“Turning and turning in the widening gyre/ The falcon cannot hear the falconer;/ Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold” (William Butler Yeats). History has been carefully crafted into eras and time periods, dividing the vast antiquity of the world by paramount, prominent events that marked the start of new ages or the destruction of old ones. The Neolithic Revolution, the Ancient Civilizations, the Classical Civilizations, the Golden Age of Trade, the rise of European hegemony, the expansion of ocean exploration and colonization, the Age of Revolutions, the Age of War: all these eras are marked by new technological advances and scientific breakthroughs, but most crucially, all these eras are marked by drastic demographic impacts and blood spilled. The history of the world has been stained repeatedly by the blood of innocent people caught in the crossfire of colonization and the “White Man’s Burden”, an act of superiority established by the western world. From the 1400’s to the 1800’s, Europeans embodied this sentiment of dominance and supremacy amongst the rest of the world, using their new maritime technology to annex land in the Americas, Asia and Africa. They were driven by the belief that they would bring Western civilization to the villages of the barbarian native peoples around the globe, and salvage these fallen tribes languishing in the primitiveness they existed in. The white man brought his religion and government to the rest of the world through swords and blood, and this is often the story forgotten by society. Western colonization tells the story of destruction, death, suffering and humiliation all at the white man’s hand, yet most times it directly affiliates with a story of European victories and triumphs. Unfortunately, more often than not, the narratives of the indigenous tribes oppressed throughout Africa, the Americas and Asia are overshadowed by the idealistic and heroic perspectives of colonizers. However, Chinua Achebe in his novel “Things Fall Apart”, breaks the mold and follows the narrative of a South African Igbo tribe encountering the influence of Europeans for the first time. Through the perspective of Okonkwo, a harsh, strict man whose life is dictated by the cultural norms of masculinity, the novel depicts the rich culture of pre-colonial Africa, an anecdote not often acknowledged by society. In the novel, fear, in an ironic way, ultimately acts as a catalyst of destruction and failure, as demonstrated through Okonkwo’s fear of resembling his father, his fear of being seen as weak, and his fear of Christianity and change, all of which directly lead to Okonkwo’s fall.
Firstly, the fear of paralleling his father, Unoka, drives Okonkwo to neglect every part of his identity that resembles Unoka in order to prove his superiority and masculinity, which ultimately creates conflicts for Okonkwo. In the larger context, Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was known for being apathetic and indifferent, attributes dishonored by the Igbo culture. Okonkwo grew up wary of the village’s shadow of humiliation towards Unoka, festering Okonkwo’s own degradation towards his father since “Even as a little boy Okonkwo had resented his father’s 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” (Achebe pg 13). Okonkwo grew up under the disgraceful reputation of Unoka, creating a pit of despair and shame towards Unoka within Okonkwo that paralleled the village’s opinion of Unoka. Within Igbo culture, withholding one’s reputation is of the utmost importance, emphasizing the deep impact Unoka’s shameful credibility had on Okonkwo’s development as a child.
This emphasizes how ever since Okonkwo was a child, he looked down at his father because of Unoka’s laziness. The shame and embarrassment Okonkwo feels towards his father has stemmed from his childhood, and throughout his life has grown more and more. Because of this, Okonkwo has worked his entire life to rid himself of any resemblance to Unoka, because Unoka brings him great shame. This further motivates Okonkwo to become the man his father never was, fueling the determination to become a dominant man who fears nothing. Okonkwo wishes to be the exact opposite of Unoka, a man. Yet, Okonkwo’s fear of ending up like Unoka ultimately takes an ironic turn since both men die the same way. Unoka died of stomach swelling, an abomination to the tribe and “was carried to the Evil Forest and left there to die” (Achebe pg 17). Likewise, Okonkwo also died as an abomination to the clan. Okonkwo committed suicide, and his body was not to be touched by the clan members. The irony of the situation is evident since although Okonkwo worked his entire life to not become Unoka, his death parallels Unoka’s, where both of them were left forgotten and shamed.
Moreover, Okonkwo’s fear of appearing weak and submissive compels him to make drastic sacrifices in order to maintain his masculine reputation. To begin with, when Ikemefuna was left at Okonkwo’s care, Okonkwo grew affectionate of the boy. Ikemefuna lived for three years with Okonkwo, and even called him father. Yet, Okonkwo’s pride overpowered Okonkwo’s affection for Ikemefuna when he was told by the tribe to kill Ikemefuna, and “Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak” (Achebe pg 61). This further proves how Okonkwo’s fear of failure dictates his life. Although Okonkwo cares about Ikemefuna as though he were his son, Okonkwo still kills Ikemefuna out of fear that the other tribesmen will see his affection and hesitance, and consider him weak. Because Okonkwo wants to uphold his masculine image of what a true man would do, he ultimately hurts himself by killing Ikemefuna, an action that will haunt him later on. Okonkwo sacrifices his own feelings and emotions in order to maintain his reputation as a strong, fearless man, and it is because of Okonkwo’s fear of being thought of as weak and submissive that he kills the boy, betraying the child who called him father. This emphasizes how the fear of being seen as weak directly dictates every single one of Okonkwo’s actions, overpowering any feeling of love or affection he could feel. Furthermore, the control fear holds over Okonkwo’s actions is further illustrated when his good friend Obierika speaks to him about killing Ikemefuna. Obierika, disappointed in Okonkwo for not listening to his heart tells him, “And let me tell you one thing, my friend. If I were you I would have stayed home. What you have done will not please the Earth. It is the kind of action for which the goddess wipes out whole families” (Achebe pg 67). Obierika’s wise words foreshadow Okonkwo’s fall, something caused by Okonkwo’s inability to overcome his fear of failure. Because Okonkwo killed Ikemefuna, Obierika believes this will bring about negative consequences. Okonkwo ignores Obierika, yet later in the book, Obierika’s statement goes into play. Okonkwo’s life begins to fall apart as he’s exiled from the village, overpowered by Christianity and ultimately killed by his own hand. Though Ikemefuna’s death did not directly cause these events, Ikemefuna’s death certainly played a large role in the manifestation of Okonkwo’s aggressive behavior in order to reaffirm his manhood. Ikemefuna’s death is the beginning of the problem, creating a domino-ripple effect of destruction and failure in Okonkwo’s life, directly resulting from his pride and patriarchy.
Lastly, Okonkwo’s fear of change ultimately leads to his downfall as a result of failure to reform his lifestyle. After Okonkwo returns from his seven year exile to Mbanta, he finds his home village to be captivated by a new religion. Christianity made its way into Umuofia and covertly mesmerized the village, which lead the way of life to begin to fall apart as “he the white Christian man has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart” (Achebe pg 176). The white Christian man arrived to the Igbo tribes and won them over. Christianity wasn’t perceived as a threat, yet it sneakily managed to win over the tribe, and as a result of this, the tribe is falling apart. Okonkwo returned to a different Umuofia than the one he was exiled from, an Umuofia governed by the white man’s religion. This transition infuriated Okonkwo, and he was unable to cope with the changes, actively fighting and speaking out against the white men. Yet, all his efforts were thrown away since the white man had superior weapons and technology, and this drove Okonkwo mad. Okonkwo’s fear of change paved the way for his downfall since ultimately, Okonkwo committed suicide because he was unable to deal with the white man’s presence. Okonkwo killed himself after killing a white man in order to escape the punishment and humiliation he would face at the white man’s hand. Okonkwo chose to die as an abomination to the tribe rather than to be ridiculed and killed at the hands of the white men, and when Okonkwo’s body is found, Obierika says to the white men, “That man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself, and now he will be buried like a dog” (Achebe pg 208). This further demonstrates how Okonkwo’s fear of change, of weakness and of failure prompted his death. Okonkwo was fully aware of the punishment he would receive for murdering a white man; he would be killed by the white men. Death by white men, in his perspective, would highlight his weakness and allow the white men to be victorious. Rather than admitting defeat and allowing the white men to kill him, Okonkwo beat them to it and killed himself. Though Okonkwo didn’t allow for the white men to punish him, in the end, ironically, Okonkwo still died, and his death was an even greater abomination. In the Igbo culture, suicide is perceived as a far greater sin than defeat. Therefore, although Okonkwo’s suicide was his last act of defiance against the white man, ultimately, it made the situation worse since Okonkwo died as an abomination, shunned by his village and people, just like his father.
In conclusion, fear acts as a catalyst of destruction and failure ironically in Things Fall Apart as a result of the dominance of fear in Okonkwo’s life. Because Okonkwo is so afraid of resembling his father, being weak and submitting to the white men, this fear, ironically, leads to Okonkwo’s downfall. With Okonkwo’s death, he ironically becomes all the things he fears of being; he dies as an abomination like his father, his suicide accentuates his weakness to the village, and overall his death is a victory for the white man because he will no longer be complication to their mission of world domination and economic and religious imperialism. When one lets fear control their lives, life becomes nothing but one’s worst nightmares.
