“A tragic hero is a literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction.” The word hero is derived from a Greek word that means, “a person who faces adversity, or demonstrates courage in the face of danger.” But a tragic hero, along with the traits of a hero, also has negative traits as well. According to Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero, the character must possess five characteristics: Hamartia, Hubris, Peripeteia, Anagnorisis, Nemesis, and Catharsis.
In summary, the tragic hero has a mixture of good and bad in his personality, a tragic flaw that causes their downfall, they go on a journey or participate on a quest, has a large capacity for suffering, and their downfall is preceded by self-realization. There are many examples of tragic heroes in stories, including Okonkwo from the novel Things Fall Apart. In addition, another example of a tragic hero is the tree in the book The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. What the author is trying to portray about the concept of a tragic hero in The Giving Tree is how a hero can be very giving, just like the tree. But a …show more content…
One might infer that he had the realization that he cannot stop the change that was happening in Umuofia, but that it does not mean he had the enlightenment Aristotle’s definition describes. Nonetheless, Okonkwo was in fact a tragic hero. His fatal flaw of being afraid of weakness and failure caused him to be a violent man. When the white men brought Christianity to Umuofia, Okonkwo was opposed to the new ways. He believed that the changes were destroying the Igbo culture, changes that required compromise and accommodation — two qualities that Okonkwo found intolerable. Being too proud, he clung to traditional beliefs and mourned the loss of the past, eventually leading to his ironic
In summary, the tragic hero has a mixture of good and bad in his personality, a tragic flaw that causes their downfall, they go on a journey or participate on a quest, has a large capacity for suffering, and their downfall is preceded by self-realization. There are many examples of tragic heroes in stories, including Okonkwo from the novel Things Fall Apart. In addition, another example of a tragic hero is the tree in the book The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. What the author is trying to portray about the concept of a tragic hero in The Giving Tree is how a hero can be very giving, just like the tree. But a …show more content…
One might infer that he had the realization that he cannot stop the change that was happening in Umuofia, but that it does not mean he had the enlightenment Aristotle’s definition describes. Nonetheless, Okonkwo was in fact a tragic hero. His fatal flaw of being afraid of weakness and failure caused him to be a violent man. When the white men brought Christianity to Umuofia, Okonkwo was opposed to the new ways. He believed that the changes were destroying the Igbo culture, changes that required compromise and accommodation — two qualities that Okonkwo found intolerable. Being too proud, he clung to traditional beliefs and mourned the loss of the past, eventually leading to his ironic