Chinua Achebe: Okonkwo Cahracterization

One of the reasons why the novel Things Fall Apart is a tragedy and can be related to so many other tragic works is because the main character, Okonkwo, fits the classic example of a tragic hero. A tragic hero is, by short definition, is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction.One of the major themes that develops throughout the story because Okonkwo is a tragic hero is the theme of ‘Culture vs Tradition’. This theme focuses on the clashing of the traditions that Okonkwo wants to uphold by the Igbo people, with the culture and religion of the colonists. Since Okonkwo goes against everything he considers to be weak and feminine, he decides to retaliate against the ‘white man’ because he does not want to seem girly. To some extent Okonkwo’s defiance of cultural change is also appointed to his fear of losing societal position and rank. Because his sense of self-respect is reliant upon the traditional criteria by which society judges him. He develops this theme as a tragic hero because if he were to adjust his ways and find compromise with the missionaries, it would not have led to his decision to commit suicide. I believe the reason Chinua Achebe chose a tragic hero as a protagonist is because he wanted to impact his readers by not making it the typical fairy tale ending, but where it ended with Okonkwo’s death in the end. To show that colonizers really affected people, and to basically give a voice to everyone that went through the same situation. Chinua Achebe wanted people to feel for Okonkwo in the end, since throughout the entire novel he was the focus for nearly the whole book. Therefore he wanted the reader to get attached and then snap them out of reality by showing it did not end well, and there really were no winners.