how Okonkwo first came to know that agbala was not only another name for a woman, it could also mean a man who had taken to title. 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 fathers death has brought shame to Okonkwo. So he strives to be a successful and affluent man and through his hard work and determination he becomes one. Achebes diction in this quote allows the reader to realize the seriousness of Oknonkwos fear of failure. For example, It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil. This alone shows that his fear of failure is ultimately going to lead to his downfall because failure is what makes him this man who is afraid to show any feelings that will be seen as agbala which means womanly. This fear throughout the novel causes him to make rash and impetuous decisions in order to achieve a high stature in the tribe. This fear is an internal conflict that Okonkwo battles so he will not end up a weak man such as his father. Consequently, he does not realize that his father had qualities such as: affection, gentleness and compassion. Okonkwo is afraid to show because once again his fear of being compared to his father.

Inwardly Okonkwo knew that the boys were still too young to understand fully the difficult art of preparing seed-yams. But he thought that one could not begin too early. Yam stood for manliness, and he who could feed his family on yams from one gravest to another was a very great man indeed. Okonkwo wanted his son to be a great farmer and a great man. He would stamp out the disquieting signs of laziness which he thought he already saw in him (Chapter 4 Pg 32).

Okonkwo realizes that his boys were too young to understand the preparing of yams seeds. However he wants to make sure that they are not lazy and have ambition to be someone in their lives. Also if Nwoye is seen as weak and timid then it reflects the kind of man he is. Which makes him push his son to such limits that it ultimately drives him away from his dad because he sees that the only thing he cares about is what other people see him as. Throughout, the story yams are a symbol for manliness and power. So with this in hand, Okonkwos ultimate goal is to grow as many yams as possible so he can be seen as a successful man. Even though it seemed as if Okonkwo did not care about his son he actually cared but he only wanted what he thought was best for his son. Okonkwo did not realize though that his son is actually a better man than he could ever be because he displays signs of strengths in character such as showing emotions. Chinuas diction in the last sentence shows how much Okonkwo hates laziness. For example, He would stamp out the disquieting signs of laziness which he thought he already saw in him. This shows that Okonkwos fear of failure reflects in the way he raises his son. Words such as, stamp out and disquieting show how much he despises laziness and also how it affects his life.

Now that he had time to think of it, his sons crime stood out in its stark enormity. To abandon the gods of ones father and go about with a lot of effeminate men clucking like old hens was the very depth of abomination. Suppose when he died all his male children decided to follow Nwoyes steps and abandon their ancestors. Okonkwo felt a cold shudder run through him at the terrible prospect, like the prospect of annihilation (Chapter 17 Pg 25).

In this quote Achebe uses a simile in order to illustrate how the white men do not know what they are talking about at all. For example, men clucking like old hens, which shows that Okonkwo does not want to change from the traditions that he has grown up with. The reader also, sees how Okonkwo refuses to break away from his traditional and religious values, which results in him killing himself. He refuses to change his views even though the white man has taken over his village and all the people have converted to Christianity. However, Okonkwo considers his sons betrayal as evil and a sin to not only him but his whole entire village. This is just another embarrassment that Okonkwo has to once again deal with. Nwoyes conversion to Christianity is his own fathers fault. When Okonkwo killed Ikemefuna. Nwoye wanted to be nothing like his father nor live in a society where killing is seen as tradition. Finally Achebe uses personification in order to show that Okonkwo is at the lowest point in his life. For instance, Okonkwo felt a cold shudder run through him at the terrible prospect, like the prospect of annihilation This use of personification foreshadows the inevitable downfall of Okonkwo which his tragic flaw of fear of failure lead to his death.