Tragic Hero In Things Fall Apart

In the beginning of the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, we are introduced to Okonkwo, the protagonist of the story. Throughout the world there are many novels where the protagonist is a hero, the person who fixes the problem. Okonkwo, however, is not this type of character. He is not perfect and does not fix the problem, he gets angry at it. Many people believe he is an overall good man. On the other hand I believe Okonkwo is deeply flawed because of his anger and abuse to his family.

He is the greatest wrestler in the land and has four wives and a large land size and farm all of this and no thanks to his father Unoka. Growing up his father was poor and gave him no land and no wife and Okonkwo was forced to start his adult life from scratch. Because of his father Okonkwo fears laziness and everything his father enjoyed. “Even as a little boy he had resented his father’s failure and weakness,[...] a playmate had told him that his father was agbala. That was how Okonkwo first came to know that agbala was not only another name for a woman, it could also mean a man who had taken to title” (Things Fall Apart 12). If he see a sign of laziness in his children a punishment is followed. Because of his father's laziness it motivates him to succeed. This flaw of the fear of weakness and being like his father is one characteristic that makes him a tragic hero. He is a dedicated to the tradition of the Ibo culture and follows the traditions of his culture(reword this). Okonkwo is also ill-tempered he tends to beat his wife's if they do something wrong, once he threaten to get his gun. This can be seen from a statement in the book “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper” (12). Okonkwo can be described as a tragic

In the essay Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, there are five meaningful quotes that revolve around Okonkwos status during his life. In the beginning of the novel Okonkwo became an important part of his village early in his life when he defeated Amaline the Cat in a wrestling match. His victory made him a celebrity among the nine villages of Umuofia because Amaline had been undefeated for seven years. At this point, Okonkwo began on the path to high social status among his village, which was his goal throughout his life.

Okonkwo starts off with great accomplishments, and is feared by many. He defeated “The Cat” who was a well known, undefeated wrestler. He earns respect and fame in his village. He has three wives and ten children who all see him as very intimidating. Achebe writes “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children.”(13). His family does as he says. They do not go against him, and they are very intimidated by him. Okonkwo’s father was lazy with little success, and Okonkwo lives exactly the opposite.

At first okonkwo was high ranking in the nine villages of mbanta for his great wrestling skill and but okonkwo has a terrible downfall that lead to his misfortune and eventually changed his tribe forever.

He became a stoic man who ruled his household with an iron fist. He built his own legacy from the ground up, having been left with nothing after his fathers death. He owes all his assets to his own hard work, and he takes pride in his personal achievements. He is famous both for his wrestling ability and his sudden rise to wealth and power.

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.

Overall, Okonkwo is considered a tragic hero of which he is ashamed because he doesn’t tolerate idleness or gentless.Okonkwo changes from being a strong confident

tragic hero. Much like Oedipus in Sophocles O​edipus Rex,​O​konkwo is a strong, respected leader who comes to a tragic end due to his hubris and actions. Right off, it is important to note that the most common trait they share is that they are both arrogant and refuse to listen to others, even when they are wrong. Both characters are admirable when the stories started, but by the end they end up being outcasts.

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.

In these moments, it becomes apparent that Okonkwo sees his own downfall and hamartia, realizing that the damage that he has done to turn the men he was once so close with away from him and becoming more feared than respected could not be reversed. Because of this, he commits his last act as a tragic hero, his tragic death and hangs himself. The final downfall of Okonkwo and the sudden awareness of this downfall prove him to be a tragic hero. (Comedy and

Bilbo let out a deep breath, relieved to have the blade away from his neck. “Thank you, really. I feel any other Elf would have snatched me away like my friends..” he huffed, his eyes flickering down to his ring once more… ‘If only I could grab it… I could get away easily then…’ he thought, before he forced his attention back up at her. “Yes, I saw from the trees. I’m, uh… Very light on my feet, probably how I managed to sneak up on you.” he chuckled lightly, not wishing to telling her about what the ring could do, worried that she would try and take it for herself. “Our leader isn’t overly fond of Elves, so I do wonder how this will go…” he added, biting his lip.

In the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, He uses his main character, Okonkwo as this “tragic hero.” When really Okonkwo created his own downfall. Throughout the book Okonkwo made multiple mistakes, which then led to his downfall. One of Okonkwo's traits is that he'll let his anger get the best of him, which for anybody is just a negative response. There has been multiple examples of Okonkwo let his guard down and did the most irrational thing in a situation.

This most fearsome warrior has proven himself from the youngest age as worthy of honor and respect. He is driven by his father's legacy of shame and has no use for unsuccessful men. But as he projects his image of strength, we

Martin Luther King Jr. once stated, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” In other words, individuals make decisions based on the faith which can be beneficial or harmful to the future of the character. Also, must realize that their decision is made even when you can’t see your entire life ahead. In the novel Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe writes about historical events by adding characters such as the protagonist Okonkwo to lead the events in the book connected to history. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is a character who must be worthy of our admiration and yet is in possession of a fatal flaw (hamartia causes his or her downfall or death). Aristotle is a well known Greek philosopher who once