Okonkwo As A Hero In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Chinua Achebe writes the story Things Fall Apart about an Ibo man named Okonkwo. He is a loyal, hardworking man that works to raise his status, but when missionaries come to his village he is unsettled by the feeling that his culture is being diminished. It is largely debated whether or not Okonkwo can be considered a hero for the actions he takes to prevent the assimilation of his native culture. I believe that Okonkwo’s loyalty to his customs is a value that a hero must have, but a hero must also not be considered arrogant or conceited which is a quality Okonkwo also possesses. Throughout Things Fall Apart, we can see aspects of certain heroic qualities in Okonkwo, but we also see the acts of cowardice he commits because of his fear of

By the time he died, he was in so much debt and had not earned any titles that through the perspective of the village he was considered weak. Ashamed of his father’s legacy, Okonkwo grew determined to become the opposite of his father, to become a man with honor and integrity. He set out to be a great farmer. Okonkwo married three wives, and took two titles, proving his worth and gaining the respect of his peers. However, he accomplished all of this because he was afraid to fail as his father had before him. Throughout the book, Okonkwo makes rash decisions out of the fear that he would be thought of as weak, just like his father. The moment when he kills Ikemefuna he states that he did it because, “He was afraid of being thought of as weak.” This is a common theme throughout the book. He was said to rule his house with a “heavy hand”, which can be seen in the way he treats his wives and his son, Nwoye. When the youngest of his three wives forgets to cook supper he brutally beats her. He also chooses to beat Nwoye when he begins to see signs of laziness that remind him of his father. This fear of failure and weakness causes Okonkwo to commit cruel acts that someone classified as a hero never would