In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, it tells the story of the well respected tribe leader, Okonkwo that goes through a series of horrific events, from losing children, to being banished from his homeland. Okonkwo is a tragic hero because his obsession and strong will lead to his downfall that in the end took his life. He was looked up to by many of the tribes. He brought great honor to his village. He spent his days gaining fame and wealth to become a powerful man, unlike his father. The downfall is a result of fatal errors in judgement and a weakness of character; the choices made create a chain of events that lead to the catastrophe that the tragic hero could or would not foresee, and it cannot be stopped. Okonkwo wants to achieve a goal, but has to make the choice that may lead to his downfall. “During planting season Okonkwo worked daily on his farm from cock crow until the chickens went to rest” (Achebe 13). “Okonkwo was ruled by one passion---to hate everything his father Unoka had loved” (Achebe 13). This shows that Okonkwo was determined. Okonkwo was very passionate about being perfect, and a strong leader. He “was the greatest wrestler in all of the nine villages” (Achebe 8). …show more content…
“And indeed he was possessed by the fear of his father's contemptible life and shameful death” (Achebe 18). He made the choice to be afraid of the way his father had once lived, and he lets that fear influence his daily life. Later, we see that Okonkwo acts irrationally and he kills Ikemefuna his adopted son. “My father they have killed me” (Achebe 61). He was so afraid of being considered weak that he killed Ikemefuna, when he sought help.At the end of the book Okonkwo ends his own life from hanging himself from a tree. The tragic hero who was once bitter has now committed and dishonored himself and those whom loved
The novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a story that opens the reader's mind to an entirely different way of living in a Nigerian village. Achebe was born in Nigeria in 1930, perhaps this is why he writes a whole book on a Nigerian village and introduces to us the ways of life for the Nigerian people. From the first page of the book to the last, Achebe allows the reader to enter the mind of the main character Okonkwo. Okonkwo is the leader of his village and is very respected for his many achievements. Although Okonkwo means well for his village, the novel invites the reader to see him has a flawed character who eventually suffers from the consequences of bad "masculine" decisions he makes throughout the book.
Set in Africa in the 1890s, Chinua Achebe's ‘Things Fall Apart’ is about the tragedy of Okonkwo during the time Christian missionaries arrived and polluted the culture and traditions of many African tribes. Okonkwo is a self-made man who values culture, tradition, and, above all else, masculinity. Okonkwo’s attachment to the Igbo culture and tradition, and his own extreme emphasis on manliness, is the cause of his fall from grace and eventual death.
Okonkwo’s first and most distinctive flaw is his fear of failure. Many people would agree that this flaw is driven by the fear of becoming his father, but Okonkwo takes this fear too far. Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was known for being a very lazy and carefree man. He also had notoriety of being “…poor and his wife and children had barely enough to eat.” (Achebe 5). A big tradition in Umuofia is having a father who is supposed to teach his children right and wrong. In Okonkwo’s case, these lessons had to be self-taught. Okonkwo had to commit to his own understandings of what defined a “good man” and to him that was the exact opposite of his father. Because of his fear to be seen as weak, Okonkwo even murders a child that calls him father. Ikemefuna was sent to live with Okonkwo because someone was murdered in a nearby village. An example of Okonkwo’s ill-hearted actions are shown in the following quote: “As the man drew up and raised his machete, Okonkwo looked away. He heard the blow. 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.” (Achebe 61). The fact that he kills Ikemefuna shows that his reputation is more important than the life of a child. Okonkwo’s fear permits him to receive more respect from his tribe, but only because it inclines him to do better than anyone else.
“They will take him outside Umofia, as is the custom, and kill him there. But I want you to have nothing to do with it. He calls you his father. (57)” This quote explains that Ogbuefi expresses concern for Okonkwo, because the Oracle explains how it would be wrongful of Okonkwo to kill Ikemefuna. “Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak. (61)” This quote portrays that Okonkwo completely disregarded what Ogbuefi and the Oracle cautioned him about, because he was too concerned about his status of what others thought of him. “At last the man was named and people sighed “E-u-u, Ezeudu is dead.” A cold shiver ran down Okonkwo’s back as he remembered the last time the old man had visited him. (121)” At this point in the story, it appears that Okonkwo is starting to realize his wrongdoings, primarily because he takes religion and his spiritual life very seriously, in regards towards the Oracle. Okonkwo begins to lose trust within his family, especially with Nwoye. (As mentioned in the previous paragraph.) In the beginning of the book, Okonkwo relied on Ikemefuna to help Nwoye become more masculine and tough. After Ogbuefi warns Okonkwo about taking part in the murder, Okonkwo thinks about what could happen to him once the gods find out. Once again, Okonkwo lets his emotions
First of all, I feel that one of the main reasons why Okonkwo is considered a tragic hero is due to the weakness of his chi. His chi plays an important role in the novel because, according to Igbo culture, every time something goes wrong it is a result of bad chi. Throughout the beginning of Things Fall Apart Okonkwo seems to be one with his chi and everything seems to be going well. From the beginning the reader is meant to think that Okonkwo can overcome anything that he faces and this his chi is quite heroic up to this point in the story(Friesen).This i...
Okonkwo is not all that he may seem; as there is more than what meets the eye. Okonkwo is the primary protagonist within the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Okonkwo is a cruel yet kind man who has everything yet has nothing, which in turn creates a sympathetic character. A character such as Okonkwo has many facets; or masks if you will. Then we have his many influences: the Ibo culture; his father Unoka and of course his own personality. Then there is a staggering list of achievements. Okonkwo is a strong character but thinks only inwardly - especially towards his father - which will be discussed further in this essay.
In the novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is portrayed as a respected and determined individual whose fatal flaw eventually works against him. Throughout the novel the readers are shown that Okonkwo has many of these Characteristics because he is obsessed with the idea of becoming just like his father. This becomes his flaw in the novel that puts him into exile and makes it hard for him to adjust to the changes that were made with in his village.
He was afraid of being thought weak.” Okonkwo suffers greatly for what he did though his change in mood. The boy he killed was a boy that lived with him and had become part of his family, but out of fear of being thought of as weak he killed a boy who he now thought of as his son. This took a toll on him mentally and increased his spiral downward. He didn’t eat at first and he was more irritable.
Things Fall Apart follows the tragic fall of Okonkwo, the leader of the Umuofia tribe, and the Igbo culture. Okonkwo as the leader of his tribe is extremely steeped in the culture of his Indigenous African tribe. He resents the idleness of his father, and the shame his father brought to his family, and so Okonkwo resolves to show his manliness and strength through extreme acts of violence and insensitivity. Although brutal and unforgiving, Okonkwo upholds the culture and tradition of his people through actions that could be considered brutal and savage. However, Okonkwo and his family are exiled from their village after committing a crime against an African Goddess.
Although the reader feels remorseful for Okonkwo’s tragic childhood life. It is another reason to sympathize with a man who believes he is powerful and respected by many when in reality, he is feared by his own family and that is another reason that leads Okonkwo to his downfall. He started positive, motivated but down the line, Okonkwo treats his wife and children very harshly. When the author mentioned, “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children” (pg.13).
The cracks within Okonkwo's character are not so much external as internal, manifestations of those aspects of his being that have been his greatest strengths: acting without thinking; never showing any emotion besides anger; inflexibility; fear of being perceived as weak and, therefore, womanly. Slowly, these characteristics that have served Okonkwo so well in the past, begin to alter the direction of his life. The first such incident occurs when Okonkwo accidentally breaks the W...
Here the irony is undeniably present. To commit suicide is to offend the Earth, as believed by the people of Umuofia. It is said that to kill oneself “is an abomination for a man… his body is evil, and only strangers may touch it” (207). Suicide is regarded as a grave sin and a shameful way of dying, and any man who commits suicide is seen as a failure and weak. Okonkwo is just that: a failure and weak. Okonkwo spends his whole life trying to be seen as a success and continuously performs act of strength even though he sometimes has to pay a price for it. In the end he pays the highest price of all, which is his life, and all his efforts to be successful become useless. He is now a shame and a failure in the eyes of his clan, just as his father had been.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a story about personal beliefs,customs, and also a story about an identity confliction. There is struggle between family, culture, and religion of the Ibo tribes. It shows how things fall apart when these beliefs and customs are challenged and how a personal identity changes for a man. The novel concerns the life of Okonkwo, a leader and local wrestling champion throughout the villages of the Ibo ethnic group of Umuofia in Nigeria, Africa, his three wives, and his children. Throughout the novel, Okonkwo is internally challenged and slowly becomes someone that is no longer recognizable by his friends or his family. When Okonkwo faces change, his identity starts to fade.
Okonkwo uses fear to keep his other children in the Igbo culture. He fears that if his family converts then there won’t be anyone to remember him when he dies. At the end of the story, Okonkwo reaches his breaking point; “They came to the tree from which Okonkwo’s body was dangling and they stopped dead” (Achebe 127). With everything changing around him, he reaches his breaking point and hangs himself, even though it goes against the Igbo tradition.
...clansmen come to decide what they should do, Okonkwo has already chosen war. As the messenger arrives to order an end to the meeting, Okonkwo is once again driven by his rage and kills the messenger. He realizes that the others were not prepared to fight, and he comes to understand the consequences of his actions. Instead of being executed, Okonkwo decides to take his own life.