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The Power Of Fear In Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

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(2) Explore the power of fear in the novel.
Fear was quite a powerful factor in this novel. It was the root of most, if not all, changes in the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Fear caused many things in this book, one of which being the outcome.Fear drove Okonkwo, the leading character in this book who is known for his strength and grit, to take his own life. Okonkwo knew “that Umuofia would not go to war” against the colonizing Christians (205). Because of this, Okonkwo feared that his clan would allow the Christians to take over the governmental, social, economic and religious ideologies. With that, if the Christians were to take over, his chances of gaining many titles of high status and power were obliterated. Therefore, Okonkwo killed himself to avoid becoming powerless. ”Okonkwo’s body was dangling” in the middle of some forest when he was finally found, which I find ironic that in the end he ended up being looked upon as hopeless and powerless despite his efforts (207).

Okonkwo and fear seemed to go hand in hand. Fear shaped him and influenced the decisions he made throughout the entire book. “His whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness,” which inevitably pushed him to do whatever it took to become a successful and powerful village man (13). Okonkwo pushed himself away from becoming like his father in any way, for he had endured enough embarrassment as a child because his father was seen as a failure to the village. In reality,

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