Is Okonkwo A Tragic Hero Analysis

776 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Theme Of Things Fall Apart

Things Fall Apart Essay
What is a tragic hero? Who is a tragic hero? In literature, the tragic hero archetype has four requirements. A tragic hero must have high status, a tragic flaw, a punishment for this flaw, and reach wisdom in the end. In the novel Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, the main character Okonkwo is not a tragic hero. Okonkwo is not a tragic hero because although he started with high status, had a fatal flaw, and he suffered greatly because of this flaw, he never reached wisdom about this flaw.
Okonkwo did start the novel with high status, but the reader discovered a fatal flaw in him. Okonkwo had very high prestige and was very well known through his community, “Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and …show more content…

This is false because Okonkwo had many chances to reach wisdom and change his thinking, but he didn’t. Okonkwo had a chance to reach wisdom when his son Nwoye left him, but instead he thought, “Nwoye was not worth fighting for. Why, he cried out in his heart, should he, Okonkwo, be cursed with such a son?” (Achebe 152). Instead of realizing his mistake, Okonkwo disses his son. Also, one may argue that Okonkwo killing himself means that he found wisdom. While he did realize his clan has gone weak and soft, he did not reach wisdom because he would rather die than be like his father. This shows that Okonkwo still has his tragic flaw, his desire to be nothing like his father. These reasons are why he didn’t reach wisdom of his tragic flaw, so he is not a tragic hero.
To conclude, Okonkwo is not a tragic hero because he is missing the last step in the archetype, to reach wisdom. Tragic heroes are apparent in many works of writing, from Antigone to Hamlet. The question of a tragic hero is significant because it shows if there was any character development at all. Okonkwo’s character, in Things Fall Apart however, did not grow and he is not a tragic

Show More
Related

  • Characteristics Of Mccandless As A Tragic Hero

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    A tragic hero is an individual who possesses a fatal flaw in their character that will bring about their own destruction or suffering. Aristotle believed that “A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall. (Aristotle #1)” This Ancient Greek philosopher also believed that each tragic hero has four characteristics. The first of these characteristics is that a tragic hero is born with either wisdom or high integrity, and in some cases both.

    Read More

  • Gladiator Tragic Hero Essay

    628 Words  | 2 Pages

    When it comes to being a tragic hero the character has to have the qualities of being a tragic hero. A tragic hero is where the main character of a tragedy whose fatal flaw leads to his or her destruction. Either the character was born into society as a great man or a slave, they may have carry

    Read More

  • Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Webster’s dictionary, a tragic hero is a protagonist that is otherwise perfect except for flaws that are intrinsic to his or her character, which often leads to his or her demise. In Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo, the protagonist was unlike tragic heroes such as Oedipus, Iago and Beowulf, because he was not born into nobility, but had to rise to fame and earn respect through his exceptional stamina, hard work and his historic unrivaled success at defeating the famous Amalinze the Cat. Like Beowulf and Oedipus, Okonkwo shares traits that are characteristic of a tragic hero. These traits exposed his mortal fear of failure, his fear of weakness and his fear of becoming like his father who was lazy and poor. Okonkwo also possesses an unwavering pride and an irrepressible anger. Fear, pride and anger are some of the traits of a tragic hero that were inherent in Okonkwo, and this paper will seek to explore how these traits contributed to his downfall Okonkwo’s connection of manliness with rage, ferocity and recklessness eventually leads to his downfall. Okonkwo finds it difficult to accept the changes the Missionaries have brought to Umuofia. The missionaries changed the way the people of Umuofia think, leading to an irreversible division among the people.

    Read More

  • The Tragic Flaws of Heroes Portrayed in Hamlet, Things Fall Apart and 1984

    749 Words  | 2 Pages

    In many works of Literature, a character comes forth as a hero, only to die because of a character trait known as a tragic flaw; Hamlet from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Okonkwo from Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, and Winston Smith from Orwell’s 1984 all exhibit that single trait, which leads, in one way or another, to their deaths. These three tragic heroes are both similar and different in many ways: the way they die, their tragic flaws, and what they learn. All three characters strongly exhibit the traits needed to be classified as a tragic hero.

    Read More

  • Okonkwo: The Tragic Hero in Things Fall Apart

    470 Words  | 1 Pages

    A character with a tragic flaw is one who consistently makes a particular error in their actions and this eventually leads to their doom. Okonkwo, a perfect tragic character, is driven by his fear of unmanliness, which causes him to act harshly toward his fellow tribesmen, his family and himself. He judges all people by how manly they act. In Okonkwo’s eyes a man is a violent, hard working, wealthy person and anyone who does not meet these standards he considers weak.

    Read More

  • Epic of Beowulf Essay - Beowulf as Tragic Hero

    1434 Words  | 3 Pages

    By definition, a tragic hero is a protagonist that due to some tragic flaw loses everything he has. Throughout history, literature has always been filled with main characters possessing some tragic flaw. In Macbeth, Macbeth’s tragic flaw is his enormous ambition to become king. In Hamlet, Hamlet’s tragic flaw is his need for revenge for the death of his father at the hands of his uncle. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh’s tragic flaw is his need to be remembered. In the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, Beowulf also has a tragic flaw, excessive pride and the search for fame, which ultimately leads to his demise.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Tragic Hero in Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness

    1037 Words  | 3 Pages

    of his final action: suicide. Due to this fact, Okonkwo can never be a true tragic he-

    Read More

  • Okonkwo A Sympathetic Character

    563 Words  | 2 Pages

    In these few chapters that we read, we have already learned a lot about Okonkwo, his life, and how he shows sympathy to some, but to others he is heartless. Okonkwo is other wise known as an unsympathetic person. Okonkwo is a clan leader of umuofia who holds many titles and is well known among his people. Okonkwo's daily life consists of tending to the three yam farms he has produced and to make numerous offerings to numerous gods and to help himself and his family. Okonkwo's personality is hard driven, since his father did not provide for him and his family Okonkwo had to start man hood early and this led him to be very successful in his adulthood, Okonkwo is an unsympathetic character who only shows sympathy rarely because he believes it's a sign of weakness Okonkwo's family relationships make him a sympathetic character because when his children show signs of manliness or do their jobs right he shows sympathy towards them. He is an unsympathetic character because whenever he get a little mad he has to take his anger out on something and that is usually vented by beating his wife's.

    Read More

  • Okonkwo as Tragic Hero in Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe

    1149 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is a tragic hero. Aristotle’s Poetics defines a Tragic Hero as a good man of high status who displays a tragic flaw (“hamartia”) and experiences a dramatic reversal (“peripeteia”), as well as an intense moment of recognition (“anagnorisis”). Okonkwo is a leader and hardworking member of the Igbo community of Umuofia whose tragic flaw is his great fear of weakness and failure. Okonkwo’s fall from grace in the Igbo community and eventual suicide, makes Okonkwo a tragic hero by Aristotle’s definition.

    Read More

  • The Fall of Man in Things Fall Apart and Frankenstein

    1349 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis of Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart

    526 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Of Okonkwo

    1034 Words  | 3 Pages

    In accordance to defining a tragic hero, the protagonist is conflicted with opposing forces. In the novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the main character Okonkwo, is the depiction of a tragic hero. Okonkwo is a man who accomplished his success through hard work and the motivation to be stronger. In the beginnings, Okonkwo created his own farm by borrowing yam from the rich village man named Nwakibie. His strong will and the dedication to never end up being like his father, made Okonkwo strong and powerful.

    Read More

  • The Development of Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart

    665 Words  | 2 Pages

    Okonkwo wanted to become one of the greatest men in the Ibo tribe, but three unfortunate events occur bringing him closer to his end. Okonkwo was a proud, industrious figure who through hard work was able to elevate himself to a stature of respect and prominence in his community. The one major character flaw was that he was a man driven by his fear to extreme reactions. Okonkwo was petrified of inadequacy namely because his father was a complete and utter failure. This fear of shortcoming made him hate everything his father loved and represented: weakness, gentleness, and idleness. Who was Okonkwo, well Okonkwo was a hero and also he...

    Read More

  • Things Fall Apart: Questions and Answers

    2705 Words  | 6 Pages

    Q1. Describe Okonkwo, the protagonist of Things Fall Apart. Consider him as an Igbo hero character: How does he achieve greatness and defined by his culture? How does he differ from Western heroes you are familiar with? What are Okwonko’s strengths and weaknesses?

    Read More

More about Is Okonkwo A Tragic Hero Analysis

Open Document