Antigone and Okonkwo both share a common flaw; fighting too hard for what they believe. In Antigone, Polynices, Antigone’s brother, dies in a fight with his brother Eteocles, but Creon refuses to let him be buried. Creon that decides that Eteocles should be buried because he believes that he was fighting for Thebes. He declares that “a proclamation has forbidden the city to dignify [Polynices] with burial, mourn him at all. No, he must be left unburied, his corpse carrion for the birds and dogs to
Imperialism. In this story, the main character, Okonkwo, surfaces as a tragic hero. A tragic hero can fall under many categories. For example, he or she can be an Aristotelian tragic hero or Arthur Miller’s depiction of a tragic hero. A tragic hero must have certain qualities in order to be considered an Aristotelian tragic hero. Because Okonkwo follows the patterns that Aristotle has set for tragic heroes, he is an Aristotelian tragic hero. Okonkwo is “a man of action, a man of war” (Achebe 7) and
requires the perfect tragic hero. Aristotle, a famous Greek philosopher, defines both of these terms for the common Western dramatic narrative. He describes a tragedy as a work in which significant events lead to unfortunate consequences for the protagonist. The plot of a tragedy follows a tragic hero from extreme fortune to a sudden peripeteia, reversal of fate, which ends with the tragic hero becoming supremely disconsolate due to the events of their tragic fall. An Aristotelian tragic hero possesses
with a sense of nobility and respect based on “solid personal achievements” that he has made. However he can be considered a tragic hero based on the parameters set by Aristotle, including his tragic flaw which is his fear of weakness and failure. The elements of a tragic hero prove that even someone as well respected and popular as Okonkwo can falter and be classified as a tragic hero. In Achebe’s novel, Okonkwo is well regarded in the beginning. His personal achievement in his wrestling career was
self-made Umuofian man who died a tragic hero. The thoughts and actions of this man of strong conviction were dictated by the emotions: Fear, pride, and anger. These emotions shaped the way Okonkwo lived, self-consciously impacting his self-perceived role in Igbo culture. This caused him to have an incredibly distant and temperamental relationship with his many wives and children, thus having a negative impact on how his family viewed their husband and father. Okonkwo’s life story is like that of a character
different contexts and time periods. Although each is separated in plot and setting, they are all bound together by many unifying traits of their genre. Chief among these is the plight of the tragic hero. As defined by Aristotle, a tragic hero has five core traits: hamartia, peripeteia, anagnorisis, hubris, and a tragic fate. Through these five steps, Aristotelian tragedies tell not the story of a perfect being who is unjustly wronged by a villain, but the story of a nobly flawed hero who catalyzes his
story. Okonkwo is a man of high standing in the Ibo tribe and has a positive future of being a ruler of the tribe. The only obstacle standing in Okonkwo’s way is his decision to be the opposite person his father is. He is plagued with the memory of his father being a lazy alcoholic. Okonkwo tries anything he can to avoid becoming like his father. Okonkwo’s fear escalates to making him a violent and cold man, ruling his house and all he owns with an iron fist. It is this iron will that makes Okonkwo
Okonkwo, is larger than life, but like most strong characters, he has flaws, which cause his downfall. Okonkwo is a vicious character, who intimidates many people in his village because of his violent nature. He also has a difficult time adapting to change. Okonkwo becomes obstinate when his son, Nwoye, betrays him, and increasingly violent and irrational when missionaries take over his village, Umuofia. Achebe’s focus on Okonkwo’s flaws, his reliance on violence to solve his problems as well as his inability
How Okonkwo’s personality was his downfall Things Fall Apart is an imperialist novel at the turn of the 20th century. Author, Chinua Achebe, creates characters that experience tragedy at a time of rapid colonization and change in Nigeria. The tragic hero in this story, Okonkwo, who is threatened by rapid movements of the European empire colonizing in Nigeria, is also threatened by becoming like his father. Okonkwo battles internal conflict, and his character falls apart as his personality and morality
that moment where the hero comes face to face with his true identity” -Aristotle. Identity is being who or what a person is. Throughout the novel “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, the identity of Okonkwo is revealed, proving he is a tragic hero by fatal flaw. When Okonkwo came face to face with who he really was he could understand that he was not who he truly wanted to be. Over time he tried to achieve the unachievable, but could not succeed. Okonkwo is the main character in the novel Things