The tragedy is an ancient form of drama, found as far back as Roman rule. In the traditional arc, a man of good standing has fame, fortune, and wealth, until his downfall caused by a tragic flaw, or hubris. The protagonist then falls from grace, losing all he once had. This is the case in the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. The main character, Okonkwo, is a man of high standing in Igbo society who builds his way up from the low status he was raised in by his unreliable father. His hard work brought him a good yam farm, three wives, and several children. Okonkwo then experiences a fall from grace, losing status and fortune, and is exiled from his tribe for several years. He triumphantly travels back to his home after seven years, only to find it completely changed. Okonkwo’s destiny is that of the protagonists of Elizabethan tragedy: he goes from good status and popularity into a steep nosedive of poverty and paranoia, and the story concludes with his own suicide.
Okonkwo did not achieve his popularity without hard work. He worked to gain all he had from what little he had growing up. While this is an example of extraordinary determination, it is also an …show more content…
Okonkwo 's story is a warning against the pitfalls of worry and paranoia. If individuals constantly question safe and sane actions, they will put themselves in danger. Caring too much in the things that don’t matter carries the risk of losing those things that are cared about. Okonkwo lost his town’s respect first by killing Ikemefuna and then by accidentally murdering the other teenager. As the story draws to a close, Okonkwo loses his status and even his family. After his fall, following the trend of Elizabethan tragedy, Okonkwo not only dies, but ends his life. That is the way of the tragic hero. A glorious figure, consumed by the fire he had been building. A phoenix that suffocates on its own smoke and
Okonkwo did not achieve his popularity without hard work. He worked to gain all he had from what little he had growing up. While this is an example of extraordinary determination, it is also an …show more content…
Okonkwo 's story is a warning against the pitfalls of worry and paranoia. If individuals constantly question safe and sane actions, they will put themselves in danger. Caring too much in the things that don’t matter carries the risk of losing those things that are cared about. Okonkwo lost his town’s respect first by killing Ikemefuna and then by accidentally murdering the other teenager. As the story draws to a close, Okonkwo loses his status and even his family. After his fall, following the trend of Elizabethan tragedy, Okonkwo not only dies, but ends his life. That is the way of the tragic hero. A glorious figure, consumed by the fire he had been building. A phoenix that suffocates on its own smoke and