Within the novel “Things Fall Apart,” the author, Chinua Achebe, explained how a warrior named Okonkwo was a victim of himself. Okonkwo was a victim of tragic events that surrounded his life. These events eventually lead him to his fate. Okonkwo had a father who was weak, and he was a failure in the eyes of the men of the village, Umuofia. Okonkwo’s worst fear was to be the kind of man his father was, so he tried his best not to let his fear become a reality.
Okonkwo had not allowed his father, Unoka to form a personal bond with him. Unoka was considered an Agabal; woman, by the tribes men. Unoka’s lack of merit and utter laziness caused Okonkwo to want to be better than Unoka, and immerse himself in their cultural roles, by becoming a man. The fuel that had fed Okonkwo’s motivation to be a better man was his fear of failure. The author describes this theme, “ Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and ever beyond.
Not no mention that Okonkwo doesn't care about anybody but himself and he has no empathy and regard for others okonkwo is not a tragic hero based on either Hercules standards or Aristotle's; even though all his life we was terrified to not be thought at one. Now there might be others to disagree but they would have to read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
In the story “Things Fall Apart”, Okonkwo is a character who is recognized as a successful wrestler, and a strong leader in the village Umuofia. Okonkwo is exiled to his mother’s village called Mbanta for seven years for killing Ezeudu’s sixteen-year-old son. Okonkwo finds out that his son Nwoye has joined Christianity and takes exception to it. Okonkwo beats Nwoye because he joins Christianity because he still hasn’t forgiven Okonkwo for killing Ikemefuna. Okonkwo has a response to the collision of his culture.
He is disappointed when he realizes that his clan no longer wants to fight the men out of their clan, and rather leave them be. “He mourned for the clan, which he saw breaking up and falling apart, and he mourned for the warlike men of Umoufia, who had so unaccountably become soft like women” (Achebe 183). His sense of identity therefore was affected because he no longer knew what his religion had become. Okonkwo then tries to take matters into his own hands by killing the messenger as one final attempt to save his village, though his actions resulted in an extreme repercussion. “Then they came to the tree from which Okonkwo’s body was dangling, and they stopped dead” (Achebe 207).
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a brilliant novel because of its description of Okonkwo’s fall from prominence. However, even though Okonkwo was a brilliant wrestler, he hated the sullen life of his father, a man who had many debts throughout his life. As a father, Okonkwo fears that his son, Nwoye, is not masculine enough to become successful in the clan. Fear is a recurring theme in the novel, and it plays a gigantic role in Okonkwo’s death. In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s fear is the driving force behind many of his actions, including his own death.
Fear was rooted at the basis of his masculine ideals, as his father, Unoka, the main source of his terror, was a failure in life, taking no title and often being described as a woman. Being constantly teased, Okonkwo lived his life, abhorring his father, hating everything he loved. Eventually, in Okonkwo’s life of hatred, he hit a road bump, taking his actions too far, as he beat his wife in the week of peace. “Inwardly, he was repentant. But he was not the man to go about telling his
“His life had been ruled by a great passion”, the drive from being unlike Unoka set Okonkwo’s goal “to become one of the lords of the clan” but because of him being expelled he couldn’t “[achieve] it” (131). Okonkwo’s fear of being like his father came crashing down as he left Umuofia and lost all the titles he had worked for. He was forcefully reverted to his original identity, having nothing. This experience showed Okonkwo that no matter how hard he worked he could always end back in the position that Unoka was in because that is where everyone
In the novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo has a goal of being everything his father wasn’t, a leader. As he is facing difficulties in life, the decisions he’s making for a better cause despite the fear of being seen as weak leads to his death. With the decisions he has made, can he be considered a tragic hero? In chapter 2 page 13, it says “Perhaps down in his heart, Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.
In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo, reminiscent of other literary characters, embodies the Igbo way of life and possesses traits that reflect his cultural values. In Igbo culture, the ideal man works hard, overcomes