Okonkwo - Tragic Hero Archetype

It is obvious that in the novel Things Fall Apart, the protagonist is characterized as a tragic hero in one of the most common techniques of past and modern literature. The extent of its effectiveness and detail that it embodies very much exceeds the classical linguistic convention.

The novel entails of the reader witnessing a competitive Igbo society that is being destroyed, of which holds a tragic story from the exposition of the book toward its tragic demise.  We, the audience, are presented with a bold and upfront man who possesses traits of overwhelming success and power in a small village of Umofia. With only one view in the beginning, Okonkwo holds strong values of which he follows closely and had to work tirelessly throughout his life to overcome the adversities to lead him to his current success. It is only when exposed to society and different interactions and relationship we learn the true Okonkwo, thus leading us to predict and observe his inevitable downfall. This is due entirely to the audience, overlooking the novel, and quite truly understanding its meaning and Okonkwo's characterization in Igboland, whilst only realizing this upon later review. The treatment and attitudes of the people in Igboland can correlate with European culture, with disruptions in peace and never being able to co-exist successfully or for a long period of time.

With Okonkwo's masculine and anti-feministic values, contributes toward his attitude of having these values not co-exist with non physical confrontation or any other feminine way of sorting things out. Not only does this contribute to the loss of culture in Umofia, but Okonkwo is a key product of society as Achebe not only characterizes Okonkwo as a tragic hero, but rather the whole of Igboland. Okonkwo embodies true tragic hero concepts and characteristics such as Harmartia(Tragic Flaw), Hubris(Extreme Pride and Arrogance) and Peripeteia(reversal of circumstance). Furthermore these systems fail, and Okonkwo's flaws are not recognized truly of which creates the classical archetype of the tragic hero in Things fall Apart.

Achebe wants readers to understand the struggles of holding ones culture when faced with colonial powers. He wants readers to see how colonization has affected many cultures and wants them to understand a broader knowledge of how Okonkwo's tragic ending was suffered by the ignorance of his own culture and exhaustful hubris.