Okonkwo In Things Fall Apart

In the novel Things Fall Apart the author, Chinua Achebe, set the novel in Nigeria with the participation of the Igbo People. The main character of the novel is Okonkwo, he was a very hard working man, who was respected by everyone in the villages. Unfortunately he gets to one point in his life where he did everything to not be seen as weak as his father. His father was a lazy man who never gained respect in the villages. He was always in debt and never paid it back. There was one time when someone called his father “agbala” that means “woman” and that's where Okonkwo started to work harder and do anything because he didn't want to be called woman. Okonkwo is a tragic hero because his flaw is the fear of being considered weak like his father.
In chapter five, Okonkwo was not feeling comfortable at events and was not having fun. He was always thinking about something else. For example, “But somehow Okonkwo could never become as enthusiastic over feasts as most people. He was a good eater and he could drink one or two fairly big gourds of palm-wine. But he was always uncomfortable sitting around for days waiting for a feast or getting over it” (Achebe 37). This means that Okonkwo had in his mind that his father loved parties and events and

Okonkwo tried to hate all of the things that his father loved because he thought that the people would say something about him if they see him enjoying the feast.
Okonkwo was a very strong man and rarely felt fatigue, Okonkwo's wives and the kids suffered because they were not strong. For example, “Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye, was twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness. At any rate, that was how it looked to his father, and he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating him” (Achebe 13). This means that Okonkwo’s fear was not to be like his father and he also did not want to find the resemblance of his father in his son Nwoye, that's the reason why he beat his son.
Okonkwo was resentful with his father because he never had the life of which many young men had when he was little because of his father.

For example, “ With a father like Unoka, Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. He neither inherited a barn nor a title, nor even a young wife” (Achebe 18). This means that Okonkwo’s fathers was not a responsible father, like other fathers are. Okonkwo worked hard because he didn't want to be seen as weak as his father. Okonkwo had everything for his children that he did not had when he was little because his father was not a responsible father, and Okonkwo was a very respected men in the villages, he gained all of that by working hard in the

village.
Okonkwo is a tragic hero because his flaw is the fear of being considered weak like his father Unoka. Okonkwo's fear plays a significant role in his success, and that’s why he leads an unhappy life. This is most evident during the feast, “ But somehow Okonkwo could never become enthusiastic over feast as most people. He was a good eater and he could drink one or two fairly big gourds of palm-wine. But he was always uncomfortable sitting around for days waiting for a feast or getting over it.’’ Okonkwo was a really respected men in the villages and he proved to his people that he was strong . But his fear of being seen as weak as his father results in a bad way because he was becoming worse each day. He started to become a more angry, and a violent person. So he ends up killing himself because he did not want to deal with the changes that the christians are making in the villages.