OKONKWO AS A TRAGIC HERO

Chinua Achebe (1930-2013) was a great, prominent and eminent writer of Modern age. His famous novel ‘Things Fall Apart’ has been liked and appreciated on the ground that he has painted a realistic picture of the traditional lives of Black people and the invasion of the Whites in Africa with their motives of colonization. He has fabricated a marvelous story through the character of ‘Okonkwo’ who is a true follower of traditions of Igbo society in Umuofia, Nigeria, Africa.

‘Things Fall Apart’ is a tragedy in which the hero ‘Okonkwo’ dies in the end because of his tragic flaw i.e., rash provocation. In fact, his father ‘Unoka’ was a lazy man who did nothing in his life but borrowed money to spend on his friends and drinking. Consequently, his family spent a starving life. People used to call Okonkwo’s father an ‘Agbala’ e.g., eunuch for his laziness. Okonkwo did not like these deprivations. Therefore, he had made up his mind since his childhood that he would work hard to regain the lost glory of his family.

After the death of his father, Okonkwo started proving his metal. He knocked down a wrestler who had been a winning champion for the last seven years, and won a distinguishing title. Furthermore, he toiled hard and grew yams in his fields which brought sufficient income for his family to lead a comfortable life. Hence, Okonkwo had become one of the leaders of clansmen in Umuofia. Despite all these winnings, he had a tragic flaw. He used to get offended quickly on trivial matters and started beating without probing into the matter. It was all because of the shortcomings which he had faced in his early life.

On the occasion of annual ‘Week of Peace’, Okonkwo’s third wife, Ojiugo, goes for braiding her hair and eventually got late. Okonkwo beat her to his fill just because she could not prepare his lunch in time. Resultantly, he had to pay offerings at the shrine on the demand of priests. Similarly, on a festival ‘The Feast of New Yam’, he came to know that someone had cut off some leaves from his banana trees. In fact, his second wife, Ekwefi, had plucked them to wrap food. Okonkwo got annoyed at this venial act and gave her a thorough beating and once again paid a penalty for breaking the tradition of that festival according to which any sort of violence was disallowed.

All these events speak of Okonkwo’s peevish temperament, aggressive behaviour and rash provocation which lead him towards his final destination i.e., death which ultimately make him a tragic hero of the novel ‘Things Fall Apart’.

A woman from Umuofia goes to neighbouring village, Mbanta, where somebody killed her mistakenly and in turn, they send a virgin along with a young boy of fourteen, Ikemefuna, to the leaders of Umuofia as penalty. The virgin was handed over to the man whose wife was killed whereas the boy was sent with Okonkwo for three years. Ikemefuna exerted a positive influence on Okonkwo’s son, Nwoye, who was girlish by nature and was a source of Okonkwo’s constant anger. Ikemefuna taught him (Nwoye) how to make arrows, bows and spears and thus won Okonkwo’s heart.

But as three years passed, the leaders of Umuofia demanded for the killing of young Ikemefuna. One of the leaders warned Okonkwo to keep himself away from the act of killing the boy. To this effect, Okonkwo tells lie and asks the boy to get ready for he is going to take him to Mbanta where his parents reside. The boy’s happiness knew no bounds and he started his journey with Okonkwo. When they entered the jungle, a number of clansmen appeared and hit Ikemefuna’s head with machete. A fountain of blood rushed out of his head and he fell down asking Okonkwo for help. Okonkwo stepped forward and killed the boy with his machete. In fact, he did it in order to avoid looking weak.

The very next year, the leader who had warned Okonkwo against killing the boy, dies. All gather on his funeral, dance and do nonstop firing. Suddenly, Okonkwo’s gun bursts and its bullet kills the son of the leader whose funeral they were in. This event reminds him of his role in killing Ikemefuna. According to the traditions, Okonkwo and his family had to leave Umuofia for seven years.

Okonkwo takes his family to his mother’s village, Mbaino, where his uncle, Uchendu, welcomes them warmly. He shares all his belongings with the new commers and Okonkwo works harder on his uncle’s farms. They lead a very friendly life- share their eatables, dance together, celebrate events together and thus, win each other’s hearts. In the meanwhile, Okonkwo’s friend, Obierika, comes from Umuofia and informs him about the arrival of the Whites and their activities in their village. He tells that the Whites have built their church and established their settlements in Umuofia. They have established their court of law which goes contrary to all the Umuofian traditions. At this, Okonkwo smells the weak state of Umuofian leaders and shows his resentment over this situation.

After the completion of seven years of exile, Okonkwo returns Umuofia and calls for a meeting of all leaders and clansmen. When he was agitating them all to wage a war against the Whites, four white men appeared and asked for the dismissal of meeting according to the orders of the Commissioner. Okonkwo kills one of them with his machete and the rest succeeded in fleeing. No clansman dared to stop them. At this, Okonkwo dismisses the meeting in resentment and goes home.

The Commissioner with his forces came to Okonkwo’s compartment and called him out loudly. His friend Obierika comes out and asks the Commissioner to follow him. They go to the backyard of the house and found Okonkwo’s dead body hanging down the tree.

To conclude, Okonkwo had committed suicide to satisfy his resentment over the weakness of his fellow clansmen. He took this insult to his heart and preferred to die in order to avoid being called weak. He was a tragic hero in the true sense of word.