Use of a Tragic Hero

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Today we will be looking into Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, a great example of a story that leads to a tragic end, with the main character being considered a tragic hero. Why did Achebe use this archetype as the main idea behind Okonkwo?

Well the answer is pretty simple, in fact it’s why many writers do these things, to make their novel more interesting, and appealing. By using this huge hyper masculine figure, Achebe is able to hook us in as we learn about Okonkwo, his success, however he then sends the character on a complete spiral downwards. This idea of a tragic story has another purpose as well, to share his main themes, ideas and historical information. Achebe’s uses his culture as the main basis for the novel, this is quite the ideals of the Igbo’s link up to Okonkwo and his values. By creating this  tragic hero, Achebe is able to create a depiction of what would have happened to the Igbo people who had this mind set, and how the issue caused should have been addressed due to the rules set, but were not, as they were an anomaly within their culture. He has also created a factual novel, where we the audience can now see how the Igbo society would have reacted to the actions of the missionaries during that time period.

Obviously, this has all been put to the extreme by Achebe, and would most likely have not happened. Nonetheless, it was an extremely useful tool for the author, as he was able to share what he set out to, through the use of this archetype.