Okonkwo's Tragic Flaw

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Okonkwo is “a man of action, a man of war” (7) and a member of high status in the Igbo village. He holds the noticeable position of village clansman due to the fact that he had “shown incredible prowess in two intertribal wars” (5). Okonkwo’s hard work had made him a “wealthy farmer” (5) and a recognized individual amongst the nine villages of Umuofia and beyond. Okonkwo’s tragic flaw isn’t that he was afraid of work, but rather his fear of weakness and failure which stems from his father’s, Unoka, unproductive life and disgraceful death. “Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness is deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found …show more content…

Okonkwo’s initial reaction is to arm the clan against the colonists and drive the British out of Igbo. “Now he (the white man) has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He (the white man) has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart” (152). Okonkwo had always used his strength and courage to protect the community from undermining forces, and because Okonkwo was a traditional man the introduction of Christianity posed a threat to all the values, morals and beliefs he sought to protect. Okonkwo resists change at every step and instead resorts to violence toward anything he perceived as a threat to his culture or values. Okonkwo’s superior pride makes him believe that the clan leaders would eventually reunite the clan and drive the British colonists out of Umuofia. Hoping that the clan will follow his lead, Okonkwo executes a messenger of the British who was sent to break up a village meeting regarding the possibility of going to war. However, the clan instead of following Okonkwo’s symbolic action is shocked by Okonkwo’s brutality. Okonkwo recognizes “that Umuofia would not go to war” (205), because the clan “had broken into tumult instead of action” (205). Okonkwo knows that he must now face his disgrace

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