Can Okonkwo be considered a tragic hero?In Greek plays such as Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, it was very common for the man character to be a "tragic...

In my opinion, Okonkwo can be considered a tragic hero in
some of your categories, but not all. He is not of noble birth, but he gains a degree of
nobility through his achievements in his tribe,  so perhaps this can satisfy this
requirement. He has a lot of hero qualities. He has achieved famed as a strong wrestler
at an early age. He has also worked hard and become a successful yam farmer, with
several wives. He has achieved respect among his fellow Ibo tribesmen. He is also well
known among the neighboring tribes.

Ah, but things soon
fall apart for poor Oknokwo. He definitely has a refersal of fortune. Okonkwo is so
afraid of turning out like his father, a lazy man who could not support his family, a
man who owed money to everyone and who preferred to sing and dance all day instead of
work, that he does everything in his power to not become this type of man. He does not
understand the true measure of a man, however, and his tragic flaw is arrogance in
assuming that everything that is like his father is weakness and unmanly, and everything
that is the opposite of his father must be good and
manly.

This arrogance causes him to act rashly. He kills
people by mistake. He beats his wives so that the other men will not think he is weak.
He kills his adopted son, even though he has been warned not to participate in the
killing. He goes out on the phony hunting party in spite of being told by a tribal elder
to stay home, and when Ikemefuna is not immediately killed by the blows of others, he
finishes the job rather than stand around doing nothing and risking that the other men
might think him weak.

Unlike tragic heroes, Okonkwo does
not learn from his mistakes so there is never any increase of self-awareness and
self-knowledge. He goes to his death thinking that he is right, so when things start to
fall apart, they just keep spiraling out of control and he winds up committing suicide.
He even alienates his son because he cannot love the boy. The boy is more like
grandfather than his father, and Okonkwo believes he must treat him harshly so that the
other men will respect him.

Do you feel pity for
Okonko? This is a matter of opinion. In one sense, one might pity him for trying so hard
but just not getting it. After all, he had a dysfunctional upbringing. But on the other
hand, he has had plenty of chances. He is warned by many people, including his wives and
tribal elders, not to do certain things. He has even been exiled for years, but when he
returns, he goes back to his old ways. He beats his wives, he is cruel to his children,
and he kills a child. In my opinion, it is hard to have pity for such a
man.

In the end, perhaps Oknokwo is more of an anti-hero
than a tragic hero. Perhaps he is the villain of the story and not the hero. What do you
think?