The Tragic Hero
There are moments when watching a movie, tv show, or simply reading a book, one gets so connected to a character that reality seems to fade away, and it almost physically hurts when the character gets killed off. Numerous amounts of these characters are also known as tragic heroes; personas you connect with on a deeper level. Like Medea or Oedipus, they are literary characters who are brought down by insurmountable conflict, or through his/her own weakness. In Things Fall Apart, a historical fiction novel,the protagonist, Okonkwo, brings honor to his village when he defeated Amalinze the Cat in a wrestling contest. Despite his father’s weaknesses, (a lazy and wasteful man), he first-handedly gains fame and soon becomes all-powerful and wealthy. However, these attributes gnaw at him and transform him into an extremely turbulent man, leading him to perform unspeakable things, like even killing his own son. After a seven year exile, Okonkwo returns to Umuofia and discovers that many of his men have converted to Christianity. Unable to adapt to the change, everything seems to
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Chinua Achebe successfully defines Okonkwo as a tragic hero through his role as a protagonist of high estate, his possession of a tragic flaw, and the recognition of his fate, which relates to the novel