Zero Control In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

In the very beginning the author shows a theme. “Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.” The excerpt from the poem in Things Fall Apart, a novel, is an example of how any person(s) can NOT control everything. The weather can't be controlled by anybody but God. Not even Okonkwo, even though he despises the fact, can't control everything. In Things Fall Apart, conflicts happen that Okonkwo has zero control over. Okonkwo, in the very beginning, has issues trying to control his eldest son, Nwoye. Nwoye was “causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness”(Chapter 2, Page 13). The oldest son(s) are usually thought of as the future leaders of the family. They should be “well known”

Her “sudden bouts of sickness and health were typical of her kind” (Chapter 9, Page 80). “Her kind” is what they think is demons. Since Ekwefi had lost many children before Ezinma their culture thoughts on it is that they are these demon children that is sent to torment the mothers. Ezinma is the only one who lived. The apple of her mother's eye and she's her father's pride and joy. Ezinma will get ill and run high fevers and since Okonkwo has no control over it he becomes brutal. He starts harassing Ezinma to lead them to the pebble. The fact that Okonkwo can't control the demon that possess Ezinma aggravates him which, of course, only angers him more. There are multiple themes that are going on through the novel, Things Fall Apart. The one that definitely sticks out the most is that one person cannot control every aspect of his and their spouses and children lives. Okonkwo has a hard time accepting that fact because he sees it as him becoming like his father. Once everything in Okonkwo's life starts spiraling out of control he doesn't know what to think. We start to side of him that isn't shown that often. Okonkwo's prideful and full of achievements life is just, all at once, turning into “Mere anarchy” that is loose upon the