Oukil Raouane G01 3rd year

OKONKWO AS A TRAGIC HERO :

Postcolonial discourse is a literary work that expresses opposition and

resistance to the misrepresentation and false image made by colonial authors .
one of the most outstanding post colonial works that caught the attention of such
a wide range of readers is thing fall apart by the Nigerian post colonial novelist
Chinua Achebe .in this novella Achebe recounts the story of an African man and
his conflict with the new costumes brought by whites. In all respects of the story,
it is shown how far the novel adopts Aristotle’s concepts of the tragic hero
through the protagonist Okonkwo .

A tragic hero is the protagonist of a tragedy. The philosopher Aristotle strictly

defines the place that the tragic hero must play and the kind of man he must be
within six characteristics. First, the tragic hero is someone of superior qualities an
high status in society,he is noble ,capable and powerful . A person who feels
responsible to the rules of honor and morality .second characteristic is the
excessive pride and self confidence that leads to the third characteristic which is
the tragic flaw which is an irreversible mistake and a defect of the character that
leads to his reversal of fate that changes the path of character and shift him closer
to the doom .this change in destiny makes the tragic hero realize himself and
discover the roots of his downfall. The last feature of a tragic hero is the tragic
end where he the most of time commits death .All these characteristics are
present in the protagonist and tragic hero Okonkwo.