The Fall of Man in Things Fall Apart and Frankenstein

The protagonist in these two stories, Okonkwo and Victor Frankenstein, are both pitted against forces that eventually bring their doom. Okonkwo is a hardworking, strong willed man who lives in the African village Umuofia. Frankenstein is a determined man whose greatest interest is science. Okonkwo and Frankenstein both experience external influences and changes in their life that are directly traceable to their tragic deaths.

Both characters have life goals before the fall. “In Things Fall Apart, Achebe makes it clear that Okonkwo’s single passion was ‘to become one of the lords of the clan’. According to Achebe, it was Okonkwo’s ‘life spring.’ Okonkwo wanted to be a hero,” claims Nnoromele (41). In becoming a great man and hero he must overcome the shame his father has left upon him. His father was lazy and had no titles. This helps motivate him on the road to heroism.

In contrast, Frankenstein’s passion is science. He goes to study at Ingolstadt and begins taking several courses. He begins to study death and decay and in this he uncovered the secret to life. As Shelley states, “After days and nights of incredible labour and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless matter” (51). And so he did bring life to an inanimate object.

Okonkwo and Frankenstein begin to experience hardships. When a boy named Ikemefuna is taken from another tribe, he is placed in Okonkwo’s household. He becomes like a son to Okonkwo, and is liked by all of his family. The clan decides that it is now time to kill Ikemefuna.

They decide to take him on a walk and kill him there. As Achebe describes it, “He heard Ikemefuna cry, ‘My father, they have killed m...

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Nnoromele, Patrick C.. “The Plight of a Hero in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.” Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Bloom, Harold. New York, NY: Bloom's Literary Criticism, 2010. 39- 49. Print.

Osei-Nyame, Kwadwo. “Chinua Achebe Writing Culture: Representatives of Gender and Tradition in Things Fall Apart.” Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Bloom, Harold. New York, NY: Bloom's Literary Criticism, 2010. 5-22. Print.

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