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Okonkwo as a tragic hero in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
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Kurukshetra University,B.A English (Hons), M.A English,
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Okonkwo as a Tragic Hero in the novel Things Fall Apart
Okonkwo is the central character. He is strong, headstrong, traditionalist and
proud. A traditionalist, he is blind to the absurdities, cruelties and sheer
backwardness of certain of his tribe's customs and of his own, sometimes
outrageous, actions. Things Fall Apart is about the tragic fall of the protagonist,
Okonkwo, and the Igbo culture. Okonkwo is a respected and influential leader
within the Igbo community of Umuofia in eastern Nigeria. He first earns personal
fame and distinction, and brings honor to his village, when he defeats Amalinze the
Cat in a wrestling contest. Okonkwo determines to gain titles for himself and
become a powerful and wealthy man in spite of his father's weaknesses.
Okonkwo's father, Unoka, was a lazy and wasteful man. He often borrowed money
and then squandered it on palm-wine and merrymaking with friends.
Consequently, his wife and children often went hungry. Within the community,
Unoka was considered a failure and a laughingstock. He was referred to as agbala,
one who resembles the weakness of a woman and has no property. Unoka died a
shameful death and left numerous debts. Okonkwo despises and resents his father's
gentle and idle ways. He resolves to overcome the shame that he feels as a result of
his father's weaknesses by being what he considers to be "manly"; therefore, he
dominates his wives and children by being insensitive and controlling. Because
Okonkwo is a leader of his community, he is asked to care for a young boy named
Ikemefuna, who is given to the village as a peace offering by neighboring Mbaino
to avoid war with Umuofia. Ikemefuna befriends Okonkwo's son, Nwoye, and
Okonkwo becomes inwardly fond of the boy.
Over the years, Okonkwo becomes an extremely volatile man; he is apt to
explode at the slightest provocation. He violates the Week of Peace when he
beats his youngest wife, Ojiugo, because she went to braid her hair at a friend's
house and forgot to prepare the afternoon meal and feed her children. Later,
, he severely beats and shoots a gun at his second wife, Ekwefi, because she
took leaves from his banana plant to wrap food for the Feast of the New Yam.
After the coming of the locusts, Ogbuefi Ezeudu, the oldest man in the village,
relays to Okonkwo a message from the Oracle. The Oracle says that Ikemefuna
must be killed as part of the retribution for the Umuofian woman killed three
years earlier in Mbaino. He tells Okonkwo not to partake in the murder, but
Okonkwo doesn't listen. He feels that not participating would be a sign of
weakness. Consequently, Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna with his machete. Nwoye
realizes that his father has murdered Ikemefuna and begins to distance himself
from his father and the clansmen.
Okonkwo becomes depressed after killing Ikemefuna, so he visits his best friend,
Obierika, who disapproves of his role in Ikemefuna's killing. Obierika says that
Okonkwo's act will upset the Earth and the earth goddess will seek revenge. After
discussing Ikemefuna's death with Obierika, Okonkwo is finally able to sleep
restfully.
A public trial is held on the village commons. Nine clan leaders, including
Okonkwo, represent the spirits of their ancestors. The nine clan leaders, or
egwugwu, also represent the nine villages of Umuofia. Okonkwo does not sit
among the other eight leaders, or elders, while they listen to a dispute between an
estranged husband and wife. The wife had been severely beaten by her husband.
Her brother took her back to their family's village, but her husband wanted her
back home. The egwugwu tell the husband to take wine to his in-laws and beg his
wife to come home. One elder wonders why such a trivial dispute would come
before the egwugwu.
When Ogbuefi Ezeudu dies, Okonkwo worries because the last time that Ezeudu
visited him was when he warned Okonkwo against participating in the
killing of Ikemefuna. Ezeudu was an important leader in the village and achieved
three titles of the clan's four, a rare accomplishment. During the large funeral,
Okonkwo's gun goes off, and Ezeudu's sixteen-year-old son is killed accidentally.
Because the accidental killing of a clansman is a crime against the earth goddess,
Okonkwo and his family must be exiled from Umuofia for seven years. The family
moves to Okonkwo's mother's native village, Mbanta. After they depart Umuofia, a
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