Things Fall Apart

     One thing that caught my eye when I was reading Things Fall Apart is the way Okonkwo seems to think that his father is the epitome of all things that were bad for a man. Due to Okonkwo's fear of being like his father, he strived to be the total opposite of him, not realizing that some traits of Unoka were actually good. Since Okonkwo was only focused on the bad traits of Unoka, he failed to realize that there are some traits that would benefit him in the future, hence leading him to become the hot-headed, cold-blooded man he is today. Unoka may have been a good-for-nothing, but he knew how to enjoy life, take things as they go, and be kind and patient. Try as he might, Okonkwo have become the person he wanted to be, a prosperous and independent man, but he has lost one thing that is very important to a human being in general, his compassion. He had lost his compassion for human beings, living in fear of not being what a "man" is, and results to beating his children and wife to assert his dominance. He neglects his emotional self, and this have been and will be a fatal flaw to him. This was one thing that I found interesting in Things Fall Apart.