Thematic Study of Fear in the Text 'Things Fall Apart'

Things Fall Apart is undoubtedly the most popular work of the celebrated Nigerian author,
Chinua Achebe. Achebe is credited for making modern African literature mainstream by
writing it in English, a language universal in nature, yet retaining the essence of the stories of
African culture without any of it being lost in translation. Things Fall Apart is a study in
struggle between ideologies, symbolized by the clash between the native African inhabitants
and the newly-arrived white Christian missionaries. The themes of Fear, Tradition,
Reputation and Struggle are at the heart of this novel. The theme of Fear is explored in detail
by highlighting its various manifestations as witnessed throughout the story, even in the
seemingly moments of bravery and machismo. The fear of failure, the fear of failure, the fear
of the Supernatural and the unknown, and the fear of change are some of the important
backdrops against which the events in the story unfold. The various fears and their
implications on the characters and society are explored in the following essay.

The protagonist of the story, Okonkwo, a powerful, feared, and respected member of his clan
is a study in contrast. The layers to his character which are revealed as the novel progresses
include enterprise, arrogance, bravery, care, and the most important and ironical of all-fear. It
is indeed ironical to relate fear to a character as dominant as Okonkwo, one who "ruled his
household with a heavy hand" and had brought home no less than five human heads in
different wars. Despite these 'feats' and many such other befitting a man of title in the ibo
society, Okonkwo was a product of fear and consumed by fear for most of his life. The fear of
being weak and unsuccessful moulded his life, dictated his life and ultimately in a tragic
culmination of events, claimed his life. Being the son of an 'Agbala', a man with no title to
his name, was a matter of great shame to Okonkwo. In fact, his father Unoka's laziness and
sense of irresponsibility drove deep the fear of being unsuccessful in Okonkwo. It was this
fear of being associated with his debt-ridden father that pushed Okonkwo to strive against
great odds and reach the heights of prosperity and material comfort. It was this fear that made
Okonkwo overcome a terrible first year at farming; an year so bad that it broke many farmers
and indeed made him overcome an year that "had been enough to break the heart of a lion."
In addition to that, Okonkwo feared that his eldest son, Nwoye, would let him down. He
feared that Nwoye, who was not earnest, sharp and manly as he would have liked him to be,
and as a convert to Christianity, would not offer sacrifices to him after his death and neither
to his ancestors. This thought was too much to bear for a man so deeply-rooted in the customs
and culture and anguished him greatly. The worst manifestation of his fears involved
Ikemefuna, the young boy he had herded home from an enemy village and had soon grown
fond of. Needless to say, this fondness was well-hidden lest it should be construed as a sign
of weakness by others. But what was terrible was that despite being looked upon as a father
by Ikemefuna, Okonkwo hacked him to death even though it tore him from within. Such was
the pull of fear on his psyche that he preferred to hack the boy whom he was evidently fonder
of than his own son, and one who had banked on him for support and protection in his last
moments. Fear made an animal of Okonkwo, robbing him of any sense of right and wrong. It
made him oblivious to kindness of human spirit. It overshadowed his numerous virtues such
as enterprise, caring, and being a devoted family man.
However, Okonkwo was not only propelled by fear-he propagated it. He was a man who
instilled fear in the members of his household, expecting and commanding complete
submission. Wife-beatings and son beatings were the order of the day to instil complete
subjugation and his fear in them. His fear transcended the boundaries of his village and
reached the other villages of his clan. It was for this reason, that Okonkwo was "chosen by
the nine villages to carry a message of war to their enemies." As a man who spent his
boyhood under the shadow of failure of his father, and as someone who stammered, he
resorted to violence-"whenever he could not get words out quickly enough, he would use his
fists". It is not that he was a sadist who took pleasure in beating and resorting to violence. He
did so merely because with his stammer, he had little else going for him to express himself.
Fear and Okonkwo fit each other perfectly. From the most insignificant actions such as his
son Nwoya's imagined faults in sowing of hams for which he used to beat and reprimand him
to the most serious and the grave ones. When a woman of his village was killed by some
people of the neighbouring village Mbaino, it was Okonkwo who was chosen by his village
to be the emissary of revenge and retribution and seek penalty from the offending village.

Okonkwo was a warrior who despite all his follies was a believer in what he thought was
right. It would have been unthinkable to consider that a man as proud and successful and
resilient as him would take his own life. It was the most abominable of sins for a man in the
ibo society to take his own life. It would be right to say that he hung himself, relinquishing
his rightful place with his ancestors, out of fear. But this fear was not of the retribution of the
white man's justice. It was a fear of living in a society which he thought had collapsed, a
society which was so alien to him that he feared a future in it, a society that according to him
lacked spine and couldn't fight back what was an obvious encroachment on its sovereignty.
As the story progresses, it becomes evident that Okonkwo's strengths were driven by the fear
of failure and the fear of losing his image and being clubbed with his 'woman like' father. It
would not be an exaggeration to say that fear shaped Okonkwo and ultimately it consumed
him.

Fear shaped not only Okonkwo but also the ibo society. The supernatural was feared the
most. The Earth Goddess was appeased and highly revered lest it turn away its benevolent
sight away from the person ignorant enough to overlook her supreme power and sway. The
Goddess, Ani as it was called, was the supreme figure in the society and not only was she
revered but also greatly feared. The fear of her retribution was so pervasive that even
someone as strong and fearless as Okonkwo did the bidding of the priest of the Goddess,
Ezeani, when he said, "The evil you have done can ruin the whole clan. The earth goddess
whom you have insulted may refuse to give us her increase, and we shall all perish. You will
bring to the shrine of Ani tomorrow one she-goat, one hen, a length of cloth and a hundred
cowries."

In fact, the entire set of superstitions woven in the life of the society were rooted in fear. The
manifestations of fear were many. Twins were evil so they had to be abandoned at birth in the
'Evil Forest' in clay pots. Or "when a man was afflicted with swelling in the stomach and the
limbs he was not allowed to die in the house. He was carried to the Evil Forest and left there
to die."

The egwugwu, spirits of ancestors, were called on to solve quarrels or disagreements between
clan members. The egwugwu were formidable spirits, often dressed in forbidding and
majestic ceremonial dress. They instilled fear in the hearts of the aggrieved party as well as
the hearts of the perpetrators. So much so, that their very appearance made the women and
children shriek and flee in fear. Despite this, all the clan knew that they were to be held to
standards of justice that have served the clans for many ages. An example is when Uzowulu
brought his case to the egwugwu, he claimed that his wife Mbagfo's three brothers abused
him physically, took her from their hut, and deprived him of her bride price. However,
Mbagfo's three brothers accused Uzowulu of being an abusive husband, causing Mbagfo to
miscarry at least once. In the end, the egwugwu side with Mbagfo. The supernatural powers
of the egwugwu were accepted without question; they served to instill deep awe and fear
among those who come to them for help. Interestingly, even though Okonkwo's three wives
who were present at this spectacle, they aren't shown to be wondering that one of the
egwuguwu resembled their husband closely due to his walk and built and also due to the fact
that Okonkwo was missing from his usual place in such an important gathering. This
highlights that the fear and the authority of the supernatural in the clan people was absolute
and brooked no questioning.

Another chilling example of the fear of the supernatural's authority on the people is witnessed
when Chielo, the priestess of Agabala, visits Okonkwo's compound and commands him to
hand over Eznima, his beloved daughter to her as Agbala wanted to see her. Achebe writes, "
Okonkwo was still pleading that the girl had been ill of late and was asleep" which is a
reminder of the extent of the fear commanded by the God and his messengers in the heart of
the people that even a proud, aggressive and a decorated clansman like Okonkwo was
reduced to pleading. Besides, priestesses of Agbala, things as insignificant as outgrown tree
roots were considered to be ill omens and could scare a person greatly as is evident when
Ekwefi was stelthily pursuing Chielo and " She hit her left foot against an outcropped root,
and terror seized her. It was an ill omen." The culture did not give one the slightest leeway to
take one's mind off the greatness and the might of the supernatural.

However, the greatest fear that confronted the society was the fear of loss of identity. With the
advent of the white British missionaries and the structured rule of colonization, the natives
feared that the culture and the values that they held so dear were eroding rapidly and
irrevocably. They sneered at the white missionaries initially who had the outcasts of the ibo
society as their first converts but with the passage of time as more and more people started
following the new, strange faith, the belief of the natives was shaken to its roots. Okonkwo
was the one most disturbed by these changes to the social fabric as he took immense pride in
adherence to the values, the culture and the traditional way of his society. What enraged and
alienated him even further from the missionaries and their followers was that his own son, the
son of the mighty Okonkwo had joined ranks with them. It was a matter of great grief and
shame to Okonkwo as this was his worst fear coming true. He had his eldest son disavowing
him and thus breaking the chain of sacrifices and respect that the living were supposed to
bestow the dead ancestors. One day, when a messenger from the newly-appointed District
Commissioner interrupted a meeting that was underway in the village to decide the course of
action on how to avenge the insults heaped on the egwugwu, Okonkwo beheaded him in a fit
of rage. This one event, led to the fall of the greatest man in Achebe's story, who felt betrayed
by his clansmen when they clicked their tongues to show their disapproval of his action.
Afraid to live in a society that was now completely alien and bereft of any self-respect,
Okonkwo chooses to hang himself, an action abominable beyond belief for any man with the
slightest self-respect and respect for the nature. However, Okonkwo found it preferable to the
ignominy of being tried at the hands of the white man's law and the humiliation of being
sentenced to death by it. It was not the death that he was afraid of, it was the insult of his
identity and legacy being corrupted that made him take this extreme step.

Things Fall Apart is a definitive take on the power of fear on man. It makes the reader
cognizant of the truth that in his quest for success, what many a man is actually trying to do is
evade failure as he fears being labelled a failure. It is a poignant narrative that shows how
fear can hollow a man out and take away his most cherished ideals and principles, reducing
them to nothingness. It is telling reminder that even after facing one's worst fears, it is not
necessary that one would get the better of him. In that way, Okonkwo is a symbol of defiance
that eventually falls tragically short of conquering fear. Eventually, it was Okonkwo's fear of
being weak that creates the backdrop of the story's narrative.