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Okonkwo is a self-made, well-respected member of the Umuofia clan. As an uncompromising man's man, Okonkwo's relationship towards his family is one of complete dictatorship. His three wives are there to serve him his food and raise his children. The protagonist of Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is also considered a tragic hero.
A tragic hero holds a position of power and prestige, chooses his course of action, possesses a tragic flaw, and gains awareness of circumstances that lead to his fall.
Okonkwo's tragic flaw is his fear of weakness and failure. Who Is the District Commissioner? Obiageli - The daughter of Okonkwo's first wife. Although Obiageli is close to Ezinma in age, Ezinma has a great deal of influence over her. Ojiugo - Okonkwo's third and youngest wife, and the mother of Nkechi. Okonkwo beats Ojiugo during the Week of Peace. Following Ikemefuna's death, Okonkwo loses his appetite and does not eat any food for the next two days, only drinking palm wine from the morning to the evening.
Okonkwo's relationship with Nwoye is permanently ruined, and he cannot sleep at night. Okonkwo also becomes ill and cannot stop thinking about Ikemefuna.
Answer and Explanation: Okonkwo kills the messenger because he hates what the man represents: the end of his culture. How does Okonkwo react to Ikemefuna's death? He feels guilty for killing him. He wants to work but can't cause it's the down season, but he doesn't eat either. He visits Obierika. Okonkwo's relationship with Nwoye is permanently ruined, and he cannot sleep at night. Okonkwo also becomes ill and cannot stop thinking about Ikemefuna. Ekwefi's sad history with her past nine children before Ezinma , all of whom died , is recounted.
However, Ezinma lives past the age of three and, with the help of the medicine man, breaks away from the hold of her ogbanje, or evil spirit. A classical tragedy is a play in which the protagonist, who is a high-ranking and powerful character, falls from his position of power as a result of a tragic flaw.
Things Fall Apart is a novel, not a play, but it can be considered a tragedy because Okonkwo could be seen as a tragic hero, and. It is ironic in that Okonkwo seemed to be holding his village together. He in all his fierceness served as a leader who kept Umuofia safe from the intruders. Now, ironically , in Okonkwo's exile , he loses his standing in both places.
In the seven years that Okonkwo was exiled , things began falling apart in his village. Summary: Chapter 2 One night, the town crier rings the ogene, or gong, and requests that all of the clansmen gather in the market in the morning. At the gathering, Ogbuefi Ezeugo, a noted orator, announces that someone from the village of Mbaino murdered the wife of an Umuofia tribesman while she was in their market.
Throughout the novel, Chinua Achebe characterizes silence as being ominous and negative. In Chapter 7, Okonkwo and the boys work in "complete silence " until the locusts descend onto the village.
When Okonkwo receives the news, he tells Ikemefuna that he will be taking him home but does not say a word to Nwoye. Okonkwo is a self-made, well-respected member of the Umuofia clan. As an uncompromising man's man, Okonkwo's relationship towards his family is one of complete dictatorship. His three wives are there to serve him his food and raise his children.
In the history of Umuofia, such an accident has never occurred. Okonkwo's accidental killing of a clansman is a crime against the earth goddess, and he knows that he and his family must leave Umuofia for seven years. As his wives and children cry bitterly, they hurriedly pack their most valuable belongings into head loads to be carried as they prepare to flee before morning to Mbanta, the village of his mother.
Friends move Okonkwo's yams to Obierika's compound for storage. After the family's departure the next morning, a group of village men, carrying out the traditional justice prescribed by the earth goddess, invade Okonkwo's compound and destroy his barn, houses, and animals. Okonkwo's friend Obierika mourns his departure and wonders why Okonkwo should be punished so severely for an accident.
Again, Obierika ponders the old traditions, remembering his own twin children who were abandoned in the forest because of tribal tradition. In the literary tradition of the tragic hero, Okonkwo's undoing continues with his accidental killing of Ezeudu's son.
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