Essay about Okonkwo as a Tragic Dero - 824 Words

Okonkwo as a Tragic Dero Is Okonkwo a tragic hero? To answer that question one must start by defining the term tragic hero first introduced by Aristotle. Aristotle defined a tragic hero simply as being a character fulfilling three different requirements. The character must be larger than life, and must have a high social standing. The character must also have ordinary human qualities, and must have a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall. In Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart, all these characteristics are found in Okonkwo of Umuofia. The first characteristic of a tragic hero according to Aristotles definition is that the character must be larger than life. The character must be better or greater than his fellows in the sense†¦show more content†¦The second condition for a character to be a tragic hero according to Aristotle is that he should share common human qualities and concerns. He is a mixture of good characteristics and bad ones. Also, he must be someone that people can relate to, and, theref ore, must have the same human problems and must go through life with the same obstacles of ordinary people. This we can see when the author is describing Okonkwos feelings for Ikemefuna, a young boy who has been in his household as compensation to the village for a murdered citizen of Umuofia, Even Okonkwo himself became very fond of the boy --inwardly of course. Okonkwo never showed any emotions openly, unless it be the emotion of anger. To show affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was strength. He therefore treated Ikemefuna as he treated everybody else --with a heavy hand. But there was no doubt that he liked the boy. Sometimes when he went to the big village meetings or communal ancestral feasts he allowed Ikemefuna to accompany him, like a son, carrying his stool and his goatskin bag. And, indeed Ikemefuna called him father (Achebe, page 28) From this text we find out that Okonkwo actually had feelings of fondness and admiration toward Ikemefuna. This we see when Okonkwo