Things Fall Apart, a novel by Chinua Achebe, is about a classic tragic hero whose own faults brought about his downfall. Although Okonkwo and Unoka followed extremely different paths throughout their lives, in the end they both were met with the same fate. One difference in the way that the two men lived is found in their work ethics. Okonkwo is a hard worker who sufficiently provides for his family. In his efforts to instill his own principles in his wives and children, he forces them to work long hours regardless of their age or physical stamina. Unoka on the other hand, was lazy and caused his family many hardships. He could not adequately provide for them, and chose merriment and debt over obligations as a husband and father. Another difference in these two men is the way they wanted themselves to be perceived by others. Okonkwo was afraid to appear as weak or womanly so he took extreme measures to appear as manly as possible. Okonkwo grew yams in abundance, which were known as a manly crop. He was also a fierce warrior and known throughout the nine villages of Umuofia for defeating Amalinze "the cat" in a wrestling match. The defeat of Amalinze, a man from a rival village, brought great honor to Okonkwo's own village. Okonkwo did not take into consideration that he could be hurting people, as long as he was perceived as a man. Unoka did not care about appearing womanly, even though that is how the entire village and his son saw him. He was not a warrior and did not participate in battle because the sight of blood frightened him. He was a gentle, peaceful man that did not use violence to get what he wanted. As numerous the differences shared by Unoka and his son Okonkwo, there is one similarity that is hard to ignore. In the end, they were both met by shameful deaths. Okonkwo had taken the coward's way out when he hung himself from a tree. The people of his village were not allowed to take him down because he had committed a sin against the earth. He would not have the ceremony, funeral, or respect that a warrior might have. Unoka had also found a horrible death when died from a swelling of the limbs. His village had left him to die above ground in the evil forest. Unoka was considered an agbala, one who is lazy and appears womanish, held no titles, and owed many debts, therefore he was not respected by his peers and did not deserve a proper funeral. Unoka, being the way he was, led Okonkwo to be the type of man he turned out to be. Even though he strived to be the opposite of his father, it's kind of ironic that they met the same fate. In the end, Okonkwo proved to be no better off than Unoka.