In the story, Things Fall Apart, there is a strong theme that stood out to me, and that theme is fear. Throughout this story, many characters have experienced fear, like how Okonkwo fears of becoming lazy like his father, Ekwefi fear of losing her daughter, and how Nwoye fears his father’s wrath. Most of the characters have an ‘external’ fear, but Okonkwo has an ‘internal’ fear that has him worrying about himself and who he is. Instead of trying to go above his fear and get rid of it, he lets it consume him. The fear that he has makes him lash out in some really bad ways. He started to beat his wives, than abusing his oldest son, and then murdering his adopted son.
Okonkwo bottles up his fears because he doesn’t want to been seen as an