Classical Works or texts of literature that are seen as worth of being placed on the highest pedestals are never arbitrarily deemed as such. In fact, in order to be regarded in such high esteem, one must present a level of ability to bring to light and analyze paramount issues of a particular time period. Critic Harold Bloom claimed that no aspect beyond aesthetics, or influence should be considered when determining whether a work or text is great or worthy of being in the literary cannon. This essay will specifically delve into Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and how it completes preceding works in classic Greek Tragedies.
In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the main character Onkonkwo, can easily be identified as having the same qualities as a hero in a Greek tragedy. Those qualities according to Aristotle suggest that a hero must evoke in the audience a sense of pity or fear (Butcher, 46). …show more content…
In the case of Okonkwo his tragic fall was killing Ikemefuna, his adopted son. This event was his tragic fall because it led to other events in his life such as killing the son of Ogbuefi Ezeudu, and his eventual exile. Okonkwo’s friend Obierika even foreshadows the significanct downfall that would come about following Onkokwo’s of his killing of Ikemefuna when he told him that “What you have done will not please the earth. It is the kind of action for which the goddess wipes out whole families.” (Achebe, 67). So, because he killed his own adopted son, it was only fitting that the reversal of both Okonkwo and the story that follows him would be the fallout from accidentally killing another man’s son. This directly led to his seven-year exile from Umuofia. This could very easily be interpreted as the earth goddess’s punishment that Obierika spoke of. The similarities between Things Fall Apart and a Greek tragedy do not stop
In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the main character Onkonkwo, can easily be identified as having the same qualities as a hero in a Greek tragedy. Those qualities according to Aristotle suggest that a hero must evoke in the audience a sense of pity or fear (Butcher, 46). …show more content…
In the case of Okonkwo his tragic fall was killing Ikemefuna, his adopted son. This event was his tragic fall because it led to other events in his life such as killing the son of Ogbuefi Ezeudu, and his eventual exile. Okonkwo’s friend Obierika even foreshadows the significanct downfall that would come about following Onkokwo’s of his killing of Ikemefuna when he told him that “What you have done will not please the earth. It is the kind of action for which the goddess wipes out whole families.” (Achebe, 67). So, because he killed his own adopted son, it was only fitting that the reversal of both Okonkwo and the story that follows him would be the fallout from accidentally killing another man’s son. This directly led to his seven-year exile from Umuofia. This could very easily be interpreted as the earth goddess’s punishment that Obierika spoke of. The similarities between Things Fall Apart and a Greek tragedy do not stop