Who is the tragic hero in the novel things fall apart?

Question

i don't understand who is the tragic hero so can you please tell me.

&+ can you tell me why they are the tragic hero in the story.

thnx =]

Answer 1

i think his name was Okonkwo

Answer 2

Okonkwo!

I studied this book for GCSE's and still have all my notes and things, anyway Okonkwo is the tragic hero because a 'tragic hero' is defined as one whose outcome (or fate) was predestined and the events surrounding him could not be controlled. Like Macbeth who heard the prophecy he would become king and then die, and then did so. Or Oedipus, whose prophecy stated he would kill his own father and sleep with his mother, which he inadvertently did!

Similarly, Okonkwo had no control over the events around him, the British came, urrm I don't really remember much else, but I think he was ostracised for someone accidentally shooting a bird or person or something? Anyway, the final chapter, whatever leads him to kill himself, could not be avoided based on the events that led up to it, which he could not control because of the society in which he lived.

Hope this helps! I got an A in my GCSE if that makes u feel better lol!

Answer 3

Okonkwo is a tragic hero in the classical sense: although he is a superior character, his tragic flaw — the equation of manliness with rashness, anger, and violence — brings about his own destruction. Okonkwo is gruff, at times, and usually unable to express his feelings (the narrator frequently uses the word “inwardly” in reference to Okonkwo’s emotions). But his emotions are indeed quite complex, as his “manly” values conflict with his “unmanly” ones, such as fondness for Ikemefuna and Ezinma. The narrator privileges us with information that Okonkwo’s fellow clan members do not have — that Okonkwo surreptitiously follows Ekwefi into the forest in pursuit of Ezinma, for example — and thus allows us to see the tender, worried father beneath the seemingly indifferent exterior. Okonkwo also enjoys the presence of his daughter, who was once believed to be ogbanje, or evil spirit