Things Fall Apart Tragic Hero Essay

A tragic hero is someone of superior qualities and status, who suffers a reversal of fortune due to major character flaws. In the novel, Things Fall Apart, Achebe portrays his own characterization of a tragic hero through Okonkwo, the main character. Like typical tragic heroes in other literature, he suffers a terrible death in the end. Despite his honorable and respectable social status, Okonkwo 's tragic flaws, fear of failure and anger, bring about his own destruction.

Okonkwo is one of the most powerful men in the Igbo tribe: "Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond…he had brought honour to his village by throwing the Cat" (3). This suggests that in his society, power is attained by achieving greatness and fame, either through fighting or wrestling. Okonkwo also works and tends to his crops in a zealous fashion, which drives everyone around him to be as diligent as him. Because of this, he earns his place as one of Umuofia 's most respectable leaders. Though he isn 't always please with his children and wives, they bring him a sense of pride and respect since having a
He had a reputation of being "poor and his wife and children had barely enough to eat…he was a loafer" (4). Ashamed of his incapable father, Okonkwo felt that anything that resembled Unoka or anything that his father enjoyed was weak and unnecessary. Because of his fear to be seen as weak, Okonkwo even strikes down a child that calls him father: "…Okonkwo drew his matchet and cut [Ikemefuna] down. He was afraid of being thought weak" (43). Killing the child demonstrates Okonkwo 's fear of weakness and that to him, reputation is more important than the life of the child. This flaw eventually brings about his downfall at the end when he continues to fight stubbornly against the white Christians since he believes giving up shows