Okonkwo And Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Things Fall Appart . Okonkwo is a tragic hero, because he came from having very little, and his father was a bad role model. Okonkwo earned his land his huts, his wives and his yams. Okonkwo killed Ikemefuna his adopted son, who he grew to love and trust. This was the start to becoming a tragic hero.

First, Okonkwo displays many useful strengths in Things Fall Apart including his determinedness and how much he is admired. Even though he has no fatherly role model at a young age,he is determined to be the one to the greatest warriors and men in his clan, “In spite of these disadvantages,

As the story progresses, Okonkwo displays many characteristics. Some of those traits proved to be a positive attribute to his image, such as his integrity. However, many of his negative qualities, such as his impulsiveness, outweighed his positive traits. Both his beneficial characteristics and his detrimental characteristics contribute to the reader's perception of Okonkwo.

The first criteria of a tragic hero is that the character must be noble or a man of high status. The book describes this when it says "Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements" (Achebe, 3). Starting as a sharecropper with no inheritance from his father, Okonkwo worked very hard and made his way to becoming a wealthy and respected man in Umuofia. Due to his hard work, Okonkwo has 3 wives with many children, a large compound with obi for each of his wives, and a large stock of yams. Okonkwo earns respect from people both inside and outside his clan through his many achievements.

He is an abusive and weak man who does terrible things just to ensure that he isn’t seen as weak, which coincidentally makes him a weak person. The character has a fatal flaw. Okonkwo fits this since the things that led him to his downfall are his fatal flaws of a bad temper and fear of weakness. He killed Ikemefuna because he was afraid that the men would think he was weak, “Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.”

As the story progresses, Okonkwo starts to realize his great flaw, and it becomes more recognizable in his actions. Along with Okonkwo’s struggle to follow the morals and principles of his culture, he also battled with his son’s betrayal and lack of masculinity. The

Okonkwo was a tragic hero because of the fame he had in his clan, and the errors he made that lead to his demise. He was successful as a person, but made many bad decisions like killing people. This is what made him a tragic

Their flaw is also more commonly referred to as Hamartia (The tragic flaw that causes the downfall of a hero). Okonkwo, the main character and tragic hero of Things Fall Apart has very glaring flaws. One of Okonkwo’s flaws is his temper, that often gets the best of him. But Okonkwo's biggest flaw is his fear of failure as shown on pg. 12; “Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness.” This fear often leads him to act harshly and violently towards others. This is shown when Okonkwo beats one of his wives on pg. 29; “And when she returned he beat her heavily. In his anger he forgot it was the Week of Peace.” This not only highlights his temper issues but also his Hubris. Hubris (excessive pride and disrespect for natural order) is the best way to sum up Okonkwo's flaws. In his anger, Okonkwo disregards the traditions of the culture he fights for, which we will get to later. The final factor in his flaws is his paranoia. Unoka (Okonkwo’s father) was such a bad role model that Okonkwo’s life pretty much revolves about not become like him. Okonkwo describes Unoka as “women like” which is clearly a demeaning term in his head, and this can be a reason why he treats his wives so bad. Ultimately, when Okonkwo let’s his flaws get the best him, he makes bad decisions that that stay with him throughout the book. These bad

In order to see what qualifies Okonkwo as a tragic hero we must define what a tragic hero is. A tragic hero is a character of noble birth that confronts his/her downfall due to fate or his/her actions. Okonkwo was not born of noble birth, but at the beginning of “Things Fall Apart” he is highly respected by his peers. By the end of the book Okonkwo’s fear of weakness, a motivating force for him throughout the book, now turns into his tragic flaw. In the end Okonkwo hangs himself as his tragic flaw over takes him

Aristotle once said “a man doesn’t become a hero until he can see the root of his downfall.” In the novel Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe introduces the African Igbo culture and the struggles that the main character, Okonkwo, faces. Okonkwo is considered a tragic hero because although he is an important figure to the Ibo tribe, his tragic flaw and outside forces lead to his downfall.

Okonkwo fits the mold of a tragic hero, a character who experiences an inner struggle because of some character flaw. The struggle ends in the hero’s defeat. Okonkwos’ inner struggle was his complete fear of being unsuccessful or being like his father who was “agbala “. Agbala was the name they called a man who was feminine. This was an extreme insult. He had an extreme fear of showing weakness or femininity. All of his actions were driven by this strong fear. This fear was present when he almost shot Ekwefi and beat her and when he aided in the death of Ikemefuna. Okonkwos’ flaw would have to be undeniably his complete blindness and his pride. Okonkwo refused to ever be told he is wrong or is anything less than perfect. Okonkwos struggle ended at the tree behind the bush in his compound. “…The tragic feeling is evoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life if need be to secure one thing- his sense of personal dignity”. - Arthur Miller

Okonkwo demonstrates his qualities as a tragic hero because he is seen by the people in Umuofia as a great man. While most see Okonkwos mistreatments towards his wives and lack of character development, the villagers see his achievements growing yams and many titles, thus portraying him as a good man. To further prove Okonkwo as a tragic hero, a man at his feast proclaims, "It is good in these days when the younger generation consider themselves wiser than their sires to see a man doing things in the grand, old way. A man who calls his kinsmen to a

In his “Poetics”, a tragic hero cannot be an eminently good man. The suffering of such a man will be shocking. The tragic hero neither can be a bad man nor a villain. According to Aristotle, “The tragic hero is a man who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is bought about not by voice, but by the some error of judgement” (Aristotle, Ch. 6). The misfortune of such a man will lead to downfall. In Things Fall Apart, the main protagonist Okonkwo is considered as tragic hero and he has the all the noble characters. Oknokwo was very successful and renowned in his community. He was the leader of Ibo society and he was also a famous wrestler and successful farmer. With characteristic of tragic hero, Oknokwo became almost successful in many ways, such as wealthy man, holds with high position in the community, he had three wives, and is also best wrestler and worrier. He also ruled his family with

In his poetic, a tragic hero cannot be an eminently good man. The suffering of such a man will be shocking. The tragic hero neither can be a bad man nor a villain. The tragic hero is a man who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is bought about not by voice, but by the some error of judgement. The misfortune of such a man will lead to downfall. In Things fall Apart, the main protagonist Okonkwo is considered as tragic hero and he has the all the noble characters. Oknokwo was very successful and renowned in his community. He was the leader of Ibo society and he was also a famous wrestler and successful farmer. With these characters of successful in many ways, he was very wealthy man, hold a high position in the community, he had three wives, and is also best wrestler and worrier. He also rules his family with

Character traits/personality Okonkwo had no patience with unsuccessful man. The has ni patience with his father? This was the belief of their tribe and was unphel. According to Achebe, the main character detested his father at a very young age, “Even as a little boy he had resented his father’s failure and weakness, and even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him that his father was agbala.” The breakdown of Okonkwo’s relationship with his son is evident throughout this novel. The reason for this tumultuous relationship is, Okonkwo is too engrossed in maintaining his status quo, and his relationship was governed by his own beliefs, principles and his own “right way to do right