What was Okonkwo's weakness?

Answer 1

Okonkwo suffered:

• The shame of an agbala father.
• The burden of having to take care of a young child from Mbaino.
• The burden of his father's talking, grating on his nerves.
• Having to discipline his children.
• His wife Ojiugo's impudence when she did not take care of her responsibilities.
• The shame of breaking the Week of Peace, including the curse the gods gave him.
• Having to deal with stupid court cases as an egwugwu.
• Many dead children.
• Having to worry about his daughter's abduction by the Oracle.
• Having to find his daughter Ezinma's iyi-uwa.
• Having to cure his daughter Ezinma's iba.
• Being unable to immediately marry his first love, Ekwefi, and watching her marry someone else.
• The demolition of his compound.
• Exile after accidentally shooting Ezeudu's son.
• Great depression from being exiled.
• Having his eldest son forsake his gods and convert to Christianity.
• The knowledge that his sons would never be as manly as he was.
• Anger at the white man for being jailed unjustly.
• His head shaved.
• The knowledge that his clan had been broken, fallen apart, and that they were no longer men of action.
• Death.

Answer 2

Okonkwo's weakness was his fear of being perceived as weak, which stemmed from his father's reputation as a failure. This fear drove him to be overly aggressive, uncompromising, and intolerant of any signs of weakness in himself or others. Ultimately, this fear led to his downfall.

Answer 3

Okonkwo's greatest weakness was the fear of becoming his father. Other weaknesses include a lack of temperance and emotion. Okonkwo is also a poor hunter.

Answer 4

Okonkwo's inflexibility and inability to adapt to change were his tragic flaws in Things Fall Apart.