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Chinonchewo: A Tragic Hero Of Okonkwo

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“‘The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart’” (Achebe 176). This quote foreshadows the inevitable Okonkwo, the hot-headed leader rules with an ample iron fist. He believes that violence is always the answer and showing weakness is not an option. He wants to seem like the strongest person in the tribe to erase the negative connotation that his father Unoka left behind as the past leader. The novel’s main character, Okonkwo, is perceived as a tragic hero because of his unconventional leadership practices …show more content…

Okonkwo feels ashamed of him in multiple circumstances in part one of the book, he feels as though Nwoye takes after his grandfather Unoka and displays some “lazy” behavior according to Okonkwo. Nwoye takes most after his mother and portrays “womanly” behavior and shows his compassionate and caring side. For example, before Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna, Nwoye overhears that Ikemefuna must return to his home village Nwoye bursts into tears only to have his father beat him heavily for it. “‘Nwoye overheard it and burst into tears, whereupon his father beat him heavily’” (Achebe, 57). This shows how Nwoye’s relationship with Okonkwo is going to go downhill because of Nwoye. Nwoye converts to Christianity for multiple reasons, one of them being that he finds it as a motive to get back at Okonkwo for the crime of killing Ikemefuna, and because he wants a different way of life. He also wants to convert so he can learn reading and writing and gain a basic education, which of course Okonkwo is not pleased with, he wonders why and how he was able to father a weak and feminine son. “‘How then could he have begotten a son like Nwoye, degenerate and effeminate?’” (Achebe 153). This shows how Okonkwo is embarrassed and ashamed to have Nwoye as a son. Not being able to handle that his son is converting himself and eventually converting his family to Christianity, Okonkwo urges the town of Mbanta to drive out the Christians with force and violence but instead of following that suggestion, the town decides to alienate them from the rest of the of the tribe, much to Okonkwo’s despair he is losing power within the

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