TRAGIC HERO

We are all very familiar with the Achebe's choice of selecting a protagonist an anti-hero, but we are not very familiar with why Achebe had done this and what effects this has on us as readers in terms of its cultural context. 

To understand this in a deeper level and more easily, let's consider what would have happened if Achebe characterized Okonkwo as an antithesis of his original personality. If Okonkow was of benign and friendly nature, he would have been identical to other members in his clan, very obedient and compliant to changes. Then, Achebe would have not been able to explicitly unravel the destruction and disorder the 'Westerns' have brought, but would have highlighted the upside they have brought such as what Achebe describes in his Interview: 'A more efficient form of life'. However, by delineating Okonkwo as rather a very hostile, easily outraged, and resistant to what he dislikes, Achebe is able to achieve what a benign and gentle Okonkwo would not have. That is, emphasizing the abrupt obliteration that has been put upon the people, the way they think, governmental system, and root of their culture. 

To go into the possible reason why Achebe employed the tragic hero archetype on a more profound level, it is crucial to peruse the characteristics of a tragic hero. A common tragic hero has a hamartia, a tragic flaw or flaws, and in case of Achebe it is inability to be in harmony with his surroundings. Next, tragic heroes undergo perepeteia, a turning point of their fortune and fate, and a course of perepeteia reveals a tragic hero's hamartia. Likewise, when Okonkwo finds out that his land, Umofia, is a city of Christianity followers-this scene being the parapeteia-he is unable to control his anger and be in harmony with the new custom of his village-his inability to control emotion and be in harmony being the hamartias. However, near the end of the story, Achebe deliberately evokes pity and shame for Okonkwo among the audience by illustrating a scene where a number of white officers deride Okonkwo after his lamentable death . If Okonkwo was protagonist who hasn't gone through peripeteia, without hamartias and of good nature, Achebe wouldn't have been able to employ this scene because there would be no need for the white officers to pillory Okonkwo's death. 

SPEECH

Good evening ladies and gentlemen of The Royal Colonial Institute, 

I feel honored to be here as a representative of many missionaries in Africa, and I, as once a missionary in Western-Africa, am here to inform you with how my life was back there. 

There were many great people, although some were very hostile and unwelcoming my existence and Christianity. However, they were willing to give me a small portion of land which they considered evil and unsafe, a burial ground for those who have done misdeed. With the support of Our graceful God, I was able to survive there and was able to prove the very love of our God. Their Gods, or I should say supreme beings, had the name, Chukwu, who, from what I have been told, is relentless, vicious, and materialistic. Then, I had spread the 'Good News' to the Ibo people not as means of colonization,but as means of doing what our foremost Queen and our foremost God have told me to do. The result was favorable: many Ibo people were attracted by this and joined Christianity. Majority of them were outcasts, who have been thrown away from the mainland, but there was this one intelligent and benign child named Nwoye, a son of brave and man-like Okonkwo, who came into my eyes than any other converters. She explained to me about the beauty and valuable cultures and traditions of Igbo. The harmony with nature, the harmony with music, the harmony with people were beyond gorgeous

Yet, these cultures and traditions are being destroyed and crumbled into pieces.by colonizers and of them include us, the British Empire, the appointed and blessed citizens of God. Destroying the harmony with nature, destroying the harmony with music, destroying the harmony with people, and lastly, destroying the beauty of their culture into fragments are not the reasons why God dispatched us to Africa.  

Now, for those who do not appreciate my words and do not appreciate the pulchritude of the Igbo culture, I do want to use this opportunity to open up your eyes. Well, let us not forget that these are humans just like we are, and they are of kind nature. They believe it is a 'must' to be united as a community. Although the village is divided into clans who are not always favorable to each other, they do not forget the importance of union. Occasionally, the whole village gather around to enjoy celebrations and I can't emphasize more how splendid and unforgettable they were. The food people shared across individuals, families, and clans was filled with genuine love. The yams I had eaten was a true resemblance of masculinity and spirituality. The Kola nuts I was offered to break was worth more than just nuts but was rather a symbol of their sincerity and reverence.

However, it would be certainly a lie if I say the journey was only full of felicity. Honestly, there were more fatiguing times than pleasurable times, but I can tell you this, what made me tired was not the Igbo people, but it was us, the colonizers. I strived to resist the British colonizers from enforcing a new governmental system and a new way of living. Instead, they shunned me with cold sight and did everything in their way. Things started to fall apart rapidly. Commissioners replaced village leaders, Jails were built, various goods were imported, and all of these contributed to the downfall of the Igbo culture. Yes, these may have helped them live better lives, but No, these have made them forget the very value of their lives. What do you say, ladies and gentlemen of the Royal Colonial Institute? 

It is not late to turn back. Perhaps, it is the best time to turn back. We have done right things in the past. It is now time to do another.  

Achebe's Interview

1) What was the most meaningful takeaway from today’s discussion relating to the cultural or literary context of Achebe’s work? 


2) Select a specific quote from the interview or a general idea from the discussion and write a brief reflection.
My meaningful takeaway from today's discussion along with the reading we had to was Chinua Achebe's honest but also detailed insight on his literature. I personally liked his critical view on relationship between power,  and literature. In the middle of his interview, where he is questioned and responses:



Questioner: You're talking about a shift, so there would be more of a balance of power between cultures and there is now?

Chinua Achebe Well, not a shift in the structure of power. I'm not thinking simply of political power. The shift in power will create stories, but also stories will create a shift in power. So one feeds the other. And the world will be a richer place for that

This section was one of favorites but was also one of the hardest to comprehend. Specifically, this quote, "The shift in power will create stories, but also stories will create a shift in power" was the most difficult one. 

It wasn't too hard to understand the first part, "The shift in power will create stories", as there were many examples we see everyday. For example, we are more familiar with western tales such as 'Cinderella', 'Sleeping Beauty', or 'Beauty and the beast' whereas we are less familiar with stories outside that box such as the story within 'Things fall apart', 'The singing tortoise' It is very likely that we would have never known if we hadn't read the book. This is primarily because these western countries had more power in many aspects, including economic, political, technological, social asepcts. To sum up all this, they had more power thus more stories well-known to the world, because they brought these tales when they were colonizing other countries. To give an example that I am highly familiar with is 'Ddokkebi' a goblin-like legendary creature from South Korean folktales that is known to be both helpful and harmful to humans. According to research, this 'Ddokkebi' wasn't originally "created' in Korea but was passed by Japanese colonizers. Like these examples, we can easily see that the number of stories spread and well-known in this world aligns with the power a country has. 

Well, the second part of the quote wasn't as easy as the first part. I couldn't quite understand how stories cause a shift in power. Whilte thinking, it struck me how language functions as a form of resistance like how I learned in class. Likewise, Chinua Achebe was a pioneer who first published a book about African cultures, traditions, and a very critical view on the western colonizers. In the book,  he uses imagery to allow the readers to actually have a similar feel for the loss those African local people had to go through. For instance, he effectively illustrates the irony of the Christian missionaries, especially Reverend, and how they sought resources and power instead of true faith and converts. Although, Chinua Achebe was subject to harsh and bitter views from the western community, he was successful in leading many other writers from African ethnic backgrounds to write more about their traditions, and cultures. AS a result of this chain of movements, this world has become a place where there seems to be a better 'balance of power'-like Chinua Achebe describes. Furthermore, I think that technology has also contributed to this achieving this 'balance of power'. Thanks to technology, specifically the internet, almost everyone nowadays is able to voice out his or her opinion and almost everyone is able to see each one another's opinion without barely any restrictions. I think this is what Chinua Achebe refers as 'a Richer Place' in the interview.