came he would immediately buy liquor and finish it He used to call his neighbours and hang out together He was a debtor Every neighbour of his always got some money from him He was a failure man He was poor and did not have enough food to feed his wife and children This fear pushes Okonkwo to work tirelessly Okonkwo's entire life is a rebellion against becoming like Unoka He had no patience with unsuccessful men He had had no patience with his father Physical Qualities The author first gives a vivid description of Okonkwo's physical qualities He is tall and has bushy and wide eyebrows that do not give him a severe look He breathes heavily It is said that when he sleeps his wives and children in their outhouses can hear his breathing Achebe says Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand His wives especially the youngest lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper Hate to Failure Okonkwo feared failure and weakness from the example of his father's life In childhood he endured poverty and privation and it was natural that his father should develop hatred against the cause of such misery Ambition haunted him from childhood He did not surrender unsuccessful people Even his relationship with his father was not good Okonkwo becomes extremely ambitious He seeks to be the opposite of his father His fear makes him relentlessly pursue power It often leads to harsh and unkind behaviour towards others His life had been ruled by a great passion to become one of the lords of the clan Hard-working Okonkwo was a hardworking man He started his life from zero but quickly became a wealthy farmer He had two barns full of yams and married his third wife Though young he was already one of the most extraordinary men of his time One who knew his terrible struggle against poverty and misfortune could not say he was lucky Hardness Towards Everything Nwoye the eldest son of Okonkwo caused his father great anxiety Even at the age of twelve years he seemed to be lazy much like Unoka He sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating Again his fear of failure and weakness was at the back of his mind When Nwoye seemed to develop manly qualities under the influence of Ikemefuna Okonkwo came to have some love for the boy But he did not express his love outwardly he thought it was a sign of weakness to do so In the matter of killing Ikemefuna his fear of weakness was responsible Ezeudo the oldest and most famous man forbade him from having a hand in killing Ikemefuna But still he kills him with his hand because of the fear of being thought weak Achebe says Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down To conclude in Things Fall Apart Okonkwo's life is dominated by a profound fear of failure and weakness This fear shapes his personality and actions Through Okonkwo's story Chinua Achebe illustrates the destructive power of fear It reflects broader themes of change tradition and identity in the face of colonialism