Tragic Hero Archetype

A tragic hero is a protagonist whose ultimate downfall is caused by their personal tragic flaw.  Considering that Okonkwo is obviously the protagonist of "Things Fall Apart", he already meets 50% of the tragic hero criteria. Achebe uses Okonkwo's character to portray the Igbo culture. Both the culture and Okonkwo ultimately have similar downfalls. First of all, the culture is strongly established, as Okonkwo is a strong and powerful man. Then, as Okonkwo is exiled, the Igbo culture begins to fall apart as colonization begins. In the end, Okonkwo ends his life, as the Igbo culture is taken over by colonization. He end of his life symbolizes the end of the Igbo culture. Achebe uses the protagonist to show the tragedy of the culture. This is the character that the reader spends most time reading about, and therefore has the closest connection with that character than any other. So by showing the struggles of the culture within the protagonist, the destiny of Okonkwo has a greater impact on the reader. Not only this, but due to the fact that 'Things Fall Apart' is based around a real life event, the ending that is destined for the tragic hero also creates a larger emotional impact on the reader as they realize this could have been actually how the Igbo people felt in real time. To summarize, Achebe chose to characterize Okonkwo as the tragic hero as he is the protagonist of the book, and therefore the reader creates the strongest connection with this character. Okonkwo's tragic death, therefore, can have a greater impact on the reader as they realize this was once real life. It also creates a sort of connection between the reader and the culture, as Okonkwo's downfall goes alongside the Igbo culture.