Things Fall Apart Fear
Ross Mosier
Writing and Literature 1020
Mrs. Wiarda
3-29-17
Things Fall Apart Literary Response The novel, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe encompases multiple different themes. The one idea that is emphasized throughout though is the theme of fear and its role in the decisions life presents. Almost every character in the novel exhibits fear in response to a circumstance. This theme of fear is first shown to the reader at the very beginning of the novel when Okonkwo is introduced and it resurfaces throughout the text. One of the first statements about the feelings Okonkwo has towards his father is “He had no patience with unsuccessful men. He had had no patience with his father” (Achebe 4). At this point, inferring that Okonkwo has fear …show more content…
Okonkwo's children and wives had a great deal of fear for him because “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand” (Achebe 13). His son, Nwoye has a great fear for Okonkwo. This fear is heightened after Okonkwo kills their adopted son of sorts, Ikemefuna, after he had been living with the family for three years and Nwoye had grown fond of him. What caused greater fear though for Nwoye and made him make big life changing decisions was his fear of his father's and his village's customs. He feares these things because he knew they were wrong. For example, when he was younger, he was out walking and heard the cry of thrown away infant twins in the forest. Achebe wrote, “Then something had given way inside him” (Achebe 62). That something that gave way could have been hope, happiness, or love for his customs, or even all three. This, and how his father expects him to behave, leads to the fear of him becoming like his father and not ever being happy. Although Nwoye did have fear, he loses a great majority of it when the Christians start to settle into the village. He sees this as new hope and becomes less fearful of his father and his village.
Neighboring villages and clans fear Umuofia greatly because they are very powerful. This was in part to Okonkwo being an extraordinary war man and also because Umuofia is known for its powerful medicines and medicine people. These other villages and clans do not go to war with Umuofia without trying to gain a peaceful agreement first because of this fear that they have through stories. These other villages perhaps could in fact have been able to defeat Umuofia if they did not let fear dominate their
Writing and Literature 1020
Mrs. Wiarda
3-29-17
Things Fall Apart Literary Response The novel, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe encompases multiple different themes. The one idea that is emphasized throughout though is the theme of fear and its role in the decisions life presents. Almost every character in the novel exhibits fear in response to a circumstance. This theme of fear is first shown to the reader at the very beginning of the novel when Okonkwo is introduced and it resurfaces throughout the text. One of the first statements about the feelings Okonkwo has towards his father is “He had no patience with unsuccessful men. He had had no patience with his father” (Achebe 4). At this point, inferring that Okonkwo has fear …show more content…
Okonkwo's children and wives had a great deal of fear for him because “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand” (Achebe 13). His son, Nwoye has a great fear for Okonkwo. This fear is heightened after Okonkwo kills their adopted son of sorts, Ikemefuna, after he had been living with the family for three years and Nwoye had grown fond of him. What caused greater fear though for Nwoye and made him make big life changing decisions was his fear of his father's and his village's customs. He feares these things because he knew they were wrong. For example, when he was younger, he was out walking and heard the cry of thrown away infant twins in the forest. Achebe wrote, “Then something had given way inside him” (Achebe 62). That something that gave way could have been hope, happiness, or love for his customs, or even all three. This, and how his father expects him to behave, leads to the fear of him becoming like his father and not ever being happy. Although Nwoye did have fear, he loses a great majority of it when the Christians start to settle into the village. He sees this as new hope and becomes less fearful of his father and his village.
Neighboring villages and clans fear Umuofia greatly because they are very powerful. This was in part to Okonkwo being an extraordinary war man and also because Umuofia is known for its powerful medicines and medicine people. These other villages and clans do not go to war with Umuofia without trying to gain a peaceful agreement first because of this fear that they have through stories. These other villages perhaps could in fact have been able to defeat Umuofia if they did not let fear dominate their