Things Fall Apart
Okonkwo is a tragic hero in "Things Fall Apart"
Question ( 2 ): Discuss Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe 's “Things Fall Apart” is a tragic hero.
Answer: In Chinua Achebe’s novel “Things Fall Apart” Okonkwo is a tragic hero. Aristotle’s Poetics defines a Tragic Hero as a good man of high status who displays a tragic flaw ‘hamartia’ and experiences a dramatic reversal ‘peripeteia’, as well as an intense moment of recognition ‘anagnorisis’. Okonkwo is a leader and hardworking member of the Igbo community of Umuofia whose tragic flaw is his great fear of weakness and failure. Okonkwo’s fall from grace in the Igbo community and eventual suicide, makes Okonkwo a tragic hero by Aristotle’s definition.
Okonkwo is a man of action, a man of war and a member of high status in the Igbo village. He holds the prominent position of village clansman, due to the fact that, he had shown incredible prowess in two intertribal wars. Okonkwo’s hard work had made him a wealthy farmer and a recognized individual amongst the nine villages of Umuofia and beyond. Okonkwo’s tragic flaw is not that he was afraid of work, but rather his fear of weakness and failure that stems from his father’s, Unoka, unproductive life and disgraceful death.
“…his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness…….
It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father.”
Okonkwo’s father is a lazy, carefree man whom has a reputation of being poor and his wife and children have just barely enough to eat... they swear never to lend him any more money because he never paid back. Unoka has never taught Okonkwo what is right and wrong, and as a result Okonkwo has to interpret how to be a good man. Okonkwo’s self-interpretation leads him to conclude that a good man is someone who is the exact opposite of his father and therefore anything that his father does is weak and unnecessary.
Okonkwo’s fear leads him to treat members of
Question ( 2 ): Discuss Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe 's “Things Fall Apart” is a tragic hero.
Answer: In Chinua Achebe’s novel “Things Fall Apart” Okonkwo is a tragic hero. Aristotle’s Poetics defines a Tragic Hero as a good man of high status who displays a tragic flaw ‘hamartia’ and experiences a dramatic reversal ‘peripeteia’, as well as an intense moment of recognition ‘anagnorisis’. Okonkwo is a leader and hardworking member of the Igbo community of Umuofia whose tragic flaw is his great fear of weakness and failure. Okonkwo’s fall from grace in the Igbo community and eventual suicide, makes Okonkwo a tragic hero by Aristotle’s definition.
Okonkwo is a man of action, a man of war and a member of high status in the Igbo village. He holds the prominent position of village clansman, due to the fact that, he had shown incredible prowess in two intertribal wars. Okonkwo’s hard work had made him a wealthy farmer and a recognized individual amongst the nine villages of Umuofia and beyond. Okonkwo’s tragic flaw is not that he was afraid of work, but rather his fear of weakness and failure that stems from his father’s, Unoka, unproductive life and disgraceful death.
“…his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness…….
It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father.”
Okonkwo’s father is a lazy, carefree man whom has a reputation of being poor and his wife and children have just barely enough to eat... they swear never to lend him any more money because he never paid back. Unoka has never taught Okonkwo what is right and wrong, and as a result Okonkwo has to interpret how to be a good man. Okonkwo’s self-interpretation leads him to conclude that a good man is someone who is the exact opposite of his father and therefore anything that his father does is weak and unnecessary.
Okonkwo’s fear leads him to treat members of