What makes okonkwo a hero

Browse Essays. Sign in. Essay Sample Check Writing Quality. Show More. Related Documents Okonkwo's Savagery This displays how Okonkwo is inherently savage, because he rather sacrifice someone else, then face the punishments bestowed upon him, demonstrating his savage nature. Read More. Words: - Pages: 4. Words: - Pages: 5. Words: - Pages: 3. Cultural Memory In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart Achebe uses conflict as a way to bring the two opposing groups together and create a resolve between their differences.

Words: - Pages: 7. Marlena endures distress from her marriage to August so when she came to the conclusion to leave him it required an immense amount of courage, especially because he is a violent man, they work together everyday, and she receives little support. Within three weeks of being married to August, Marlena wanted a divorce because she realized that she did not know him as well as she thought when she married him.

In the first three weeks of the marriage August was sweet but then she saw a violent side to him. He clearly wanted nothing to do with the war as he explains "I was too good for this war. Too smart, too compassionate, too everything. Him saying this meant his heart was to full of compassion to kill anyone or be violent to anyone, he was a better man then that he didn 't want the grief of killing someone to hang heavy over his head for the rest of his life, but he was afraid to admit that to anyone until now.

The fear Okonkwo has from failing becomes his greatest downfall right to the end of his life. If Okonkwo forgave his father from the beginning then things would have gone much differently. The character of Okonkwo shows us that forgiveness or un-forgiveness can haunt you till the.

Furthermore, in ancient times, no special stage effects could have been used to make the scenes seem real, while being safe. While this may be the case, many people may think he was fully aware of what he was doing.

Now we will examine all of the elements of the tragic hero in the character of Okonkwo, the protagonist of Things Fall Apart by Chinva Achebe. Firstly we observed that Okonkwo had a good character and noble character. He was a strong man. All the people of Umuofia respected and loved him because of his great achievements. He was a very strong wrestler. When he was 18, he beat amalinze cat who had not been beaten by anyone since seven years. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat.

Since he won the wrestling match his fame grew up rapidly, Okonkwos fame had grown like a bush-fire in the harmattan. This was just the start of his fame, later on he did great hard work and rose to a high level, His fame rested on solid personal achievements.

Okonkwo was also very hospitable. He offered koala nut to the ones who visited his house. His hospitability was also evident when he sheltered Ikemefuna and treated him like a father and cherished him with great love. As the narrator said that, Okonkwo himself became very fond of the boy. Okonkwo was also a great warrior. He was never afraid from fighting, unlike his father who shuddered at the sight of blood. He had taken part in the great wars fought by Umuofia and had shown incredible prowess in to two inter tribal wars.

At a very young age he had brought five heads from the battlefield. His interest in the wars showed that he was a man of action, a man of war. The second characteristic of a tragic hero is that he must be aristocratic. We found that at the start Okonkwo was a common man. He started his career from a scratch because his father, Unoka, was a failure and a lazy man.

Unoka was a poor man so Okonkwo didnt inherit a barn from his father. There was no barn to inherit. To start his career he went to Nwakibie, a wealthy man in his area, and asked him to lend him yam seeds.

Nwakibie behaved generously towards Okonkwo because he knew that Okonkwo was a hard working man so he would not waste the yam seeds. So he gave Okonkwo yam seeds instead of yam seeds. Okonkwo sow some of his seeds but fate behaved in a hostile way towards him and his yam seeds were lost. He didnt lose heart and worked hard and started paving his way to success. Gradually he succeeded in his efforts and became an affluent man with a high social status.

He had three wives and eight children. Thus we found that Okonkwo was not aristocratic from the very start of his life however he became aristocratic in the later period of his life. Okonkwo was also consistent because he never changed his opinions. When Okonkwo was told about the pronouncement of the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves he made up his mind that he would sacrifice Ikemefuna.

He remained consistent in his opinion despite of the fact that Okonkwo greatly loved Ikemefuna. Okonkwo also had a few bad qualities.

His three wives and eight children were afraid of him. He was not cruel at heart. He feared of himself lest he or his family should see evil days as his father did. Okonkwo was a hard worker , diligent and very strong. He worked on his farms from dawn to dusk and treated it as worship. He faced a lot of hardships from the very outset of his career. When he started farming, he went to Nwakibic who promised him to give him eight hundred yam seeds.

The very year when Okonkwo took Yam seeds was the worst year for farming. It rained late and was not sufficient for a good crop. He planted again that year it rained heavily and washed away the yam. The barns were full of water which destroys the seeds. Crop was looking like a funeral.

One man of his village tied his cloth to a branch of a tree and hanged himself But Okonkwo remained a fierce fighter. He said. Then good days started, however. He became somewhat rash, rough and haughty. In a meeting, he insulted a member and then other reprimanded him and he had to apologize. He ruled his and children with a heavy hand. If someone in the family disobeyed him he would even beat the member.