1. February 17 Entry Task: No ET.
Objective: SWBAT compare the characteristics of the hero, tragic hero and anti-hero with Okonkwo.
February 17

2. Does Okonkwo follow the hero’s journey? Why or why not?

3. A main character in a literary work who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through impressive feats of ingenuity, bravery or strength, often sacrificing his or her own personal concerns for some greater good
Hero

4. What are the characteristics of an anti-her0?

5. Anti-hero or Anti-heroine
An anti-hero or anti-heroine is a protagonist who lacks conventional heroic qualities such as idealism, courage, and morality.
These individuals often possess dark personality traits such as disagreeableness, dishonesty, and aggressiveness.
These characters are usually considered "conspicuously contrary to an archetypal hero"
Anti-hero or Anti-heroine
An antihero is not your typical hero because he doesn't always possess purely good qualities or personality traits. For example, while a hero is courageous in the face of battle, an antihero might be afraid. While a hero is perfectly handsome, an antihero might be too short, too hairy, or too fat. While a hero is self-assured, an antihero might be plagued with insecurities. And while a hero is out for justice and to serve the common good, an antihero might be selfish and rebellious against this same common good.
For these reasons, antiheroes tend to be more interesting and lovable characters. They appeal to the reader because we can relate and connect with them on a more human level.

6. What are the characteristics of a tragic hero?

7. Tragic Hero A noble person with heroic or potentially heroic qualities
This person is fated by the Gods or by some supernatural force to doom and destruction or at least to great suffering.
Tragic Hero

8. Okonkwo’s Journey Plot Okonkwo’s journey on the circle.
HERO: What are his heroic traits? Is he following the hero’s journey? Is he sacrificing for the greater good of his community?
ANTI-HERO: Does he lack traditional heroic traits?
TRAGIC HERO: Does he have a fatal flaw? What is it? How does that affect him?
Okonkwo’s Journey
The protagonist of Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is also considered a tragic hero. A tragic hero holds a position of power and prestige, chooses his course of action, possesses a tragic flaw, and gains awareness of circumstances that lead to his fall. Okonkwo's tragic flaw is his fear of weakness and failure.
In his thirties, Okonkwo is a leader of the Igbo community of Umuofia. Achebe describes him as "tall and huge" with "bushy eyebrows and [a] wide nose [that gives] him a very severe look." When Okonkwo walks, his heels barely touch the ground, like he walks on springs, "as if he [is] going to pounce on somebody." Okonkwo "stammers slightly" and his breathing is heavy.
Okonkwo is renowned as a wrestler, a fierce warrior, and a successful farmer of yams (a "manly" crop). He has three wives and many children who live in huts on his compound. Throughout his life, he wages a never ending battle for status; his life is dominated by the fear of weakness and failure. He is quick to anger, especially when dealing with men who are weak, lazy debtors like his father. However, Okonkwo overcompensates for his father's womanly (weak) ways, of which he is ashamed, because he does not tolerate idleness or gentleness. Even though he feels inward affection at times, he never portrays affection toward anyone. Instead, he isolates himself by exhibiting anger through violent, stubborn, irrational behavior. Okonkwo demands that his family work long hours despite their age or limited physical stamina, and he nags and beats his wives and son, Nwoye, who Okonkwo believes is womanly like his father, Unoka.
Okonkwo is impulsive; he acts before he thinks. Consequently, Okonkwo offends the Igbo people and their traditions as well as the gods of his clan. Okonkwo is advised not to participate in the murder of Ikefemuna, but he actually kills Ikefemuna because he is "afraid of being thought weak." When the white man brings Christianity to Umuofia, Okonkwo is opposed to the new ways. He feels that the changes are destroying the Igbo culture, changes that require compromise and accommodation — two qualities that Okonkwo finds intolerable. Too proud and inflexible, he clings to traditional beliefs and mourns the loss of the past.
When Okonkwa rashly kills a messenger from the British district office, his clansmen back away in fear; he realizes that none of them support him and that he can't save his village from the British colonists. Okonkwo is defeated. He commits suicide, a shameful and disgraceful death like his father's.
ANTI HERO
Okonkwo was recognized as one of the greatest men in the nine villages of Igboland. Although he is great, that does not make him a hero that you would acknowledge. A person is great when they build a reputation through-out their life, that allow others to notice what they have accomplished. Despite his brutal anger, Okonkwo had many ‘great’ achievements. However, his incapability to adjust to life changes was a mistake which led to his title as an anti-hero.
Missionaries arrived in Igboland from Britain, and noticed how the lifestyles of Ibo people were different and could be assisted. Missionaries established a church in the lands of all nine villages, and pleaded with vast generosity that Ibo people can be helped. Okonkwo did not like changes; he believed everything he was taught from his childhood was the correct path to follow. His father was disgraced in life and death. However, Okonkwo had grown with honour in his name, and that honour came with pride. He was afraid that he would be looked down if he had changed, which would have led to the loss of his pride. Okonkwo grew up walking a linear path, he never took different approaches on life, and he had an “inability to recognize change” (Page Wise). His goal in life was to not be like his father, but villagers of Umuofia had already distinguished him as being so. However, he would not forgive himself if he did anything that his father had done, even though the villagers would pardon his behavior. Okonkwo developed a sense that missionaries were weak, and he would not give in and become weak. His supreme fear was to be abounding with weakness and failure.
The missionaries could have helped Okonkwo, but he resisted, not only by a single word ‘no’ but by refusing to show his power. He tried to prove to the missionaries that they were ‘dealing with Okonkwo’ and that he would go as far as murder to prove his power. The missionaries came with no harm and asked nicely for people to join their belief in G

9. Is Okonkwo a hero, an anti-hero or a tragic hero? Why?
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