The article “The Consequences of Fear” written by David Ropeik discusses the factors of everyday life that cause us to be overly fearful of a situation or not fearful enough. We as humans tend to have irrational fears, or fear of things that have a very low risk of causing us any harm. If these fears persist over long periods of time they can cause real problems to our health. According to the article, “Psychoneuroimmunological testing in laboratory animals and a range of human epidemiological findings associate stress with a weakened immune system, increased cardiovascular damage, gastrointestinal problems” etc. This brings the question “Is it important to avoid taking risks in order to protect your health?”.…
One of the biggest problems in our life is fear. Fear is a problem because it affects everything; we think and say and do, all the decisions and the choices we make. For example human fear many things like fear of flying, heights, death and etc.. In his book the things they carried Tim O'Brien writes but the theme of fear because the soldiers in the Vietnam War were afraid of making the right decisions. Tim O'Brien and his platoon carry the fear of death and the fear of shame.fear is show in this is characters of Jimmy Cross, Norman Barker, and Time himself.…
When describing Maycomb in the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee paraphrases Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Lee uses this quote to show that the people in Maycomb should be afraid of the fact they are afraid of something for no reason. This fear of change stems from prejudice: there are four kinds of folks in this world, there’s the ordinary kind like us, there’s the kind like the Cunninghams, the kind like the Ewells and the Negroes.” Lee has purposely created Maycomb as a town separated by race; by doing this she illustrates a small town during the depression of the early 1930s. The system of “four kinds of folks” does not leave room for individuality let alone breaking with the past and striking off in a new direction. The way things are in Maycomb are the way things have always been and there is not much anyone can do about it.…
Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was extremely lazy and sickly, while Okonkwo was constantly active and seen with respect throughout the tribe. Unoka had one wife and no title, which showed his lowly importance in the tribe. Unoka was weak and couldn’t support his family, which causes Okonkwo to start working at a young age, so he could take care his family. “Unoka, the grown-up, was a failure. He was poor and his wife and children had barely enough to eat.” Okonkwo lived in constant fear of failure. Okonkwo didn’t like showing emotions, unless it was anger. He ruled his household with a heavy hand and with constant threats to his many wives. “His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children.…
Okonkwo was banished from Umuofia for 7 years and he went to live in his mother’s land for that time (Achebe, 124). Okonkwo was insecure about living in his mother’s land because men are naturally supposed to live in their father’s land. Uchendu, the leader of Okonkwo’s mother’s land, gave him land to build his hutts and land for farming season (Achebe, 129). Okonkwo felt very insecure when Uchendu asked him why one of their commonest names is Nneka meaning “Mother is Supreme” (Achebe, 133). Okonkwo was insecure because children belong to their fathers yet seek remission from their mothers after being beaten from their father, and Okonkwo was in his mother’s land not his father’s land. Uchendu made Okonkwo feel insecure because he was telling him not to be sorrowful because he isn’t the greatest sufferer in the world (Achebe, 135). Although Okonkwo was very insecure after being exiled for 7 years, his insecurity took a worse tole when it came to tying not to appear weak to his…
Therefore, he wanted to rise above him and began acting more manly by “(dazed with fear) [drawing] his machete and [cutting] him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.” Although Okonkwo did not feel comfortable by his actions, he felt that he had to prove something to himself and show that he will not end up like his…
The saying “be the bigger man” can be applied to many scenarios. It often refers to being the person who takes charge or to being the person who ends an argument. But why do people associate size with taking charge? This is a question that arises in Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The story is told from the perspective of patient in a mental ward, nicknamed Chief by patients and nurses, who has been in an asylum for fifteen years of his life. When Chief is describing his or other people’s size, he is portraying their confidence and their power within the ward. That is why at first, he sees himself as small, McMurphy as huge, and Nurse Ratched as the "Big Nurse”; ultimately, as he himself regains his self-confidence, he…
Okonkwo despises his father for those exact reason. He feels like being kind or caring shows you have feelings and emotions, and that makes you look feminine of womanly like. Okonkwo’s father was also given the name of “agbala” which means a womanly like person, Okonkwo was very ashamed of this fact. “Even as a little boy he had resented his father’s failure and weakness… agbala was not only another name for a woman. It could also mean a man who had taken to title” (chapter 2, paragraph 12). Okonkwo never shows his affection to his adopted son Ikemefuna. “Okonkwo refused to let his feelings slip”(chapter 4, paragraph 7). He was not willing to show emotion of love or happiness as he feared of being seen as a unmanly person. One thing you can see about Okonkwo is that he has to resist his strongest emotions that were unmanly. He had to enforce very strict gender roles on his family and subordinates. He is very on board with this gender diversity and he seems like he will want to continue this…
During the week of peace, “He walked back to his obi to await Ojiugo’s return. And when she returned he beat her very heavily. In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace. His first two wives ran out in great alarm pleading with him that it was the sacred week. But Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through, not even for fear of a goddess”(29-30). Okonkwo rampages during the week of peace and beats his wife painfully. He does not want to appear weak in front of the other men and so he beats his wives and acts impulsively. Due to his fear of being seen as weak, Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna "Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak." (61). The way he kills Ikemefuna shows that reputation is more important than a child’s life. Okonkwo's actions depict how anxiety has overtaken him. Rather than coping with his fear, he allows it to dominate him and drive his actions. Okonkwo's apprehension permits him to acquire respect from the Igbo society, simply because it persuades him to show improvement over any other…
He was masculine, hardworking, reputable, and wealthy. He didn't want to be like his father, a failure. Okonkwo believed his father was a failure because the man was very lazy, disgraceful, and poor. Over the years in his village it was said by the elders, “...if a child washed his hands...and so he ate with the kings.” This quote indirectly characterizes Okonkwo, displaying how he knew what he had to do if he wanted to be a great hero, furthermore developing his character as a young man. Towards the end of the novel one can imagine Okonkwo as a tragic hero because, like other tragic heroes, he has one major flaw. His main flaw develops from his fear of being like father, whom he dispised. He as well can't display his emotions because he doesn't want to look weak or sissyish, and when he does show any emotion, it is an uncontrollable rage. As a result of his flaws, Okonkwo has suffered countless tragedies, which ultimately leads to his ironic death. Okonkwo's tragedy was due to many things that happened in Umuofia, but the main reason was the arrival of the white missionaries, “Does the white man understand our custom about land?” (chpt. 20). Okonkwo says this, due to his…
Faith is a commitment, an action of making the commitment real which is passionate, and something you doubt. The harder the commitment, the deeper the passion. To Kierkegaard, doubt is necessary for personal identity which happens to be faith. In Fear and Trembling, Abraham tried to explain to Isaac that he is to be sacrificed, but said, “Do you think it is God’s command? No, it is my desire” (9). Abraham acted in this manner for Isaac to not blame God, but to blame Abraham himself. Issac should not lose faith in God where an analogy was used to show a mother blacken her breast milk to withdraw the child from suckling her breast. The mother remains the same, but the breast changes. Abraham did what God asked him to do, however, it was unwillingly nor did he understood.…
Okonkwo’s father caused him to have a strong fear of becoming like his father.“Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness... It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father.” This shows that his aggression towards his wives and children is influenced by him not wanting to be soft. His father caused him to become a workaholic who doesn’t show any emotion.…
The Gift of Fear," a psychology book by Gavin De Becker, is a great valuable book. It gives significant exhortation about acceptable behavior upon human instinct, how to perceive dangers, and characterizes what genuine trepidation is and its motivation. I find this book to be very interesting. This book gave feeling of comprehension on savagery and trepidation and I feel greatly improved arranged with regards to perceiving perilous circumstances. My favorite part of the book was the warning signs to know when an outsider is a potential risk. This was intriguing to me since I've been told since I was only a young girl to be careful with outsiders. Be that as it may, with every one of these notices about outsiders I had never been advised how to perceive when an outsider was by and large really accommodating and agreeable, or attempting to mischief me in any capacity. I found that some of the warning signs were interesting, for example, a strategy called Forced Teaming.…
Okonkwo's self-destruction was caused by his drive for masculinity . Okonkwo's fear of being a failure caused Okonkwo to hide behind a veneer of anger and aggression. Okonkwo's masculinity was all he had and was the factor that controlled his behavior. He was often consumed in his actions of masculinity that seemed to know no limits. Also, a crucial flaw was his inability to accept change in tradition. He was not able to change with the values of both societies and the changing ways around him. He could not accept the fact that in a colonized society he would be an average person, rather than a distinguished and powerful male.…
Though Okonkwo was strong, he still had “the fear of failure” (p. 13). By Okonkwo being afraid of failing, he pushed himself and his family to be the best, which made them the model for their tribe. By Okonkwo and his family becoming the archetypal family in their community, they’re objectified by others as people aspire to be like them. Due to his insecurities, he also permits others determine his actions as “he was afraid of being thought weak” (p. 61). Due to Okonkwo becoming the archetype for his tribe, he limits his autonomy as he begins to make decisions based off of people’s opinions of him. Okonkwo’s action of making decisions based on other’s opinions resembles how Meursault based his actions on people’s expectations. Because Okonkwo constantly struggled to stay the best in others’ opinion, he relinquished his autonomy, therefore subliminally conforming to the goals others’ set for…
