Who Is Okonkwo A Tragic Hero In Things Fall Apart

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Recommended: A discussion of the concept of the tragic hero

Tom Stoppard, a famous British playwright, once said, “From principles is derived probability, but truth or certainty is obtained only from facts.” Stoppard describes that you can only get truth from the facts you know. Okonkwo, the main character in the book Things Fall Apart is not a true tragic hero. He meets two of the requirements, superiority and tragic flaw, however, he fails to meet the other two requirements, goodness and realization. Superiority and tragic flaw are met because they are explained thoroughly through the book, therefore making them facts. The goodness and realization aspects are assumed by some people based on principles, however, are not present or explained in the book.. Okonkwo is superior to the people around him …show more content…

Okonkwo shows many things in the book of how he is not good. He only hurts others and uses them for what he wants . “Okonkwo never showed any emotion openly unless it was the emotion of anger” (Page 28). He didn’t like anyone, and the people he did like he acted as he didn’t. The only good he could’ve shown is the fact that he likes Ikemefuna, instead he kills him. Okonkwo repeatedly does bad things in fear of not being good enough, and in fact he was never being good. Okonkwo’s realization never comes. He dies before he is able to realize his actions is what lead to his downfall. (insert quote) .If he would’ve have waited a little longer he might’ve been able to have a realization but it never came. He lost all that he felt was important and ended his life without actually knowing why it all happened to him. Okonkwo is not a true tragic hero, he only meets the requirements of superiority and tragic flaw, but does not have goodness or realization. He never shows any sign of good and does not have time to realize this. The requirements he meet are actually present in the book, and sometimes people just assume he has the other two. We need to pay attention to the facts to form truths rather than assuming to form

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