The Character of Okonkwo in Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart Essay

The Character of Okonkwo in Things Fall unconnected What makes a successful man? This, in itself, is a culture bound inquire because it can vary from culture to culture. However, in the perception of Okonkwo, the main event in Chinua Achebes novel, Things Fall Apart, the measure of a mans success is based on two elements, material acquisition and growth, and physical prowess. This is ironic for Okonkwo since his peoples typical vagary of success seems to be constructed of a complex, strong spiritual culture, seemingly adapted to deal in traditional ways with any challenge in nature and human experience. (Ravenscroft 9) Although Okonkwo is undoubtedly an important member of Umuofian society, he is non a typical representative of that society. (Taiwo 115) It is this basic dichotomy between Okonkwo and his feature culture that directly lead to the tragic fall of Okonkwo, and ultimate disgrace. I feel that it is important to none at this time that Things Fall Apart is a tragedy, and Okonkwo is a tragic hero. For TFA to be a tragedy, it must chase the following pattern... A tragedy .. is the imitation of an action that is erious, has magnitude, and is complete in itself in language with pleasurable accessories, each kind brought in apiece in the various parts of the work in a dramatic, not in a narrative form with incidents arousing pity and fear, wherewith to accomplish it purge of such emotions Aristotle, Poetics Okonkwo is a tragic hero because he is superior to the steadfast people of the tribe, Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villa... ...up perfectly in the last lines of the book when an entire culture, all of its oral traditions, customs, ceremonies, lives, the very inwardness of the Ibo people merited a reasonable paragraph in the colour mans book, The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger. BIBLIOGRAPHY Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Portsmouth, naked Hampshire Heinemann Educational Publishers, 1986. Aristotle. Aristotle The Poetics. The Longinus On the Sublime. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1960. Ravenscroft, A. Chinua Achebe. Great Britain Longmans, Green & CO LTD, 1969. Serumaga, Robert. A Mirror of Integration. Protest and employment in African Literature (1969) 76 Taiwo, Oladele. Culture and the Nigerian Novel. New York St. Martins Press, 1976.