Okonkwo: Tragic Hero Archetype

In many ways, Things Fall Apart is considered a tragedy. Why would Achebe, taking into account the cultural context, choose to characterize Okonkwo using the tragic hero archetype?

According to Aristotle, a tragic hero archetype is “a [great] man who is neither a paragon of virtue and justice nor undergoes the change to misfortune through any real badness or wickedness but because of some mistake." In other words, a hero is confronted with the root of their downfall as a result of their flaws or fate. In the novel, Things Fall Apart (1958), written by Chinua Achebe (1930-2013), the main character Okonkwo is characterized as a tragic hero. Achebe did not merely craft this archetype by coincidence, but rather to project and mimic the fall of the Nigerian culture, society, and values. 

Okonkwo is a hardworking, well-respected member of the Ibo clan in Umuofia. His tragic flaw, also known as hamartia, was his mental incapability of adapting his values due to his priorities on social reputation and honor. His ultimate fear was being like his father Unoka, who was cowardly and unable to support his family. Henceforth, he ingrains his emphasis on hyper-masculinity, titles, and pride. These flaws fundamentally lead to the collapse of his persona when the Igbo culture is colonized by British missionaries, as he resists change leading to his downfall.

Subsequently, Okonkwo’s downfall mimicked the destruction of the Nigerian society during the British colonization in the 19^th century. As displayed in the novel in relation to the cultural composition, Okonkwo’s ultimate hamartia and peripeteia led to his demise. In the same way, his downfall symbolizes how British colonizers dismantled the authentic Nigerian culture, society, values, and religion which lead to a change in societal dynamics. This shift is what lead to the Nigerian society to crumble and falling apart from their traditional customs. Therefore, Okonkwo encompasses and voices the unheard story of Nigeria’s downfall due to British colonization—a central message Achebe aimed to unravel within the novel. 

Igbo Background Assignment

The speech of Sir. Charles Chadwick, the British Secretary of State for the Colonies, at the annual dinner of the Royal Colonial Institute on April 24^th, 1897.

          Honored guests, I now have the honor to propose the toast of “Prosperity to the Royal Colonial Institute.” I rise to my feet on this occasion as it is both a pleasure and privilege to be here tonight. With the institute’s mission to promote Commonwealth and core values of culture, I express my admiration to the founders of 1868.

         For I am not a member of the Ibo clan nor culture. I am the British Secretary of State for the Colonies in which Great Britain has indulged its control. For the last fifteen years, I have settled in Igboland and documented the Igbo world, culture, and history. Throughout these expeditions, it seems to me that there is a controversial misconception regarding our colonies in Africa and Imperial history. Public opinions have drifted to the opposite extreme as our current influence on their culture is often underestimated.

         On Monday, 18^th of September, I flew to Igboland, Southeastern Nigeria. It is the home of one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa, of which approximately 15 million members live in Nigeria. Over the last 200 years, the body of English literature that has been published on African colonies has presented Africans in extremely lurid terms. When we think of Nigeria, we are often reminded of a framework of infinite chaos and deprivation. As a matter of fact, literature from writers such as John Lok referred to black Africans as “beasts who have no houses... without heads, having their mouth and eyes in their breasts.” However, such descriptions often deviate far from reality. To your surprise, the Ibo people form an incredibly intricate complex culture, of which many values and traditions are on the verge of irreversible cultural assimilation due to our British colonies.

         The Igbo identity is a compound product of the twentieth century and consists of two hundred separate groups in an aggregation of self-containing towns. Before the Christian missionaries arrived during the 1830s, the Igbo believed in the Supreme Being, also known as the Chukwu, who lives in the sky looking upon his peoples. Furthermore, folk tales, proverbs, and incantations strengthened their devotion for the existence of Chukwu. What many of us today fail to realize is that differences are what unite nations. Our ideology of civilization can simply not be a mandatory mold for other cultures. In Igbo communities, democracy was achieved with the principle of direct participation in government around the idea of cross-cutting ties. This includes the councils of elders, councils of chiefs, secret societies, age-groups and women’s associations.

         Our lack of knowledge on their ideologies of “equalitarianism” is extremely visible during our colonization history. We must understand that the Igbo culture is divided into age groups, in which individual achievements are highly regarded. However, this lack of recognition lead the arrival of colonial officers to strip traditional Igbo chiefs of power such as the ozo title. We must also understand that in Igbo culture, concepts such as polygamy, secret societies, the enigma of twinship and oracles are far from British traditions. Unique systems such as autonomous villages and town which are ruled by their elder in patrilineages are vulnerable to our imposed colonization and ideologies. Voices of the Chukwu are demanded to be heard by the Obodos, they are demanded to be heard by us.

         Currently, cultural assimilation of the Igbo culture is ongoing. This is also true for other British colonies such as Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, British East Africa, British Somaliland, etc. The complexity of such tangled cultures are often hidden under a coat of Eurocentrism. And it is our responsibility, to reconsider our approach of colonization, to remove the coat which hides the beauty of such human nature. Indeed, a small change in our mindset is a change forward. As a nation, I am convinced that we are not blind and that we shall rise to our obligations to construct a greater and wealthier nation. We must take this past to recognize that our approach to colonization and the assimilation of complex cultures such as Igbo is not only a destruction of our united empire but also a destruction of our mission to fulfill our national character of the British flag. Let it be our task. Let it be our will. Let us have confidence in the future. It is because I firmly believe that the Royal Colonial Institute will support to this sincere recognition, that I propose the toast of the evening.

-Sir. Charles Chandler (1843-1929)

An Interview with Chinua Achebe

             In today’s shared inquiry discussion, our class explored Chinua Achebe’s work in relation to the cultural or literary context. This was completed by discussing our inquiry questions from Achebe’s Interview with ‘The Atlantic,' published on August 2^nd, 2000. In this interview, the author of Things Fall Apart (1958) examines his opinions on the cultural and historical background of Nigeria, African literature, and colonization. From this shared inquiry discussion, my most meaningful takeaway was his motive and purpose on writing Things Fall Apart. The novel, published two years before Nigeria’s Independence, celebrates and revisits the complex cultural authenticity and tradition of the Ibo tribe. Furthermore, he suppresses the dangers of hegemonic assimilation to motivate the Nigerian society for independence. As discussed in my group, Achebe clearly demonstrates that “stories will create a shift in power” and that one should not be “victims of other people’s accounts.” By demonstrating the danger of the single story, Achebe illuminates the importance of literature and language as an effective weapon to justify inaction, slavery, and imperialism. Considering this, I found it particularly interesting to relate his perspective and the context of composition, to Achebe’s literary work.  

            One quote that resonated with me the most was “There’s a reaction to a reaction, and there will be a further reaction to that. And I think that’s the way it will go, until what I call a balance of stories is secured.” In this quote, Achebe is referring to the European literature with “supported a certain view of Africa.” As he mentioned, over the last four or five hundred years, European literature presented Africa in a narrow lens and lurid terms, referring to them as ‘beasts,’ to justify the slave trade and slavery. Furthermore, the underlying message of this statement relates to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s discussion of ‘the danger of a single story,’ as a single story showcases a people as one thing, ultimately generating an incomplete stereotype. In order to complete people’s dignity, a balance of stories must be published. This illustrates the importance of the novel Things Fall Apart, as it balances the story of a colonized nation and hegemonic power. This ultimately counter-argues colonization and pushes the shift in power of stories.

Paper 1 Response 'The Ballot or The Bullet'

Extract from The Ballot or The Bullet by Malcolm X. 

          The text presented is an extract from Malcolm X’s (1925-1965) speech called The Ballot or the Bullet delivered on April 3^rd, 1964. Malcolm X, also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, was an African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist in the work frame of political and social values such as inequality, hegemonic power, and alterity. Furthermore, the extract associates with the conventions of a political speech such as the use of rhetorical devices, slogans, emotive language and rhetoric that is sculpted to persuade and inform the target audience regarding a political and social issue. Relating to the extract of The Ballot or the Bullet, Malcolm applies a variety of rhetorical devices and literary techniques as well as societal, and political events to appeal to his target audience. Henceforth, the purpose of this political speech is to advocate black rights and persuade the philosophy of black nationalism towards the “young generation” of black community voters by illustrating how future blockage of African American equality demands violence. Through the use of various rhetorical devices and structural conventions, Malcolm develops a persuasive text which calls for action in his political speech amongst the African American society during the Civil Rights era.

            Considering the advocacy of African American equality, rights and the black nationalism philosophy that is exemplified in the extract, Malcolm implies that the target audience are individuals from the black society. This is evident in Malcolm’s references of “colonial power” in America, illustrating the “second-class citizenship” due to slavery. This is also evident regarding his perspective on approaching “nationalism to remove colonialism.” Malcolm refers to the audience as “you” and “us,” inferring that the audience are “22 million Afro-Americans here in this country”. Furthermore, in his introductory paragraph, Malcolm stresses that “black nationalism is a self-help philosophy… that eliminates the necessity for division and argument”. Malcolm displays this division by expressing that black nationalism is present in all black individuals and exemplifies a culture of acceptance, including specific references to those who go to “church,” are “atheist” or take part in “any kind of civic organization.” It is also evident that Malcolm specifically targets his audience to the “new generation” such as “a young black man.” In his concluding statements, Malcolm illustrates the failure of previous African American equality. This is evident in his references to “our people are disillusioned. They’ve become disenchanted. They’ve become dissatisfied, and in their frustrations they want action… old Uncle Tom action is outdated”. This is contrasted to his references of the “young generation” that “don’t want to hear anything about the odds against us.” This infers the cultural values that his target audience celebrates and respects his aim of “doing some standing, and some fighting to back that up.” It is a culture of advocating human rights and voicing their stance in political discredit. It also infers that his speech is directly targeting African American individuals of a low to middle-class socioeconomic status in their early 20s-30s. From this analysis, it can be concluded that the political speech aims to call for action on African American equality and political justice.

            Malcolm achieves this purpose of political justice through illuminating the content of the cultural and historical context. Malcolm unfolds his speech with a justification of the “self-help philosophy,” illustrating its elimination of “division and argument” to attract all members of the black society. He then conveys the importance of change in “your philosophy” and “thought pattern” to further motivate his beliefs which persuades the audience through moral values. To ground this persuasive moral concept, Malcolm introduces the history of independence in Asia and Africa through “the philosophy of nationalism.” Furthermore, he recalls and compares the history of previous independent nations such as Asia and Africa as well as marches to exemplify the urgency of a call for action in 1964. While Malcolm introduces his aim in the first paragraph, he further develops this argument through these historical events which support his idea of voicing political justice and equality to his target audience. Henceforth, through the use of pathos and logos, the audience carries a direct emotion of responsibility to take action towards Malcolm’s advocacy. Moreover, the content of the text re-enforces and establishes the fundamental themes present in the political speech. The main ideas that are continuously demonstrated are those of equality, responsibility, unity and urgency. This is evident in his continuous use of diction such as “independence,” “hypocritical colonial power” and “attitude.” Hence, as Malcolm attempts to appeal to his target audience, he links sensitive and emotional history to further spark urgency and call for action in his society.

            Within Malcolm’s approach, the overall tone that is present is one of urgency and unity. As Malcolm highlights the importance of change, he achieves this by claiming petty to those who “are black” and “not thinking black at this late date,” Furthermore, he claims that “today, our people are disillusioned. They’ve become disenchanted. They’ve become dissatisfied, and in their frustrations they want action”. Through expressing and voicing the painful emotions of his community, he reaches his climatic statement by stating “And in 1964 you’ll see this young black man, this new generation asking for the ballot or the bullet.” This didactic and preachy tone carefully balances with the success to call for action within the extract. Subsequently, the tone leads to a mood of rebellious hope and action that is evident in his concluding statement “the young generation don’t want to hear anything about the odds… What do we care about odds?” Henceforth, the overall tone and mood further stimulate the purpose, through developing his audience’s emotions towards the urgent movement of their Civil Rights.

            Malcolm also employs rhetorical devices to further stimulate the purpose of his political speech. As mentioned earlier, Malcolm refers to his target audience as “they” and “us.” The use of personal pronouns leads the audience to associate with his decision making, setting a role model for society. This use of inclusive diction enhances the audience’s attention to the speaker and also stimulates direct action from the younger generation. In addition, Malcolm uses hypophora such as “What’s is so good about it?” and “What goes with it?” to gain direct attention from the audience without diverting the listener’s focus. As this is followed with parallelism of the answer to the question, it allows the audience to link back to their cultural and communal values and beliefs and eliminate any misunderstanding between the speaker and the audience. Throughout the speech, Malcolm also applies rhetorical devices such as chiasmus, repetition, and symploce to establish rhythm. By repeating words such as “Once you change,” “They’ve” and “Every nation” at the beginning or end of successive clauses, the rhythm intensifies the development of passion, tension, and mood throughout the speech. In return, this stokes energy and enthusiasm towards the audience, ultimately illuminating Malcolm’s expectations from the African American society. Subsequently, Malcolm is able to successively develop the purpose of the speech, as the audience is trapped into the decision making of group dynamics.

            Furthermore, it is important to note that Malcolm uses African American Vernacular English (AAVE) to further stress and express the roots of “black nationalism.” This includes diction such as unmarked third person singular verbs in the sentence “you not thinking Black.” As well as verb alteration, such as “you gotta sit” and “how you gonna tell me.” Significantly, Malcolm applies AAVE grammar throughout his speech to appeal to his target audience, but also to further reinforce African American equality movements against white supremacy, hegemonic ruling classes, and alterity.

Another significant rhetorical strategy that Malcolm employs in the second paragraphs is the appeal of ethos in which Malcolm states “They try and make you think they set you free by calling you a second-class citizen. No, you’re nothing but a 20^th century slave,” and “he tricked you.” This is an example of a fear persuasion technique, in which Malcolm stokes the fear to be neglected and fooled by society. This also appeals to the group dynamics and extrapolation persuasive techniques, leading the audience to support Malcolm’s cause as their emotions are discouraged through the potent atmosphere. In Malcolm’s fourth paragraph, he intensifies this emotion by providing a simple solution of uniting together as a society. As Malcolm oversimplifies the complex relationship between the government through the use of meiosis, the audience is urged to unite together wholly. By comparing the black community’s “explosive” character to the “atomic bombs” of the Russians, Malcolm illustrates the potential of the black community through uniting. Through demonstrating this confidence to the audience, Malcolm balances and reinforces these emotions to translate into inspiration and the emotion of feeling responsible for voicing their rights. He then provides the audience to the decision making between the ballot or the bullet, which is a metaphor for liberty or death. This further relates to the purpose of the text, as it automatically instills fear to the audience leading them to acknowledge the importance of voting. To conclude, Malcolm demonstrates a wide variety of rhetorical devices to appeal to pathos, ethos, and logos to testify the purpose of urgent action towards his audience.

In regards to the structure of the political speech, Malcolm employs a critical balance between content to achieve his purpose. As aforementioned in the analysis of the content of the extract, Malcolm illustrates logos and ethos through linking historical context to emotion to call for action. Subsequently, Malcolm achieves this through developing the movement of action by paralleling it to the history of African Americans. Through the reference to events such as the “March on Washington” and gospel quotes such as “we shall overcome,” Malcolm is able to appeal and develop the sense of urgency towards his cause directly on an individual level.

Finally, Malcolm employed a variety of rhetorical devices and structural conventions to appeal to his community in his urge for constitutional changes regarding African American equality, hegemonic power, and alterity. All in all, it is critical to consider the political speech The Ballot or the Bullet through a larger lens to broaden knowledge regarding its deep roots in Black culture. Perhaps, the decision between the ballot and the bullet may just be as relevant today as it was during the Civil Rights Movement during the 19^th century.