Okonkwo Tragic Hero Analysis

A tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle is a character who is noble in nature, has a tragic flaw and discovers his fate by his own actions. In Things Fall Apart, a novel by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo can be considered a tragic hero because he meets all of Aristotle's criteria by being a tragic hero by being a successful and respected leader in Umuofia, having a tragic flaw, and discovering his fate soon after his action.

This just shows that Okonkwo acts on his feelings and he takes his aggression out on the people he feels it towards, especially women because they are considered weak. You can also see that Oknonkwo lives an aggressive life by the stories that he tells Nwoye and Ikemefuna.

According to Aristotle, “A tragic hero is a character who is not eminently good and just, yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice and depravity, but by some error or frailty…” The classic tragic hero has some type of tragic character flaw which creates an inner struggle, leads to his making a serious error in judgment, and leads to his eventual downfall and death.

According to Aristotle’s definition of tragic hero, it is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own misfortune. For instance, a real life example of a tragic hero is Martin Luther King Jr. He was a venerated man that was determined to perceive equality for African Americans, he was ambitious in reaching this goal but, unfortunately, his ambition caused his downfall. Luther's flaw would be his ambition for equality and his misfortune was not deserved, thereby, he is a real life tragic hero.

Okonkwo's first and most prominent flaw is his fear of becoming a failure. It is greatly influenced by his father, but Okonkwo takes his fear to the extreme. Okonkwo's father was a very lazy and carefree man. He had a reputation of being "poor and his wife and children had just barely enough to eat... they swore never to lend him any more money because he never paid back." (Achebe Page: 5) In Umuofia, a father is supposed to teach the children right and wrong, and in this case, the lessons were not taught, but self-learned. Okonkwo had to rely on his own interpretations of what defined a "good man" and to him that was someone that was the exact opposite of his father. As a result of his own self-taught conclusions, Okonkwo feels that anything resembling his father or anything that his father enjoyed was weak and unnecessary. Because of his fear to be seen as weak, Okonkwo even strikes down a child that calls him father: "(and as the machete came down] Okonkwo looked away. He heard the blow... He heard Ikemefuna cry 'My father, they have killed me!'... Okonkwo draws his machete and cuts him down, he does not want to be thought weak." (Achebe page:61) The fact that he kills the child shows that the way that he thinks is wrong, that reputation is more important than the life of a child. Although it is a shame to be

What makes someone a tragic hero? Many agree that Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero is a good description. The description comes from Aristotle’s Poetic, “The tragic hero is "a [great] man who is neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor undergoes the change to misfortune through any real badness or wickedness but because of some mistake” (Poetics). The mistake or

Poetics, where he defines what makes a tragic hero. Aristotle suggests that a tragic hero is a

Prior to evaluating the tragic hero, Antigone, it is prominent to know Aristotle's interpretation of what a tragic hero embarks. Widely known ancient Greek philosopher and scientist, Aristotle, explained the central ideas of a tragic hero from his well known book, Poetics. He claimed that there are multiple traits rather than a single attribute for a character to be considered a tragic hero. To be considered a tragic hero, the first trait the character must embody is a noble stature, both in that of rank and virtue (Simpson). The character is compelled to be idolized by many and possess some sort of power. He or she must also display a moral and reputable personality. The character needs to exhibits these traits to get the audience to feel

A tragic hero in literature is a type of character who has fallen from grace, where the downfall suggests feelings of misfortune and distress among the audience. The tragic flaw of the hero leads to their demise or downfall that in turn brings a tragic end. Aristotle defines a tragic hero as “a person who must evoke a sense of pity and fear in the audience. He is considered a man of misfortune that comes to him through error of judgment.” The characteristics of a tragic hero described by Aristotle are hamartia, hubris, peripeteia, anagnorisis, nemesis and catharsis which allows the audience to have a catharsis of arousing feelings.

We all see tragic heroes in all types of stories, but many people don’t really know what or who a tragic hero really is. A tragic hero is a protagonist with a tragic flaw which eventually leads to his demise, usually death. The idea of a tragic hero came from an ancient greek philosopher Aristotle. He came up with 5 concepts of what characteristics a tragic hero must persist of in order for him to be concluded as a tragic hero; a tragic hero must be noble or wise, he must have a hamartia, a fatal flaw, he must have a peripatetia, a reversal of fortune, he must have an anagnorisis, when the hero realizes that their own actions is what caused their demise, and he must have a fate that is greater than they really deserve. I do agree with these characteristics because it allows the audience to feel connected to the character so when that single character dies, the audience realizes how much of a tragic death that was. Today’s definition of a tragic hero, however, is much different than that of the English Renaissance. In modern definition, a tragic hero is actually born of low status and the character may even die without an epiphany.

In his classic work "Poetics" Aristotle provided a model of the tragic hero. According to Aristotle, the tragic hero is more admirable than the average person. This results in the tragic hero being admired by the audience. For the audience to accept a tragic ending as just, it is crucial that the tragic hero be responsible for their undoing. At the same time though, they must remain admired and respected. This is achieved by the tragic hero having a fatal flaw that leads to their undoing. One of literature's examples of the tragic hero is Achilles from Homer's The Iliad. However, Achilles is different from the classic tragic hero in one major way - his story does not end tragically. Unlike the usual

Aristotle is a greek Philosopher, he created a list that all tragic hero have in common .A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction. According to Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero, a tragic hero must have 5 rule to be a true tragic hero. First rule is that the tragic hero Usually have noble birth or wisdom. Second , Hamartia – a.k.a. the tragic flaw that eventually leads to his downfall. Third , Peripeteia – a reversal of fortune brought about by the hero’s tragic flaw. Fourth is Anagnorisis - his actions result in an increase of self- awareness and self-knowledge and the last rule is Catharsis - the audience must feel pity and fear for this character. In modern time the new tragic tragic hero is that the hero does not necessarily have to be of noble stature but can be an "ordinary person", the hero is growing from low position to higher position . And the hero doesn’t die to end the story but complete their quest to end the story.

In life, people are given labels that society approves for them. Some may be given the label of enemy, friend, loved-one, or hero. What makes one a hero varies in cultures with opposing values. In the novel, Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo lives in pre-colonial Nigeria in a clan where he is considered a hero. While he is aggressive in nature--partially due to the fact that his father was soft and a man of no title--Okonkwo is still considered a hero because in his clan, masculinity is cherished most among men; specifically, Okonkwo is a tragic hero. Conversely, in the epic, The Odyssey, written by Homer in ancient Greece, Odysseus is praised as a hero. Journeying home from war, Odysseus overcomes obstacles with the help of Greek gods and entities, making him an epic hero. Some may disagree, but Odysseus and Okonkwo are heroes in their own right. Though they are both heroes, Okonkwo fits the structure of a tragic hero better than the epic hero, Odysseus.

As stated in Chapter Two on pages 13 to 14, Okonkwo ruled his household with a hand so heavy that his entire family lives in perpetual fear of his fiery temper and impatience. Okonkwo is a very rash person and, when in a fit of rage, does not think about the consequences of his actions, which inadvertently leads him to his own downfall. In committing these actions, it is not ludicrous to believe that Okonkwo will later receive consequences due to the immorality of these actions.

To answer this question, one must first know the definition of the tragic hero. A tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle is a character who is noble in nature, has a tragic flaw and discovers his fate by his own actions. In Things Fall Apart, a novel by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo can be considered a tragic hero because he meets all of Aristotle's criteria by being a tragic hero by being a successful and respected leader in Umuofia, having a tragic flaw, and discovering his fate soon after his action.