Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Chinua Achebe’s novel ,Things fall apart, portrays Okonkwo as a successful and respected member not only in his clan of Umuofia but in all nine of the villages in the area. However his characteristics of being a man of action as well as driven by violence leads him to success but also towards failure and defeat. Achebe does this in his novel to portray Okonkwo as a tragic hero to show the audience that a person's own fear can lead them to greatness as well as destruction.
The novel begins with Okonkwo described as a man who grew up with a failure as a father. His father is described as a man who feared violence, constantly borrowed money without repaying, and the tribes drunk. Achebe includes such details about Okonkwo’s father to display
Achebe shows this by constantly depicting Okonkwo’s wants for his family's success especially his sons. This is the reason for Okonkwo’s thoughtless actions to overwork and beat his son so that he may grow up and live a good respectable life. All this is done without him realizing that he is creating a bigger problem than the “ problem” he believes he is facing. Achebe displays such strong beliefs in tradition and family in Okonkwo's life in to show that he was raised in a society with “ strict customs, culture, and strange rituals” (MacKay 242-243) which many societies in his home were said to lack. This idea of order and law in his tribe further proved that he was a tragic hero who fought through tough times to earn his lord status within his tribe and community. However the biggest event to be thrown at Okonkwo to highlight his likeness to a tragic hero is when the white man starts to invade his homeland and community. Achebe uses the white man in his novel to show an epic battle in which Okonkwo finds himself in the center of. The white man comes bringing a new culture, government, and religion with him in the hopes to “ civilize” Umuofia and its residents. The white man believes creating a diversity amongst the cultures will be beneficiary to everyone, yet he fails to realize that such events can actually “ stir destructive tribal or national pride”
This is important because when the white man comes and begins challenging Okonkwo's beliefs and traditions Nwoye whom felt like an outcast starts to convert. Sparking Okonkwo's tragic flaw of fear of weakness and change to shine bright. Okonkwo is taken over by his thoughtless actions and once again beats Nwoye for doing something he felt was wrong, but by doing so Okonkwo once again tarnishes his reputation in the eyes of those who once respected him. “ leave that boy at once!... are you mad” (Achebe 132) are the words Okonkwo hears freeing him from his possessed state of fear and violence, but by this time it is already too late. He had lost his son as well as the respect he had gained from his mother’s tribe and his uncle. This part of the novel is used by Achebe to depict how Okonkwo's long journey back towards success was stopped and made longer by his own actions and thoughtlessness. Achebe uses, such challenges to almost relate Okonkwo and his journey to Odysseus and his twenty years at sea. In which Odysseus another well know tragic hero is trying to rise back from the bottom and once again reach his goals but is hindered by his own tragic flaws. Odysseus faces many obstacles on his journey that he could of avoided if his own fatal flaws and thoughtlessness didn't get in the way. By