A hero is a selfless individual that displays not only bravery, strength, and courage, but also transfers compassion, love, wisdom, and acceptance to others. In my opinion, Okonkwo is not a hero because of the many flaws in his personality. What also affects Okonkwo as a hero is his bad actions he committed throughout the book. I consider Okonkwo a tragic hero. By tragic hero I mean that Okonkwo holds lots of power and prestige, but he contains a major flaw. In this case, his major flaw is the fear of turning out weak and unsuccessful like his father, Unoka. Throughout the novel, Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo displays many actions that are not hero like.
The reason why Okonkwo is not completely a hero is because of his anger. Okonkwo's anger
Okonkwo is a tragic hero because he is important in his society and he meets death of choices with courage. In things fall apart Okonkwo gets a lot of fame because he has three titles and three barns of
The way in which Okonkwo took his own life can also lead to the argument that he was no hero, but that he took the easy way out. "The pathetic is achieved when the protagonist is, by virtue of his witlessness, his insensitivity, or the very air he gives off, incapable of grappling with a much superior force" (Miller). It can be agreed that his death was somewhat pathetic as opposed to heroic. It is also hypocritical that Okonkwo worked so hard to be respected and to stand up for his own customs, and yet took his own life, which in the clan was considered an abomination. "It is an offense against the Earth, and a man who commits it will not be
In the book, Things Fall Apart, there was a warrior from the Umuofia tribe whose name was Okonkwo. Even though he was a great fighter his temper leads to his demise. This aggressiveness not only affected him, but his entire family as they were sent off to exile for seven years. During this period Nwoye, the oldest son, realizes that the experience in exile even though extremely difficult benefitted him far greater than he could ever anticipate. While there he was able to reflect over his life up to that point and the time allowed him to consider the path he might wish to take from here. Most of his life he struggled with becoming a man and the laws of his clan. Nwoye’s challenging and eye opening experience in exile helped him to realize another way of living which he seemed to find more purpose.
The ancient Greek Philosopher known as Aristotle, defined a tragic hero as someone who has heroic traits that earn them the sympathy of the audience. But, they have possess flaws or make mistakes that lead to their downfall. Aristotle also described several characteristics that portray a tragic hero. Although, there are five main important qualities that he talked about include hamartia, hubris, peripeteia, nemesis, and catharsis. The main character in the book Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo, exhibits these five traits throughout the entire story.
He views that he is ‘the chosen one’ due to his large, and growing wealth/power. “Okonkwo was popularly called “the roaring flame””(153). Okonkwo sees the negative ability that he has due to his bad temper. This temper causes members of the clan to question Okonkwo’s ideas and motives. He takes out his anger on his wifes and kids, despite them being innocent and helpless. “He pressed the trigger and there was a loud report accompanied by the wail of his wives and children”(39). Okonkwo shows no feelings for others, and often forces things onto others because this is the only way Okonkwo knows to ‘lead’ others. He does not know when to give others control and take a step back himself. At first it is planned that Umofia will make the kill, “...Umofia has decided to kill him”(57). However Okonkwo did the killing himself to make him look stronger. Okonkwo wants to show off his strength, however the thing that Okonkwo ceases to understand is that his tribe does not respect this kind of act. Especially to someone that he considered his
He was afraid of being thought weak” (Achebe 61). When we see that Okonkwo chooses to go through with these actions, we quickly see what we once thought was an epic hero on the rise quickly begin to
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.
The metaphor exemplifies a comparison between Okonkwo and a flame. The flame wholly serves a symbol of masculinity, which are a furious temper, destruction, and vigor. Okonkwo ponders about why Nwoye became an utter failure, which is an effeminate man. Okonkwo is severely displeased as he dreads the potential of Nwoye portraying similarities with his father, Unoka. Any display of femininity to Okonkwo is a lack of vigor within a man. He yearns for his sons to become blistering flames, exhibiting traits similar to himself. Essentially, Okonkwo embodying a scorching flame is the utmost demonstration of masculinity, which utterly causes him to scorn the possibility of his son becoming a feminine man.
In the novel, Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo, the protagonist, may be seen as a hero, however, I don't believe he's a hero. My definition of a hero is someone who risks something- big or small- to help another person or group of people. Okonkwo may have attempted to save his village, but he never accomplished that goal and caused only more hurt in people, including his family. He was fit to be one- strong and imperious- but his actions didn't prove him to be so.
Towards Chapter 17 he encounters a situation when his daughter gets takened by Chielo to go visit Agbala, Okonkwo seemed to not care just for a show but what made him even more of a hero was that automatically, his fatherly and compassionate instincts kicked in and he went to follow Chielo, Ezinma, and Ekwefi to where they were going to make sure that nothing would happen to his daughter because of the actions that Okonkwo did automatically he knew that there would be consequences. He isn’t considered a hero when he takes part in Ikemefuna’s death and the messenger’s son death. He let’s his No good traits take over him and this is what tends to cause for his decisions to bring destruction. In Aristotle’s they define the word “Tragic Hero” as a character that is basically good, but is confused on what exactly they want.
Okonkwo was more heroic because he had achieved more throughout his lifetime and done everything in his power to do so. He may have given up and killed himself but he knew that there was too much damage done for him to have been able to change Umuofia back to how it first was. Oedipus was not so much a hero because nothing he did was heroic, his whole life was played out wrong from the start. Do not get too caught up in your pride because it will sweep you off your feet in a bad direction. Do you think Okonkwo’s life would have played out different in a positive way if he did not get easily angered or if Oedipus’s life would have been different if he did not try so hard to figure out the truth about himself and his
Okonkwo can be considerate a defiant hero defending his people's way of life, with an act to letting nothing stand in his way. He would kill if needed. Okonkwo acted too early when the man was sent by the district commissioner to come to the meeting, and tell them that the district commissioner ordered them to stop the meeting. Okonkwo quickly drew his machete and swung. The messenger try to avoid his
This makes sense because Okonkwo was not highborn. Okonkwo did not have much when growing up. He was a poor child, who which his father, Unoka, was always in debt. Part of being a tragic hero is being highborn. Although Okonkwo wasn’t highborn, he eventually became wealthy and noble throughout the story influenced his human characteristics and feelings. Lastly, he has a tragic downfall, hanging himself, due to his hubris, violence, and fear of weakness. Therefore, Okonkwo is a tragic hero.
Being a hero can be defined in different ways by many different people. Christopher Reeve says, “A hero is someone who, in spite of weakness, doubt or not always knowing the answers, goes ahead and overcomes anyway.” Aristotle says, “ a tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgement error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction.” Okonkwo, from the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, may be perceived as a hero by the definitions of many people; throughout the book readers can see that Okonkwo matches Aristotle’s standards/definition of a tragic hero. Okonkwo can be perceived in many different ways throughout the book.
Okonkwo is known for being a hardworking man. Growing up, Okonkwo never looked up to his father like most men in the society did. His father, Unoka, was a failure. He was poor and a debtor, and he didn’t take the responsibilities that men were expected to take in his community. This is the reason why Okonkwo is afraid of failure and weakness,