Okonkwo: The Tragic Hero By Cherie Law, Allison Bitney, Anthony Warren, & Conall Quinn

Okonkwo: Model Clansmen? □Okonkwo is a model clansmen from based on his success. However, he is more alienated from his culture based on his lack of respect for it. □Okonkwo beats his wife during the Week of Peace. (Pg ). □Kills a clansman and feel his situation is unfair doubting his culture. (Pg ). □Violence is the answer, whereas peace is the solution for the tribe. (Pg. 199). □Okonkwo commits grave sin by committing suicide. (Pg. 207).

Okonkwo □Okonkwo is respected by the tribe because he won wrestling match against the cat. (Pg. 4). □He went from failure to success with his yams. (Pg. 24 & 26). □His chi agreed with him. (Pg. 27).

Okonkwo/Nwoye □Okonkwo and Nwoye have a sour relationship. □Okonkwo sees Nwoye as weak and lazy, just like his grandfather. (Pg. 13). □The relationship deteriorates after Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna. (Pg. 61). □Okonkwo disowns him for converting to Christianity. (Pg. 172). □Other examples: Pg 152.

Okonkwo/Ikemefuna □Okonkwo and Ikemefuna’s relationship is good. □Okonkwo loved him like his own son however kills him out of fear of being weak. □Examples: Pg. 28

Okonkwo/Unoka □The relationship between Okonkwo and Unoka is hate. □Okonkwo hated his father because he was lazy and a debtor. □He hates what his father loves. (Pg. 13). □Examples: Pg. 4, 5, 13.

Okonkwo/Ezinma □The relationship between Okonkwo and Ezinma is happy relationship. □Okonkwo secretly wishes she was a boy. (Pg. 67). □She has the work ethic of a boy. □He shows care for her. (Pg.112 & 172) □Attitude resembles her father, anger. (Pg. 173). □Okonkwo’s character teaches us that he shows no signs of emotions for the ones he loves, but greatly expresses hatred towards the one he does not like.

Public vs. Private □Okonkwo has a public and private self. □Publicly, he wants to be seen as this great clansman who has the absence of fear. □Privately, he had emotions deep within him that he did not want nobody to see, especially himself because to him he seems weak. □Example: We can see Okonkwo’s feelings for Ezinma privately. He secretly wishes she was a boy. Pg. 173 & 174.

Okonkwo and other Literary Tragic Hero □Okonkwo □Hubris □Status: Achievement □Tragic Flaw: Fear of failure □Character: Savage-like □Death: Suicide □Achilles □Hubris □Tragic Flaw: Ankle □Character: Savage-like □Death: Shot in the ankle

Characteristics of a Tragic Hero □High Status ~Birth ~Achievement □Tragic Flaw □Death or Destruction

Okonkwo □Okonkwo is a tragic hero because he is of high status. He earned it through achievement by the success of his yams. □Okonkwo has a tragic flaw which is fear of failure. □Okonkwo’s death is by his own hands.

Okonkwo □Okonkwo’s tragic flaw leads to his death because he fears failure. □He sees a sign of weakness as a downfall which the idea comes from his father. □Example: “Whenever the thought of his father’s weakness and failure troubled him he expelled it by thinking about his own strength and success.” Pg. 66. □He is so afraid of failure that he brings his own death upon himself.

Conclusion □Okonkwo is a tragic hero through the eyes of the clansmen. □However, the District Commissioner and other colonists see him as a person with no status.

The End