Although Obierika mentions old legends of white men who took slaves from distant parts of Africa, these stories have always been dismissed as myth. The other ominous bit of foreshadowing comes with the two very different reactions of Uchendu and Okwonko. Uchendu, depicted always as a wise and thoughtful man, says that the mistake was to kill the stranger. Okwonko, characteristically, says that the mistake was failing to prepare for war. Okwonko will later try to defy the white man, with tragic results.
Fear is one of the primary sources of tragedy in the novel.
We are constantly shown how Okwonko's fear of failure and effeminacy drives him to ill-considered acts. The village of Abame is destroyed because of fear. The men hear the prediction of the Oracle and panic. They kill the Scout, Once again, we see the uncanny insights of the Igbo oracles. The oracle of Abame correctly predicted that the white man was the harbinger of destruction.