Why would Achebe, taking into account the cultural context, choose to characterize Okonkwo using the tragic hero archetype?
Okonkwo has many flaws, from his dominant fear of failure to his terrible temper. Okonkwo is seen as a tragic hero in the text, meaning he "holds a position of power and prestige, chooses his course of action, possesses a tragic flaw, and gains awareness of circumstances that lead to his fall." In the book Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is a very influential member of the Igbo community, a renowned wrestler, strong fighter and successful yam farmer. He is a good representative of both his village and culture, that both have a significant role in his life.
With Okonkwo being characterized as a tragic hero, this allows the Igbo culture and it's people shine through the novel. Having a character like so impacts the plot as when the character reacts which is always resistance, especially in the arrival of the missionaries and the colonialists, and the events show how the life of those that were tricked in Nigeria is different to those who were forced upon it. Okonkwo's death after the death of the white man ultimately signifies the death of the Igbo culture after colonisation.
Achebe using cultural context and values, does so to show that change is inevitable, and the release of a story like this to show another side of colonisation, that is against Western Occupation, and demonstrate to a possibly larger audience how those who acted likewise to a tragic hero and that stood up for their beliefs and what they were taught during their childhood became their own tragic hero unheard by the others around them who had already accepted the change.
Okonkwo has many flaws, from his dominant fear of failure to his terrible temper. Okonkwo is seen as a tragic hero in the text, meaning he "holds a position of power and prestige, chooses his course of action, possesses a tragic flaw, and gains awareness of circumstances that lead to his fall." In the book Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is a very influential member of the Igbo community, a renowned wrestler, strong fighter and successful yam farmer. He is a good representative of both his village and culture, that both have a significant role in his life.
With Okonkwo being characterized as a tragic hero, this allows the Igbo culture and it's people shine through the novel. Having a character like so impacts the plot as when the character reacts which is always resistance, especially in the arrival of the missionaries and the colonialists, and the events show how the life of those that were tricked in Nigeria is different to those who were forced upon it. Okonkwo's death after the death of the white man ultimately signifies the death of the Igbo culture after colonisation.
Achebe using cultural context and values, does so to show that change is inevitable, and the release of a story like this to show another side of colonisation, that is against Western Occupation, and demonstrate to a possibly larger audience how those who acted likewise to a tragic hero and that stood up for their beliefs and what they were taught during their childhood became their own tragic hero unheard by the others around them who had already accepted the change.
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