Okonkwo’s Tragic Hero CycleBy : Anthony Alexandre Pons Guerrero

1) Noble Character

Okonkwo :

• Has the highest of statuses in the Igbo community

• Isn’t of Noble birth• Strongest of the Igbo community• Wealthy and has 3 wives and 8

children• To become the strongest man he

defeated the strongest man• Is seen as a God by his people• Opposes to anything unmanly

such as music

2) Tragic Flaw “Hamartia”

Okonkwo’s tragic flaw is the great fear of failure and weakness. Okonkwo is always seen as someone who envies anything that isn’t Manly. By weakness he is afraid that people might see him as an obstacle to overcome instead of a high mountain that is deadly to climb. By failure he is afraid that someday he will fail to keep a reputation for himself and his family. He is also afraid to turn like his father. He could of prevented this from happening if he was humble and wasn’t someone who could give a name to himself instead of the people.

3) Fate

The Westerner’s arriving to Nigeria was never Okonkwo’s decision, therefore this was fate. Okonkwo’s status lowered after these Westerner’s arrived and this was reason why people weren’t looking up to him anymore. The prevention of this invasion was outside of his forces, the people were looking up to the Christian faith little by little and Akonkwo became fearful of failure and weakness to a measure where the abuse of his family became something that calmed him down in a disastrous way.

4) Reverse of Fortune/ 5)Fear-Pity

A reverse of fortune for Okonkwo would definitely be the accidental killing of a tribe member at Ogbuefi’s funeral. This caused him to be exiled for 7 years which was serious consequences for the respect he had and this would mean that the Westerners would have a greater chance invading the Igbo people without their great leader.

Okonkwo is also afraid that the people may forget his legacy and that when he returns he would be a whole new different person.

6) Noble Cause

Okonkwo does something brave by gathering people and arming them to go fight the British for the freedom of their land and for the freedom of their valuable traditions that they have been brought up to their whole life. Okonkwo is looked up to by these men once again and seen as a Hero who could restore the tribal values.

7) Catharsis

Okonkwo suffers in more of a psychological manner since he returns to the tribe to find all his people under the Western influence of life and a lot of people converting to Christianity daily. This brings echoes to his heart which really makes us readers sympathize with the poor guy and actually want him to fight off the Western imperialists.

8) Goal

Although Okonkwo is disappointed by the betrayal(in a way) of his people he still sets his goal clear for the future of the Igbo people and believes that he will stand at nothing to prevent such imperialism on the people he has grew to love and understand.

9) Self Discovery

This is the part where ironically all THINGS FALL APART. Okonkwo feels so sorrowful and with the fear of ever showing weakness, he shows weakness in the weakest way there is for the Igbo people. Suicide. Okonkwo commits suicide by hanging himself from a tree making his followers disappointed. Okonkwo came to the self-discovery that he no longer could fight the British and that even though he killed some of them, he didn’t have the support he had at first.

10) Noble Position/ 11) Pride

The Igbo people adored Okonkwo in the beginning, well more of a fearful adoration than a loving one. The people felt safe and felt as if they were under a strong heart with nothing but protective layers.

Okonkwo gave himself too much pride which kind of took away the idea of him being humble and that’s what really brought him to a downfall. His pride was echoed in his head and other making them fearful of him and him fearful of himself in a screwed-up psychological kind of way.

12) Impact on the Readers and Characters

Okonkwo affected the readers in a sense of sympathy but hatred at the same time. Usually furing the book most readers would be feeling hatred towards Okonkwo but when THINGS FALL APART readers start feeling sympathy toward him and want nothing but success for him (except Ms. McCain).

In the beginning of the book his impacts on characters are sort of an impact that makes people fear him and what he is capable of, by the end of the book he has a courageous impact on his characters making his supporters courageous to fight off the British but he has an undermining impact toward the Westernized natives.

Thank You!The End!By : Anthony Alexandre Pons Guerrero