The Roaring Flame Gets Extinguished
In the novel, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe the protagonist Okonkwo falls into the tragic timeline of other protagonists. Throughout the novel, Okonkwo starts with power, loses that power by his tragic flaws and finally his tragic flaws lead him to his demise. Achebe uses Aristotle 's definition of a Tragic Hero to reveal the common tragedies which cause conflict for the typical protagonist, through the depiction of Okonkwo’s tragic characteristics and countless poor actions and decisions,which affect his family, tribe, and himself.
Okonkwo, became an elite clansmen of the Nigerian Igbo tribe, by gaining his respect through great acts of leaderships, instead of by birth rite which resulted …show more content…
Okonkwo flawed acts ultimately lead to him being exiled from his tribe, for seven years. To cleanse his poor actions, "a large crowd of men from Ezedu’s quarter stormed Okonkwo’s compound, dressed in garbs of war. They set fire to his houses, demolished his red walls, killed his animals and destroyed his barn. It was the justice of the earth goddess, and they were merely her messengers. They had no hatred in their hearts against Okonkwo. His greatest friend, Obierika, was among them. They were merely cleansing the land which Okonkwo had polluted with the blood of a clansman”. Okonkwo 's tribe mates had to storm his compound because of what he did. This is that start of his demise and the second to last step in Aristotle 's definition. Also, Okonkwo has had enough with the white catholic men. The white men have attacked his tribe and converted his clansmen into catholic men. Okonkwo thinks that if they were to fight the catholic men, it would be like fighting "our own brothers". The white men have won over the "brothers" of the clan and know the "clan can no longer act like one. He has a put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart”. Okonkwo 's tragic flaws have made it hard for his tribe to stop the white men from spreading. Therefore, he has lead not only himself but his clan to demise. In the end, it took a messenger to push Okonkwo over the edge. This messenger had a message for the clan, but when he got there "Okonkwo drew his machete". "The messenger crouched to avoid the blow. It was useless. Okonkwo’s machete descended twice and the man’s head lay beside his uniformed body. The waiting backcloth jumped into tumultuous life and the meeting was stopped. Okonkwo stood looking at the dead man. He knew that Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers escape. They had broken into tumult instead
In the novel, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe the protagonist Okonkwo falls into the tragic timeline of other protagonists. Throughout the novel, Okonkwo starts with power, loses that power by his tragic flaws and finally his tragic flaws lead him to his demise. Achebe uses Aristotle 's definition of a Tragic Hero to reveal the common tragedies which cause conflict for the typical protagonist, through the depiction of Okonkwo’s tragic characteristics and countless poor actions and decisions,which affect his family, tribe, and himself.
Okonkwo, became an elite clansmen of the Nigerian Igbo tribe, by gaining his respect through great acts of leaderships, instead of by birth rite which resulted …show more content…
Okonkwo flawed acts ultimately lead to him being exiled from his tribe, for seven years. To cleanse his poor actions, "a large crowd of men from Ezedu’s quarter stormed Okonkwo’s compound, dressed in garbs of war. They set fire to his houses, demolished his red walls, killed his animals and destroyed his barn. It was the justice of the earth goddess, and they were merely her messengers. They had no hatred in their hearts against Okonkwo. His greatest friend, Obierika, was among them. They were merely cleansing the land which Okonkwo had polluted with the blood of a clansman”. Okonkwo 's tribe mates had to storm his compound because of what he did. This is that start of his demise and the second to last step in Aristotle 's definition. Also, Okonkwo has had enough with the white catholic men. The white men have attacked his tribe and converted his clansmen into catholic men. Okonkwo thinks that if they were to fight the catholic men, it would be like fighting "our own brothers". The white men have won over the "brothers" of the clan and know the "clan can no longer act like one. He has a put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart”. Okonkwo 's tragic flaws have made it hard for his tribe to stop the white men from spreading. Therefore, he has lead not only himself but his clan to demise. In the end, it took a messenger to push Okonkwo over the edge. This messenger had a message for the clan, but when he got there "Okonkwo drew his machete". "The messenger crouched to avoid the blow. It was useless. Okonkwo’s machete descended twice and the man’s head lay beside his uniformed body. The waiting backcloth jumped into tumultuous life and the meeting was stopped. Okonkwo stood looking at the dead man. He knew that Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers escape. They had broken into tumult instead