Tragic Hero Archetype, Things Fall Apart

In many ways Things Fall Apart is considered a tragedy. Why would Achebe, taking into account the cultural context, choose to characterize Okonkwo using the tragic hero archetype?

In the novel Things Fall Apart, Achebe intentionally choses to adapt the conventions of the tragic hero archetype to the main character Okonkwo. Throughout the novel, we experience Okonkwo's high authority and influential position in Umuofia. The Igbo culture follows a hierarchical structure that divides tthe people according to their age, wealth, and gender. Okonkwo belongs to those with the highest title due to his courage and arrogance. His need for power and personal failures create a barrier between him and the opportunity for success. This leads to his ultimate downfall later on in the story. The audience is able to experience the destruction of the Igbo culture due to the threat of colonization. The negative impacts of colonization combined with Okonkwo's internal conflict create a sense of failure for the Igbo community. He is portrayed as the ultimate product of their society, and is characterized using the tragic hero archetype. Okonkwo consists of several bad/negative qualities that result in his ultimatum, which symbolizes the cultural loss of Umuofia. Okonkwo's failure and death can potentially reflect the division of the Umuofia and further symbolize the death of the Igbo culture. 

Igbo Background

Good evening ladies and gentlemen of the Royal Colonial Institute. First off, a great thank you to Mr. Chamberlain for sharing his ideas on the Igbo background and colonization and may I say it is an honour to speak in front of such an audience. I am here today to speak about my perspective on colonization, which will be different from Mr. Chamberlain. We as humans tend to be selfish and prioritise our community and/or our country much rather than the places we seem to 'help'. A perfect example of this is the Ibo culture. Igboland is a small section of land in Nigeria that belongs to the Igbo people. It seems to me that colonising such a place has possibly allowed good things to happen such as (improved) education and transportation systems. However, I do not believe that modernizing the community in such a rapid way was right. Even though our knowledge is passed on to certain individuals in the Ibo culture, the complex and traditional way of thinking of these individuals does not occur to some us. It does not seem to matter. It is almost as if their cultural values are being absorbed by us without thinking of the consequences. The Igbo people presented us with knowledge of their culture that is incomparable to ours. Colonization has made a massive impact on the cultural beliefs and values amongst the Igbo men, and in my opinion not a good one. It affected their religion and their language. The Igbo people had beliefs and these were overshadowed by Christianity within a couple of years. Such a cultural group has it's own belief system, which we completely disrespected. It caused the community to be divided because it was so strongly influenced by the British that they have lost connections with their roots. On top of that, the language of the Igbo people, as it were, has been taken away and the majority is replaced with English. These are all factors that play a major role in once culture, and through colonization we have taken away a huge part of their culture. It is extremely important for one to maintain their cultural values and beliefs as it creates unity and peace. To those of you who are listening this, I urge you to become aware of the approach to colonization in the hope you will reconsider it. Thank you all for your attention. 

Achebe interview

The interview with Chinue Achebe was a very interesting and insightful one to read as it enabled me to acknowledge Achebe's aim to give the unheard African stories a voice. Achebe reveals a range of perspectives regarding several critical questions on foreign literature. He talks about the influences American and European cultures have in modern day literature; they publish stories regarding their social status while presenting other cultures negatively. As for today, many African countries still face adversities within their reputation. This has been caused due to the stories published by both Europe and America that continue to talk about the impacts of colonization as a way to justify their actions. Within this interview, Achebe made me think about the importance of recognising the value of different perspectives, and to view a group of individuals or even people in general in their full context including cultural beliefs. In my opinion the following quote is best to represent and summarise my most important take away as well as Achebe's objective to achieve a universal civilization: "This is really what I personally wish this century to see ... a balance of stories where every people will be able to contribute to a definition of themselves, where we are not victims."

Things Fall Apart Inquiry Questions

1. Why do you think that Achebe believe in identifying yourself in a story?

2. Why do you think that African literature was negative while within European contact?

3. Do you agree with Achebe’s statement that you should allow yourself to identify with the people in a story?

4. What is your idea of a universal civilization? Is it similar to Achebe’s?

5. He says storytelling has to do with power, what do you think he means by that?