Things Fall Apart: Fear
Anon
April 26, 2013
English 10
Anon
Fear is a distressing state of mind aroused by impending danger, evil, and even mental pain. The idea of fear is greater than fear itself. It is an emotion that we subconsciously create, it is the emotion evoked by the idea of believing illusions, lies and false information. Fear is what drives us to execute actions that we would never normally do, unrestrained from the presence of fear we act with morality, thought and discipline. In Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe, fear is evident throughout Okonkwo's life. The fear of being anything close to his father Unoka, the fear of acting anything other than a man and the fear of adjusting to anything other than his own social customs is what drove him over the edge and into a noose. Overtaken by fear, Okonkwo commits senseless actions for the sake of living up to his own selfish expectations. The relationship a father and son have is unmistakable; men are single-handedly the greatest influence on a child's growth and development. When Ikemefuna was taken away from his home and his family, he was too young to realise what exactly was going on. He was but a child and only viewed the world from his pubescent perspective. Ikemefuna is just a boy and his innocent ignorance toward his circumstance influenced his reaction of inevitable fear, “He [Ikemefuna] was terribly afraid. He could not understand what was happening to him or what he had done. How could he know that his father had taken a hand in killing a daughter of Umuofia? All he knew was that a few men had arrived at their house, conversing with his father in low tones, and at the end he had been taken out and handed over to a stranger” (12). His fear comes from the idea of not knowing what will happen next and his limited understanding of the world around him adds to this internal suspense of the unknown. being submerged in fear of being killed, Ikemefuna pleads to Okonkwo, his father, to help him, but to no
April 26, 2013
English 10
Anon
Fear is a distressing state of mind aroused by impending danger, evil, and even mental pain. The idea of fear is greater than fear itself. It is an emotion that we subconsciously create, it is the emotion evoked by the idea of believing illusions, lies and false information. Fear is what drives us to execute actions that we would never normally do, unrestrained from the presence of fear we act with morality, thought and discipline. In Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe, fear is evident throughout Okonkwo's life. The fear of being anything close to his father Unoka, the fear of acting anything other than a man and the fear of adjusting to anything other than his own social customs is what drove him over the edge and into a noose. Overtaken by fear, Okonkwo commits senseless actions for the sake of living up to his own selfish expectations. The relationship a father and son have is unmistakable; men are single-handedly the greatest influence on a child's growth and development. When Ikemefuna was taken away from his home and his family, he was too young to realise what exactly was going on. He was but a child and only viewed the world from his pubescent perspective. Ikemefuna is just a boy and his innocent ignorance toward his circumstance influenced his reaction of inevitable fear, “He [Ikemefuna] was terribly afraid. He could not understand what was happening to him or what he had done. How could he know that his father had taken a hand in killing a daughter of Umuofia? All he knew was that a few men had arrived at their house, conversing with his father in low tones, and at the end he had been taken out and handed over to a stranger” (12). His fear comes from the idea of not knowing what will happen next and his limited understanding of the world around him adds to this internal suspense of the unknown. being submerged in fear of being killed, Ikemefuna pleads to Okonkwo, his father, to help him, but to no