Okonkwo as a Tragic Hero in Things Fall Apart Essay Example

What does it mean to be a tragic hero? Does their story always come to a ‘bad ending? The novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, provides a great example of a tragic hero. The protagonist, Okonkwo, fits Aristotle's criteria of a tragic hero because of his stature, negligence, and flaws. He is focused on neglecting his father’s ways and proves his masculinity and strength which ultimately leads to his downfall. 

Okonkwo refuses to be like his father and despises his ways of being poor and tireless. His father, Unoka, was a “lazy and [imprudent] (…) man who spends all his money on wine and [was] in a large debt” (4). Unoka showed no strength in Okonkwo’s eyes and was impatient with him. When he died, Okonkwo was “possessed by the feat of his father’s contemptible life and shameful death” (18). In his words, Unoka died shamelessly and left Okonkwo with nothing. Unlike most young men, Okonkwo had inherited nothing from his father. Despite this, he would lay his foundation for a prosperous future. Okonkwo is now a prosperous man with many titles, wives, and lives in a large compound which proves his worth. Having 

Okonkwo’s hatred of his father was a tragic flaw in his story. He is a strong man and only believes in the strength and hides any form of weakness. However, his mindset of proving his masculinity was only detrimental to his stature. The ‘Week of Peace’ is a week that marks the end of the careless season between harvesting and planting. During this religious week, no work is done and men do not say harsh words to their neighbors. However, “Okonkwo was provoked to justifiable anger by his youngest wife (…) [beating] her very heavily. In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace” (29). Although it is the ‘Week of Peace’, Okonkwo breaks the custom of their tribe, “not even for fear of a goddess” (30). Okonkwo committed a nso-ani during the sacred week because of his negligence and manliness. The priest of the earth goddess, Ezeani, explains to Okonkwo the evil he had committed and explains the effects it will have on him and the clan. “He was not the man to go about telling his neighbors that he was in error. And so people said he had no respect for the gods of the clan” (31). Okonkwo is still wary of his mistake but doesn’t want to admit his wrongdoing as it would show weakness even if the people were to lose pride in him. 

There are many signs of influences or hints that Okonkwo ignores in negligence which leads to his default. Sometime after the week of peace Ezeudu, the oldest man in this quarter of Umuofia, asks to have a word with Okonkwo. He is told to “not bear a hand in [Ikemefuna’s] death” and asks for him to not have anything to do with the killing of Ikemefuna, a sacrificed boy from Mbaino, a neighboring clan. However, on the day of his killing, “He heard Ikemefuna cry, “My father, they have killed me!” as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak” (61). This is a turning point for Okonkwo and becomes depressed, refusing to eat or sleep for days. Although being told not to be a part of Ikemefuna’s death, he takes the final blow on him. In despair, he visits his dear friend Obierka who tells him that what he had done “will not please the Earth. It is the kind of action for which the goddess wipes out whole families” (67). This is foreshadowing that Okonkwo will experience a great loss or misfortune in the future because of his actions. Eventually, the will of the goddess had been done and Okonkwo was to flee from the clan. “Okonkwo’s gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy’s heart (...) It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman, and a man who committed it must flee from the land” (124). Inadvertently, Okonkwo had killed the son of Ezuedu during his funeral and had to leave the land as punishment for his crime. No one had any hatred in their hearts toward Okonkwo but this was a great loss as he would have to prove himself worthy once again elsewhere.

There are many flaws and motives of Okonkwo that fit the idea of a tragic hero in his personality that meet the criteria of Aristotle’s definition, “a hero destroyed by the excess of his virtues.” Throughout the story, Okonkwo has used the idea of strength and his masculinity to redefine his actions and prove himself to others. However, that will only be the cause of his demise and he will need to reconsider the meaning of strength in order to prosper in the future.