Okonkwo's Downfall

Throughout the novel, Things Fall Apart, many characters played an important role. But the most prominent role played was by Okonkwo. Okonkwo is a completely self made individual that against all odds, rose to the challenge of life. No matter what life threw at him, he always met that challenge with brute force and determination. However, never did Okonkwo imagine that his downfall would be because of his own tragic flaw. Okonkwo 's violent and rash nature made him difficult to work with and gave people the wrong image of who he was. He was so distracted by trying to be anyone other than his father that he lost himself along the way. Over the course of the novel, it is apparent that Okonkwo is changing internally and he just isn 't letting anyone see that. For example, when Ikemefuna comes to live in Umuofia and is given to Okonkwo

Every character 's purpose in the novel is to show how Okonkwo is changing and reacting to his surroundings. For example, Nwoye 's purpose in the novel is to show that Okonkwo is so determined to be unlike his father that he will be disgraced by his own son just because Nwoye resembles his grandfather. Ikemefuna is present in the novel to show how Okonkwo will kill someone he loves just to prevent himself from seeming weak. Things Fall Apart is about Okonkwo and the choices he makes to achieve rank in his tribe. Okonkwo plays as a classic tragic hero. His choice to completely be everything that his father wasn 't and be nothing that his father was, ultimately was his downfall. His tragic flaw is his fear of being like his father: weak and a failure. His violent and rash personality caused him to push away the ones he loved and be stripped of his position as one of the highest ranking men in his village. Achebe uses Okonkwo to show that one must always remain aware of himself and his actions on his way to obtain