Okonkwo's Story

Okonkwo's story is similar to the western tragedy and the tragic hero because in the

western tragedy it says how the main character has great importance not only culturally

but economically. Okonkwo is also well respected in his tribe and admired due to the

wrestling match he had with a bully of the tribe. The only thing from the western tragedy

is that onkonkwo didn't have a noble birth of childhood because his father was a failure

and owed the whole tribe money. The tragic fall okonkwo receives is the murder of

ikemefuna, he becomes depressed because he was involved in the young mans death.

Also at a funeral of a tribe member okonkwo kills young boy, which is a female crime in

this tribe. The consenquences
of this causes okonkwo and his family to live in exile for 7

years in a tribe far away from the igbo tribe. Going through these incidents makes

okonkows happiness turn into misery. First he kills a boy who considers him as a father

and also called him a father, this makes okonkwo go into a deep depression. Next he

accidentally kills a sixteen year old boy at the funeral which makes him even worse

because not only did he kill another innocent boy, he is gonna make his family pay the

consequences by taking them away from their amenities for 7 years. As the tragic hero

okonkwo received recognition because of the great yam crop that he produces every year.

We also know that okonkwo doesn't mean harm but when it comes to failure or laziness

he can become a very violent man. For the Aristotle model okonkwo is like this because

of his father, the embarrassements he went through were because of his fathers

unwillingness to work and to pay back the people who he borrowed money from. The

suffering that okonkwo went through as a child helped him become the noble man that he

is now. He likes to help people in need but on order to help them he has to see that they

are willing to work hard for what he gives them.