Okonkwo: A Hero or a coward?

A detailed Summary of Okonkwo: A Hero or a coward?

That year the harvest was sad, like a funeral, and many farmers wept as they dug up the miserable and rotting yams. One man tied his cloth to a tree and hanged himself. Okonkwo remembered that tragic year with a cold shiver throughout the rest of his life. It always surprised him when he thought of it later that he did not sink under the load of despair. He knew that he was a fierce fighter, but that year had been enough to break the heart of the strongest lion (Achebe 2947).

"Since I survived that year," he always said, "I shall survive anything." He put down his inflexible will. His father, Unoka, who was then an ailing man, had said to him during that terrible harvest month: "Do not despair. I know that you will not despair. You have a manly and a proud heart. A proud heart can survive a general failure because such a failure does not prick its pride. It is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone."(Achebe 2947)

Achebe's work, Things Fall Apart, is an epic; it resembles stories about heroes in many cultures. In these stories, the heroes are extraordinary individuals, whose careers and destinies are not theirs alone, but are bound with the fortunes and destinies of their society. They become heroes by accomp

Okonkwo also had an intense pride for his tribe and way of life. He believed that war and brutal fighting was the way to solve all problems. He also believed that he was such a fierce fighter; he could conquer anything life threw at him. Other tribes were supposed to fear war with Umofia due to their fierce warriors and greatness in battle. "This tribe was powerful in war and in rounding country."(Achebe 2941) When the white men did not fear, yet threatened the tribal way of life, Okonkwo prepared to handle the situation the only way he knew how. He wanted to go to war against the new white invaders, chasing them from tribal lands and ending the threat of a different way of life. Okonkwo was a proud and stubborn man constantly struggling to improve his standing in the tribal community. Nevertheless, through exemplary actions and heroic efforts, Okonkwo gained the much sought after respect from his fellow tribesmen.

Okonkwo is indeed a hero-a tragic hero. A tragic hero could be considered a "noble person with a fatal flaw" or "an opponent of society who is willing to take action that 'sensible people' might applaud but never perform themselves." Although he is a superior character-his tragic flaw-the equation of masculinity with anger, rashness, and violence-brings about his own destruction. He is driven by his father's legacy of shame and has no use for unsuccessful men. Perhaps down in his heart, Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil, of gods and magic, and the forces of nature. Okonkwo's fear was greater than all of these combined. It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, "lest he should be found to r

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Approximate Word count = 1199
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People