Things Fall Apart

Okonkwo, the main character in Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, was a tragic figure. Though he strove to be a good, moral man, his fears and inflexible nature caused him to step out of line with his culture’s definition of a good man. Every time he did so, he was in some way chastised or prodded back in the right direction, until finally he went too far and ultimately broke from his …

…guide him back. Okonkwo’s flaws, his inability to conquer his fear, and his inability to bend, to admit to any weakness, finally caused him to stand alone. Okonkwo could not stand that he had become exactly what he feared, a failure. “It is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone.” In the end, he did the only thing he could be expected to do, and stamped out his own failure permanently.