Achebe' novel Things Fall Apart

Published in 1958, Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart centers on a traditional Ibo village culture in Nigeria before and after the English came to Africa and changed a nation's way of living. Both the brutal destruction of the native culture and the inevitability of change are themes in the novel which focuses on the character of Okonkwo who is caught in the middle of the struggles wrought by change. This research paper will analyze the character of Okonkwo as a tragic hero.

In ancient Greek literature a tragic hero has a tragic flaw that brings about his downfall. The classic tragic hero is always a character of great importance to his state or culture, usually of noble birth. Such heroes are complex characters, neither all good or all bad. As expressed in Aristotle's "Poetics," the tragic fall of the hero is what drives the plot of tragedy, when a disastrous reversal of fortune, coupled with the hero's tragic flaw, causes his downfall. The tragic flaw is often in the form of a ruling passion such as hubris or excessive pride. Using this definition, Okonkwo is a tragic hero.

Okonkwo is a hero, but a flawed hero. Achebe shapes his character to be a sympathetic man who lives according to Ibo principles, but not perfectly; this makes for reader identification. African society is revealed through him, as is the impact of the white man's coming to Africa. Africa's tragedy is epitomized in Okonkwo, who has several faults as well as many virtues but his biggest f

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ht weak. The incident, however, has great impact on him and for several days he is in a state of depression. His inflexible will and pride do not bring him happiness, but that is not his goal. His goal is power and respect as a man and a leader. Later another violent incident occurs that will change Okonkwo's life forever. At a funeral with drums, dancing and guns firing in salute to the dead man, Okonkwo accidently shoots the dead man's 16-year old son. His only course now is to leave his clan. "It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman, and a man who committed it must flee from the land" (124). Because the killing had been an accident, and thus considered a "female" crime, Okonkwo could return to his village after seven years. Okonkwo's banishment ends Part I of the novel, and Part II deals with his exile and life in his mother's land. His exile, however, takes place at a crucial point in the novel for while he is gone, the English come to the Ibo people and basically take over his village in the name of Christianity and the Queen. There are white missionaries in the motherland as well, and soon there are conversions including Okonkwo's son whom he then disowns. "To abandon the gods of one's fa

Category: Literature - A