Tragic Poetic In Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

Most readers are aware of the many famous deaths or acts of death within the Shakespearean plays. And when the main characters die in Shakespeare’s plays, indeed, the readers would categorize the play as a tragedy. The problem with any tragedy definition is that most tragic plays do not define the tragedy conditions explained or outlined by Aristotle. According to Telford (1961), a tragedy is a literary

In Aristotle’s explanation of a tragic hero, there are several important qualities that this person must possess. This qualities includes the social status that leads to the downfall of this character, the repetitive occurrence of the tragic flaw, and that this character is often idealized so that he or she is “true to life

A tragic hero, determined by Aristotle, must show a nobility and virtue of a certain magnitude however, their path to happiness should be ceased by their destructive vice (Harmartia- the flaw that eventually leads to their downfall). Peripeteia, the point where the character’s fortune changes, must evoke a state of pity and fear amongst the audience, and give above all, a didactic message. The outcome of this characteristic should result in a complex but sole instigation of both the hero’s

In literature, a tragedy is defined as a drama where the main character in the end suffers extreme sorrow because of their mistakes or poor judgment. The characters that are fated to suffer the extreme sorrow, the tragedy, are (called) tragic characters. These tragic characters, however, must follow Aristotle’s principles which include:

A tragic story has its own occur of events. The main factors that always end a tragedy is through conspiracies, love, or hatred. In the story Antigone written by Sophocles, it demonstrates a tragedy filled with consequences to the characters. Antigone shows similarities to Aristotle’s paradigm because of the plot, characterization, and actions that were pursued throughout this story. In Aristotle’s Poetics, he puts his view of how a tragedy should be portrayed to make the concept of it more understandable towards the audience. Through the usages of Aristotle’s criteria it will help analyze topics that demonstrates the views of Aristotle.

Umuofia is a village in Africa, and the inhabitants there are usually united. However, when the Christians arrive and permeate the village, the clan changes but also falls apart. The novel in which this story takes place is called Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. The story is about a well-respected man named Okonkwo who has three wives and many children, the oldest being Nwoye. Okonkwo is banished for seven years from Umuofia, and during those seven years, Umuofia is changed fundamentally by the Christian faith. Many people are converted, but the whole clan is in conflict. This novel demonstrates that Christianity destroys but also guides the Ibo culture in Umuofia.

The purpose of a tragedy is to bring catharsis within the audience and purge the audience with pity and fear for the tragic hero. Key characteristics that comprise a tragic hero in relation to Aristotle’s idea of one include a destiny filled with great potential but ending in inevitable failure, a fatal flaw called hamartia, and an honorable death. These types of heroes are not completely bad nor are completely good; however, they are the ones responsible for their own fate. This is due to their disregard for divine warnings and lack of adherence to the laws of the land. In Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus, Sophocles displays how Oedipus is an example of a tragic hero, as defined by Aristotle, by exposing his internal attributes that contributed to his inevitable fate, leading to his tragic ending, through the use of various literary devices.

Post colonialism deals with cultural identity in colonized societies and the ways in which writers articulate that identity. Things Fall Apart is a good novel that serves as a reminder of what Nigeria once was. It shows how a society can deal with change, how change affects the individuals of that society, and how delicate a change can be; so much so that the people themselves are surprised at the change.

As Oedipus comes to a close and all revelations have been foretold, the audience is left with Choragos's words, “Let every man in mankind's frailty consider his last day and let none presume on his good fortune until he find life at his death a memory without pain” (Soph. 1. 4. 300. 64.), which in short tells that no one is guaranteed an easy pass through life. As Aristotle describes the tragic hero, often the tragic flaw is hubris, an excessive pride that causes the hero to ignore a divine warning or to break a moral law. Aristotle also adds that the tragic hero may achieve some revelation or recognition about human fate, destiny, and the will of the gods. "Tragedy, then, is a process of imitating an action which has serious implications, is complete, and possesses magnitude; by means of language which has been made sensuously attractive, with each of its varieties found separately in the parts; enacted by the persons themselves and not presented through narrative; through a course of pity and fear completing the purification of tragic acts which have those emotional characteristics." (Aristotle. 66)

The book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, is a story of a demise of a great man by the name of Okonkwo and the Ibo culture in Africa due to a cultural misunderstanding and intolerance of the clanspeople all the while leaving snippets of wisdom and lessons for readers to interpret and live by throughout the book. “Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.” (7) In other words proverbs and the lessons the Ibo teach or speak enhance their understanding of words their meaning in everyday life. Storytelling also has a great place in the culture among mother and child and in their culture just as conversation. Throughout the book many valuable lesson are taught and to be lived by but a reader should ultimately take away from the proverbs, to be respectful of all people, if you really want something you’ll find a way to get it and to not allow a stranger to change your ways.

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 the Poetics, Aristotle provides an outline of how the artist is to portray or represent the perfect Tragedy. A Tragedy, of course, was nothing more than a drama, in which the characters appeared "better" than in real life (in a comedy, they appeared "worse," according to Aristotle). Aristotle's Poetics makes several references to other dramatic works to illustrate his points, but he most commonly calls upon The Odyssey to support his argument for how a dramatic structure should be designed. However, along with the Odyssey, Aristotle extensively references Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. Both poetic works were enormously popular in their time (the former had been passed down orally for generations, and the latter won the top prizes at the dramatic festivals). Therefore, Aristotle is comfortable using both to support his viewpoint concerning Tragedy and the Tragic Hero. This paper will analyze the standards that Aristotle sets out concerning the definition of the Tragic Hero and show how Sophocles' Oedipus exemplifies Aristotle's definition of a Tragic Hero.

In Aristotle’s Poetic, he has mentioned the concept of Probability which simply explains the probability that a given character will react to a given situation is very high because of human nature. For instance in the book, Things fall Apart deals with the tragic human consequences

In Aristotle study, he outlined the important details necessary for a good tragedy. With his formula pointing back to Sophocles’s Oedipus the King, He considered this to be a perfect tragedy. According to Aristotle, a tragedy must be narrow in focus and also the tragedy must be an imitation of life. When having a good tragedy it will induce fear into its viewers. With the viewer’s having the feeling of catharsis.

Hundreds of years ago Greek plays were very popular. People would plan to go to these plays for entertainment and to have fun with their friends. These plays would also help to teach the audience all about Greek mythology. The main character in these plays often had something tragic occur at the end, such as death. This character was the referred to as the “tragic hero.” A couple hundred years later a Greek philosopher named Aristotle described tragedy with 4 simple elements, nobility of the character, the flaws of the tragic hero, the start of the tragic hero’s downfall, and his/her punishment. In Things Fall Apart, Oedipus, and Antigone there is a character that shows this definition of tragedy by the end of the book and or play. This is usually caused by something called hubris, excessive pride. Things Fall Apart, Oedipus, and Antigone all fulfill Aristotle 's definition of tragedy.