A man who cannot separate his home life from his work life may be working overtime to try and get more money. Or he might be obsessed with not feeling reality. Some people bury themselves in their work because they have no other outlet to release their stress in life. Even though working creates more stress. A tragic hero is thus. A person who is trying, but trying too hard.Okonkwo is this story’s tragic hero. He tries to be all do all, but it simply cannot be accomplished. Not the way he is doing it anyway. Okonkwo’s tragic relationship with his family, his crazy devotion to his crops, and his obsession with his self image are key reasons that make Okonkwo a tragic hero. In the beginning Okonkwo is a man with a happy home, three wives, and
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He expects that his little children can do a man’s work because that is when he started to work for his dinner. Okonkwo will do anything for his work. Often times he acts as if he cares more for his little yam plants than any of his descendants. When Okonkwo no longer called his father his own, he turned to work to make himself a man. Okonkwo sacrifices his childhood and his happiness to make a farm. As it states in the novel, “During the planting season Okonkwo worked daily on his farms from cock-crow until the chickens went to roost. He was a very strong man and rarely felt fatigue. But his wives and young children were not as strong, and so they suffered.” (12, 13). This shows how truly dedicated Okonkwo is to his crops, and how little he cares for his family. He cares not if his children are falling from fatigue or if his wives get sick from the sun. Truly, Okonkwo cares more for his farm than his …show more content…
At all times he must keep up the thought that he is strong. He gets overly offended by those that defy him. Okonkwo and a handful of others believed his father was a dud, but Okonkwo took it a little overboard. Not only does Okonkwo leave his father, but he goes on and makes a name for himself. Which could be noble in some instances. When Ikemefuna is put into the care of Okonkwo, no one expected Okonkwo to grow attached to the kid, least of Okonkwo. Being a man of little emotion, he did not think he would care what happened to this child. Lo and behold Ikemefuna stayed with the family for three years, though he was fated to be killed as a sacrifice to satisfy the gods. But the people forgot. Nwoye became good friends with Ikemefuna and vice versa. The rest of the household enjoyed his company as well. Ikemefuna called Okonkwo ‘father’ and Okonkwo treated him like a son. But all cannot always stay the same. Because of Okonkwo’s obsession with his image, he witnessed a horror that never should have been. As the novel puts it, “...Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.” (52). And so this is how Okonkwo lives his life. He lives in the fear that people will think he is a weakling. When it is not so, yet there is no reason for him to continually prove himself. He is known as a great warrior, who possesses five human heads from his battles. Even though he is known
He expects that his little children can do a man’s work because that is when he started to work for his dinner. Okonkwo will do anything for his work. Often times he acts as if he cares more for his little yam plants than any of his descendants. When Okonkwo no longer called his father his own, he turned to work to make himself a man. Okonkwo sacrifices his childhood and his happiness to make a farm. As it states in the novel, “During the planting season Okonkwo worked daily on his farms from cock-crow until the chickens went to roost. He was a very strong man and rarely felt fatigue. But his wives and young children were not as strong, and so they suffered.” (12, 13). This shows how truly dedicated Okonkwo is to his crops, and how little he cares for his family. He cares not if his children are falling from fatigue or if his wives get sick from the sun. Truly, Okonkwo cares more for his farm than his …show more content…
At all times he must keep up the thought that he is strong. He gets overly offended by those that defy him. Okonkwo and a handful of others believed his father was a dud, but Okonkwo took it a little overboard. Not only does Okonkwo leave his father, but he goes on and makes a name for himself. Which could be noble in some instances. When Ikemefuna is put into the care of Okonkwo, no one expected Okonkwo to grow attached to the kid, least of Okonkwo. Being a man of little emotion, he did not think he would care what happened to this child. Lo and behold Ikemefuna stayed with the family for three years, though he was fated to be killed as a sacrifice to satisfy the gods. But the people forgot. Nwoye became good friends with Ikemefuna and vice versa. The rest of the household enjoyed his company as well. Ikemefuna called Okonkwo ‘father’ and Okonkwo treated him like a son. But all cannot always stay the same. Because of Okonkwo’s obsession with his image, he witnessed a horror that never should have been. As the novel puts it, “...Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.” (52). And so this is how Okonkwo lives his life. He lives in the fear that people will think he is a weakling. When it is not so, yet there is no reason for him to continually prove himself. He is known as a great warrior, who possesses five human heads from his battles. Even though he is known