Okonkwo: A Tragic Hero In Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe
Things Fall Apart divulges with the rise and fall of a great leader named Okonkwo. Okonkwo is the main character of this book with many interesting characteristics. He fears to be like his father but ends up dying in shame such as his father did. Okonkwo was known to be fearless among all men with many quality traits, because of his many qualities, he is well respected by all men. Okonkwo was the hardest of workers among men in his community and because of this quality trait of his, he made his way through the ranks of men to acquire many outstanding titles to make his name last, Okonkwo, the noblest of all nations. Not only do Okonkwo's strengths play a heavy role in his life, but his weaknesses played a role in his testimony. For this we shall dive deeper into these traits of the mighty Okonkwo. So, we ask, why did Chinua Achebe choose Okonkwo, known to be a tragic hero of the story, as the main character? He chose this type of hero to show the correlation between Okonkwo's sudden rise above all men to the fall to men in the culture of the Igbo society to the rise and fall of the Igbo culture itself. In this essay, we will look deeper at the strengths and weaknesses of Okonkwo and how we can relate his strengths and weaknesses to the Igbo lifestyle, traditions, and culture itself. As we describe Okonkwo's strengths and weaknesses, we will also be looking through the characteristics of a tragic hero and see if Okonkwo meets these traits.
Okonkwo is known to be filled with good and noble characteristics for he was a strong man. He earned his wealth and titles at a young age and gained the respect from many individuals by wrestling and winning over the great Cat, who has not been beaten in seven years. 'As a young man of eighteen, he had brought honor to his village by beating Amalinze the Cat. ' It is shown thru this accomplishment that Okonkwo's personal achievements rose like a wildfire and quickly increased as time and life went on with him. Okonkwo was also hospitable to many, for it was shown when he gave shelter to Ikemefuna and treated him like his very own son with fatherly love. Okonkwo was also a great warrior who never turned away from fighting, for he sought to never be like his father who shudders away in fear at the sight of blood. At a young age, Okonkwo had brought five heads from the battlefield. 'He was a man of action, a man of war. ' However, Okonkwo also had a few unpleasant qualities. Okonkwo was hostile and impatient with less successful people, like his father. He seemed to have been unpleasant to his wives and children, for he used to grumble about his wives and children. Which in fact, Okonkwo behavior and attitude towards his family was noticed that the man is doing good and playing the role of the head of the house in his culture. All these qualities are far from pleasant for we see these traits bringing harm to others, but the quality which welcomed his failure was his fear of weakness. 'His whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness. ' Anger and rashness also flooded Okonkwo's heart.
Aristotle names some characteristics of a Tragic Hero such as, one that is of noble birth, one that is doomed from the start that bears no responsibility for possessing his flaw, but bears responsibility for his actions, one that has discovered fate by his own actions and not by things happening to him, he is a king, a leader of men, and his downfall is usually due to excessive pride. Okonkwo did not come from noble birth, but with hard work and determination, he became one of the well-known men in his culture. There is a tragic flaw Okonkwo possess that leads to his downfall which is fear itself that drove him to be greater and known to be powerful among others, but, ironically, also led to his tragic end. 'He had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out, he would use his fists. He possessed little to no patience”. Okonkwo would take a moment of recognition that would reveal also his fear of feminism. 'Okonkwo was deeply grieved and was not just personal grief. He mourned for the clan that he saw breaking up and falling apart, and he mourned for the warlike men of Umuofia, who had unaccountably become soft like women. ' As we go on and read we see that the characteristics of one being a tragic hero, more and more resemble the exact complexion of Okonkwo. For his fear is what drives him and dominates his whole life. This domination of fear shows that Okonkwo is doomed from the start. Okonkwo is a hero but one that leads to a tragedy.
The Igbos are a culture that is easily distinguished from other ethnic groups, for we know that how a culture manages to survive depends on the people's capacity to learn and teach the other generation on how to become one of success. The Igbo Culture expressed itself in the customs in the following: beliefs, war, burial, social norms, religion, racial, social, and material traits of the Igbos, this we see throughout the book and how the Igbo Culture impacts Okonkwo. Igbo culture made Okonkwo the man he was and became to be, it was solely responsible for his power, how he treated a woman with little respect in most cases, and his place in society. Okonkwo did not want to accept the British authority, this resistance is a strong aspect of the Igbo culture with which is also a strong part of Okonkwo's personality. The people of Igbo were stood for Okonkwo until Christians had arrived, and many had converted and left the religious methods of the Igbo Culture. We see that the more people got converted the more Things Fall Apart. The Igbo people were surrounded with the hope that there would be progress in their way of living, but surprisingly they saw that things got worse as time went on and this brought hope to be lost. Okonkwo would eventually hang himself, for he thought there was no other way to live under this pressure because all was vanity for him. Okonkwo, who was once a hero and known as a hero, has now brought a tragedy of an ending making him the Tragic Hero of Things Fall Apart.
Okonkwo is a true Tragic Hero for he obtained all the characteristics of a Tragic Hero contained as prescribed by Aristotle. Okonkwo grew up as the most feared and well-known leader of the clan, but it was destined for Okonkwo to face a miserable fate for he was full of pride. His struggle, fate, and the change in the ways of the Igbo Culture would impact Okonkwo so severely that he would suffer a humiliating death of hanging himself, bringing the same shame his father had acquired to himself that Okonkwo long feared.
