Is Okonkwo A Tragic Hero Analysis

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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

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