Fear In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

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Josh Bell Pre-Ap Lit Ms. Draper 31 January 2015 Pre-Ap: Things Fall Apart Essay Fear plays a big part in Chinua Achebe’s novel “Things Fall Apart.” Fear shapes the Ibo society, brings about failure, and their collapse as well. The people are dominated by fear and it is the ultimate cause for the destruction of their culture. The Ibo society is driven by their fear of the unknown. It controls them and determines their actions. As Obierika thinks about his wife’s twin children he remembers, “The earth had decreed that they were an offense on the land and must be destroyed. And if the clan did not exact punishment for an offense against the great goddess, her wrath was loosed on all the land and not just on the offender.”(111) Although twins’ wrong doing is unknown, they are believed to bring devastation upon society. The Ibo fear these…show more content…
Okonkwo resents his father Unoka and everything he loves. Okonkwo’s way of living illustrates how, “His whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness… It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father.”(10) Although Okonkwo’s manliness is a success, his fear of being thought weak as his father was can never stop. This fear has overtaken him. Okonkwo’s reputation to society due to his successes is set aside because his success goes to his head and he begins to make bad decisions. Although Okonkwo is not like his father, many of his wrongdoings make him appear to be of a greater setback than his father. Okonkwo part in the murder, despite warnings from his friend: “If I were you I would have stayed at home. What you have done will not please the Earth” (58). Once again, Okonkwo’s fear of resembling his father wins out against anything, causing him to make the wrong decision. Many of Okonkwo’s actions result in negative attention from other tribe members and friends who had previously held Okonkwo in high

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