"Bear no hand in his death."

Chapters 12-18 of Things Fall Apart are rife with foreshadowing and internal conflicts. At first, Achebe fools the reader into a feeling of safety by describing many celebrations. On the surface, life in Umuofia seemed content until the first foreshadowing and internal conflict moment was revealed in the novel. "A cold shiver went down Okonkwo's back..."That boy calls you father," [Ezeudu] had said. " Bear no hand in his death." (121). The "cold shiver" that ran down Okonkwo's back and Ezeudu's ominous unheeded words foreshadowed the upcoming events that would upend the life that Okonkwo had built.

Ironically, the beginning of major changes, and arguably the climax of the story so far, can be traced back to Ezuedu's ominous words to "Bear no hand in his death" (121), and Okonkwo's decision to disregard this advice to maintain his reputation. When Okonkwo killed Ikemefuna, he made a conscious decision to commit a violent act against his "son". When Okonkwo killed Ezuedu's son, a boy roughly the same age as Ikemefuna, he made an inadvertent mistake. His first act of violence, a conscious one, resulted in praise. His second act of violence, a mistake, resulted in exile. This double standard in tradition that existed throughout the novel for women and men deemed unworthy, finally doomed Okonkwo too.

Another moment of foreshadowing in the story occurred when Obierika visited Okonkwo in Mbanta. "...I am greatly afraid. We have heard stories about white men who made the powerful guns...and took slaves away across the seas..." (141). In this part of the novel, the conflicts are mostly internal but this foreshadowing suggests that they may turn violent, and may even lead to war.

The escalating conflict between the missionaries and the tribesmen also reinforces the novel's central focus on fear. Historically, fear between two different groups of people has lead to unending bloodshed and irreparable damage. It can be predicted that Umuofia teeters on the edge of the same physical tragedies.