Okonkwo as A Tragic Hero

“Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe is widely regarded as a window into African Society before – and during – the arrival of the colonialists and missionaries. So why would Achebe decide to characterize the main character Okonkwo as a tragic hero?

A tragic hero is one that is ultimately defeated and usually killed at the end of the story, commonly as a result of their own actions. Tragic heroes usually follow a specific archetype encountering hamartia, hubris, anagnorisis, and ultimately death and/or defeat. Okonkwo seems to follow a similar path throughout the novel. From the onset of the story, we are introduced to the aggressive and determined nature of Okonkwo exemplified by his lack of patience with unsuccessful men. However, more importantly, we see a profound fear beginning to exude from his actions and of the perception of his father. This fear of failure and of looking week can be observed by the reader in Okonkwo's actions, specifically when he kills Ikemefuna despite being advised not to as the boy considers him as a father. Okonkwo's fear can most closely be attributed to his perception of his father as a weak and lazy "agbala" and the way their strained relationship drove Okonkwo to reject all things feminine and weak in men. 

However, in order to understand the true purpose of characterizing him as a tragic hero, we must understand the nature of a tragic hero, the hero at some points in the story is usually seen in a negative light and the author develops a dislike between the reader and their character. However, after the death of the character, the reader almost always feel remorse or empathy towards them feeling as though they received more punishment than they deserved. This can be linked back to the fine line Achebe must tread being a native African Christian convert. Therefore, Okonkwo can be seen as an embodiment of many values of Igbo Society demonstrating its functionality, however, his death suggests an end to one main idea, that of inflexibility and a lack of duality.  

Igbo Background Assignment

Before I begin I would like to thank Mr. Chamberlain for his speech and for sharing his views on colonization, many of which I’m afraid I disagree with. I would also like to acknowledge the honor of being able to stand before an organization as great as the Royal Colonial Institute.

It would be ludicrous to dispute the value of the British and European colonies. They provided direct monetary assets to the British Government and could be regarded as valuable possessions that defined the wealth of our great nation. These colonies were protected and maintained, first thought to be an eternal source of wealth. However, it appears the well has gone dry and the colonies were no longer a source of revenue. Having been a brilliant source of profit, it is a dismal matter to at last see this era come to an end. Over time, our nation has been regarded as the pinnacle of forward thinking and advancement. However, the idea of a new chapter of colonization introduced to us today is in all senses backward.

Supporters of this new colonial stage claim to colonize, capture and destroy in the name of liberty, happiness, and prosperity. They paint a savage picture of the native inhabitants of the colonial lands depicting them as mentally disturbed, subhuman beings, living in a hellish environment supporting a dysfunctional society. As a representative of the Igbo culture, currently under colonial threat in Northwestern Africa, I would like to present them as a sample of indigenous people in order to sway you into rethinking your approach to colonization.

The Igbo people comprise one of the most prominent and diverse ethnic groups in Africa amassing to around 15 million people. However, the Igbo people can hardly be regarded as a single people, made up of over 200 separate groups and dozens of different languages and dialects. Even their cultures differ slightly from one group to another. Therefore, under colonial rule, the Igbo people will most likely be combined leading to conflict and true dysfunctionality. They have occupied their land for over 2000 years proving their success as a society. They build machines, tools and develop simple mining and ironworking technologies contrary to popular beliefs depicting them as animals. The Igbo people live in autonomous villages ruled by their elders in a well-coordinated ruling system regulated by goodwill, mutual respect, and diplomacy. They also delegate different roles and chores in the community to the different age groups allowing for a functional and efficient manner of running their villages. Thus the Igbo define a society in all meanings of the word. The Igbo people even have values not yet established in British society. For instance, women are provided opportunities to progress and become a prominent individual and not just an extension of their husband. They also have religion, in fact, one similar to Christianity where they believe in a God, the devil, and a form of guardian angels. They have a judicial system punishing crimes and solving disputes.

Therefore, if advocates of a new colonial regime cite security, peace, and prosperity in addition to other societal benefits as the flagships of their colonization, then there is truly no need for them as the Igbo people and the thousands of other colonized peoples have already established a society, peace, security, and prosperity. 

Coriolanus Practice IOC

Igbo Society and Colonization

Before I begin I would like to thank Mr. Chamberlain for his speech and for sharing his views on colonization, many of which I’m afraid I disagree with. I would also like to acknowledge the honor of being able to stand before an organization as great as the Royal Colonial Institute.

It would be ludicrous to dispute the value of the British and European colonies. They provided direct monetary assets to the British Government and could be regarded as valuable possessions that defined the wealth of our great nation. These colonies were protected and maintained, first thought to be an eternal source of wealth. However, it appears the well has gone dry and the colonies were no longer a source of revenue. Having been a brilliant source of profit, it is a dismal matter to at last see this era come to an end. Over time, our nation has been regarded as the pinnacle of forward thinking and advancement. However, the idea of a new chapter of colonization introduced to us today is in all senses backward.

Supporters of this new colonial stage claim to colonize, capture and destroy in the name of liberty, happiness, and prosperity. They paint a savage picture of the native inhabitants of the colonial lands depicting them as mentally disturbed, subhuman beings, living in a hellish environment supporting a dysfunctional society. As a representative of the Igbo culture, currently under colonial threat in Northwestern Africa, I would like to present them as a sample of indigenous people in order to sway you into rethinking your approach to colonization.

The Igbo people from one of the most prominent and diverse ethnic groups in Africa amassing to around 15 million people. However, the Igbo people can hardly be regarded as a single people, made up of over 200 separate groups and dozens of different languages and dialects. Even their cultures differ slightly from one group to another. Therefore, under colonial rule, the Igbo people will most likely be combined leading to conflict and true dysfunctionality. They have occupied their land for over 2000 years proving their success as a society. They build machines, tools and develop simple mining and ironworking technologies contrary to popular beliefs depicting them as animals. The Igbo people live in autonomous villages ruled by their elders in a well-coordinated ruling system regulated by goodwill, mutual respect, and diplomacy. They also delegate different roles and chores in the community to the different age groups allowing for a functional and efficient manner of running their villages. Thus the Igbo define a society in all meanings of the word. The Igbo people even have values not yet established in British society. For instance, women are provided opportunities to progress and become a prominent individual and not just an extension of their husband. They also have religion, where they believe in a God the devil and a form of guardian angels. They have a judicial system punishing crimes and solving disputes.

Therefore, if advocates of a new colonial regime cite security, peace, and prosperity in addition to other societal benefits as the flagships of their colonization, then there is truly no need for them as the Igbo people and the thousands of other colonized peoples have already established society, peace, security, and prosperity. 

Chinua Achebe Inquiry Discussion

Today’s inquiry discussion led the group mostly towards the cultural aspect of Chinua Achebe’s work. Thus, my biggest takeaway from the discussion was a greater understanding of the true impact of colonialism in Nigeria and the upsetting of society that came as a result. While discussing this topic, i seemed to frequently reflect on a specific quote, "the white man has put a knife on the things that held us together, and we have fallen apart." I feel as though this quote embodies the effect of colonialism and the way it impacts the indigenous people. This quote is referring to the disruption of the social order and an upsetting of society. In the case of Nigeria, the British decimated the system that was previously in place and incorporated the many disparate and detached Igbo Civilizations into one. All the different religions, customs, habits and cultures were combined into one. This led to a new civilization and a “new reality” that the Igbo people had to adjust to drastically. This affixes with the ability of colonial powers to maintain control as was also discussed in today’s class. In order to assert power colonialists would combine different cultures, causing a tension between them allowing them to be governed with more ease. 

Freedom from Fear

Paper 1 – Freedom from Fear

The text being portrayed is Freedom from Fear a speech presented by Aung Sang Suu Kyi a political and human rights activist. The speech is most clearly identified as a political speech maintaining many of its stylistic and literary characteristics. One of which is the use of rhetorical devices, in addition to the use of powerful diction and emotional appeals and connotations in order to motivate people to advocate for a cause and gain support for the suggested ideology by justifying the claims. In this particular address, Suu Kyi employs specific linguistic choices to push forth her ideas of freedom and human rights while appealing to the intended audiences. Therefore, we can see that through the use of literary and stylistic choices across the speech and by corresponding with the characteristics of a political speech Suu Kyi is able to convey her influence most effectively.

Language is an effective medium to use when targeting an audience and Suu Kyi makes good use of this. The intended audience can be most closely identified as the Burmese Population and inhabitants due to the speech being initially presented in Burmese a language not common outside of Burma. Although, she also seems to be targeting a western audience as well which can be inferred from the later translation of the speech to English, the dominant language in the western world. Targeting the Burmese population, she is focusing on a population and a country where she already has influence and is most likely to induce change and is where she is hoping to make the biggest change as it is “within a system that denies the existence of basic human rights”. From the recurring idea of the speech, the idea of freedom, fearlessness and human rights we can assume that at the time the Burmese people are suffering from oppression and a lack of human rights. In the speech, Aung Sang Suu Kyi is advocating for freedom from fear and from oppression. Furthermore, the text also serves a more ambitious purpose, to instill courage and fearlessness into the people of Burma and spark a shift in their way of thinking in order to lead to independence claiming that they “must first learn to liberate their own minds from apathy and fear. This is further emphasized by rhetorical devices as will be discussed later.

Another key aspect of the speech that helps shape meaning in the text is the actual content and themes of the speech. She opens the speech by discussing the true essence of her revolution and her philosophy and carves a path to freedom and development in order to appeal to her audience that - as has been established previously – is facing oppression. A revolution that is “born of an intellectual conviction of the need for change in those mental attitudes and values which shape the course of a nation's development.” Also, by demonstrating knowledge and understanding on the topic using terminology such as “intellectual conviction”, “quintessential revolution” and so on. She is justifying her leadership and providing ethos. She then introduces the idea of “freedom from fear” and the first steps that will need to be taken in order to achieve liberation. Continuing with her idea of moral courage and fearlessness she relates back to her father’s ideas and personality reminding them of her relation to a respected national hero. She further justifies her ideas using previous historical examples of similar cases of oppression and their liberation and figures such as Mahatma Gandhi known for their moral fearlessness and intellect this can be interpreted as a form of logos. She concludes with a final push for motivation using emotion by appealing to the audience's fears. The “fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death …” fears that are very real for these people. The overarching themes in her speech are also clear and defined in order to have a lasting impact on the audience. Freedom from fear, gaining human rights and freedom from oppression can be identified as the main themes being communicated in the speech. These themes are emphasized through her use of specific diction with words such as “fearlessness”, “power”, “ruthless”, “freedom”, “liberate” and “courage”. Therefore, demonstrating the importance of her content and themes in conveying meaning.

Suu Kyi also utilizes tone and mood throughout the text in order to more effectively communicate her ideas with the audience. The tone Adopted by Aung San Suu Kyi is that of peace and guiding, and revolt and motivation. The balance between the peace and guidance and revolt and motivation was achieved by opening paragraphs with a peaceful tone and ending with motivation and revolt. This can be seen in the opening paragraph “the quintessential revolution is that of the spirit” this peaceful tone unites the people with this idea and introduces it well, although she concludes the paragraph with “there has to be a united determination to persevere in the struggle, to make sacrifices in the name of enduring truths, to resist the corrupting influences”. This intertwining of the two tones allows the speech to be most effective in gaining support and building motivation without becoming bossy and commanding. The mood of the text is also one of forward-thinking, initiative and hope. By using words and phrases such as “there has to be”, “to persevere”, “to resist”, “to liberate” and so on, Suu Kyi is evoking the spirit and mood of initiative and revolution. Hope is also evident as Suu Kyi makes it clear that the revolution is in order to change “official policies” and “build a nation”. The tone and mood of the text thus have a major role in emphasizing the meaning of the speech and serving the purpose of motivating the people.

Finally, the speech also makes use of some literary devices as is typically seen in political speeches. First of all at the beginning of the second paragraph the use of the religious reference “the saints, it has been said, are the sinners who go on trying” and the analogy formed between them and the “oppressed who keep on trying” lifts the status of the people and gives them motivation and a sense of importance further building trust between them and the speaker with ethos as well as building emotional connections with pathos. There is also constant repetition of freedom, liberation, and courage. The most effective political speeches use this repetition to make certain points memorable and easy to communicate amongst the masses. The fact that she also referred to historical references also demonstrates the success of similar philosophies in similar situations providing he with more ethos. The connotation of fear and a harsh tone by using words such as “death”, “imprisonment”, “death”, “torture”, “isolation” and “poverty” also evokes pathos within her speech as it appeals to their emotion of fear forming an emotional connection between her and the audience. Near the end of the speech she also metaphorically compares “concepts such as truth, Justice, and compassion”, to “the only bulwarks that stand against ruthless power.” This conveys the importance of truth, justice, and compassion to her philosophy and to her revolution, and being the concluding statement of the speech, leaves a lasting impact on the audience.

To conclude, ‘Freedom from Fear’ by Aung San Suu Kyi is a political speech with a purpose to gain support and motivation and to advocate for the cause of fearlessness and freedom from oppression. She is able to effectively convey her message and serve the purpose by manipulating content, tone, style, mood, theme and so on. She also uses a range of literary devices to further emphasize the speech and assist with motivating the people in addition to providing ethos, pathos and some forms of logos in her speech to justify her leadership and her cause.