Okonkwo Tragic Hero

In the book,”Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, I believe that Okonkwo does fit the description of a tragic hero, A tragic hero must evoke in the audience a sense of pity or fear, saying, “the change of fortune presented must not be the spectacle of a virtuous man brought from prosperity to adversity." In other words, the focus of the tragic hero should not be in the loss of his prosperity. In this essay i will be explaining why i believe Okonkwo fits the description of a tragic hero.

Qualitys:

Okonkwo was a very loyal, and hardworking man, but he was also kinda violent and beat his family. Okonkwo is one of the people who came from nothing and made something out of his life. His father was in all words, Dishonorable. Okonkwo ended up being one of the most respected men of his tribe, “Okonkwo returned from the bush carrying on his left shoulder a large bundle of grasses and leaves, roots and barks of medicinal trees and shrubs.”(pg.85) Anger:

Okonkwo tends to have a bit of an anger and violence problem from time to time. From what I've
“As the man who had cleared his throat drew up and raised his machete, Okonkwo looked away. He heard the blow. The pot fell and broke in the sand. He heard Ikemefuna cry, “my father they have killed me!” as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.”(pg.61)

Tragic Hero:

I believe that my statements prove that Okonkwo qualifies as a, “Tragic Hero”, because his life was good, he was well known he was one of the most well respected men in the tribe, then all of a sudden he lost everything because he did something he was warned not to do. “The only course open to Okonkwo was to flee from the