Essay On Okonkwo In Things Fall Apart

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The word Hero, said by Aristotle, means, “A man cannot become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall.” This is the true definition of a hero. This relates to Okonkwo who is one of the most respected clansmen of his village, who is fighting to keep his tribe together from inside forces and outside forces. The missionaries, and other clans are trying to break, and influence everyone in his clan to move away from their traditions, creating a crippled community. In Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is a tragic hero because he was looked upon by everyone as one of the greatest clansmen to ever live in all of the nine villages, and his downfall was contributed by both outside, and his own inside forces throughout the novel. …show more content…
There were many outside forces, and inside forces that influenced him. One of the biggest forces was the white man. Okonkwo himself even said, “We should have killed the white man if you had listened to me” (pg 195.) Okonkwo knew the white men would only bring bad to his village, and to everyone in it. This was their second chance at the white man cause, “During the planting season, the white man had appeared in their clan” (pg 135.) Now because of this Okonkwo took drastic measures, being influenced by the outside forces of the white man, and took his own life. The clansmen were in agreement with the white men being the cause saying, “You drove him to kill himself; and he will be buried like a dog” (pg 208.)

Okonkwo in Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart is a respected village leader who is looked upon by everyone in the village with respect, and authority, and has inside forces as well as outside forces that contribute to the downfall of the village and himself. The missionaries, and his own clansmen contributed to the downfall. As the clan slowly breaks apart Okonkwo does everything he can to keep it

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