Things Fall Apart

The novel Things Fall Apart was written by Chinua Achebe in 1958. The novel follows the life of the protagonist, Okonkwo, as missionaries come into his native Igbo tribe. Throughout the book it is clear that Okonkwo finds it very hard to accept the change brought on by the missionaries, and in the, end after being unable to assimilate he commits suicide. Okonkwo can be defined as a tragic hero due to his actions and thoughts found in the book. The term ‘tragic hero’ was first coined by the Greek philosopher Aristotle in his work Poetics. According to him a tragic hero refers to someone who is of a high ranking and has a flaw that ultimately leads to their destruction. Okonkwo is a tragic hero because he holds a high position society, has a

From the beginning of the novel it is understood that Okonkwo is highly ranked and regarded in society. In fact, in the first two sentences it is stated that “Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements” (Pg. ). Early in his life Okonkwo knew that he wanted to become an important person in society. When he was eighteen years old, Okonkwo was able to win a fight with Amalinze the Cat who had been undefeated for seven years. The story of this feat was spread all over his village, Umuofia, and to many neighboring villages, making Okonkwo very well known. As he grew older, Okonkwo was able to marry 3 wives and have many children, he also had many barns full of yams. In the igbo tribe a man's wealth was determined by how many yams and

Okonkwo achieves this by gaining awareness of circumstances that lead to his fall, through a dramatic reversal of fate. At the end of part one and during part two of the book it's is revealed that Okonkwo would have to leave Umuofia for seven years because of a crime he committed. During the funeral of Ezeudu, a respected elder and warrior, Okonkwo accidentally kills the son of the deceased. Because his crime was an accident it was deemed as 'female’, this meant that as a punishment Okonkwo had to leave Umuofia for seven years and go to his mother's village in order to cleanse his own village of his sins. When Okonkwo arrives in his mother's village he is very sorrowful because everything he had worked for in Umuofia would be taken away. In order to cleanse the earth of Okonkwo's sins the people of Umuofia burnt down his obi and other structures in his compound, Okonkwo was also stripped of his titles and his position as an egwugwu. Almost everything that Okonkwo had done in order to have a high standing in the village was reversed. Okonkwo's plan was to return to Umuofia after the seven years and be the talk of the village, “he was determined that his return should be marked by his people. He would return with a flourish, and regain the seven wasted years”