Okonkwo, A Tragic Hero

Aristotle defines a tragic hero to be a character instilled into a story with the intention of evoking the audience with a sense of pity and fear. A tragic hero is considered to be a character that has been tackled with misfortune through an "error of judgement" that eventually spirals into their downfall. Now, considering the cultural context of Chinua Achebe, why would he choose to characterise Okonkwo using the tragic hero archetype?

Initially, Okonkwo is characterised with his hamartia being his fear of failure and his fear of weakness. These two tragic flaws are driven by Okonkwo's fear of ending up like his unsuccessful father. With that, he begins to strive for success and masking his fragility with a hypermasculinity and a facade that lacks emotion. These traits can also be deemed as his hubris, and are introduced to the audience early in the story when Okonkwo beat his wife during Peace week. These flaws drive the protagonist of Things Fall Apart to make numerous mistakes that drive the audiences through the plotline; starting with his involvement in killing Ikmenfuna all the way through the end of the story in which the character commits suicide. 

Making the protagonist a tragic hero, with a fate that is considered shameful in the stories cultural context, Achebe pushes the significance of the entire story. If, as an audience, we were introduced to this story through a traditional hero, we would not become exposed to the conflicts that shape the story and its historical context. Things Fall Apart was written to challenge the single story stereotype that English literature upheld at the time. To correctly prevail this, the author could not present to us his culture as a small single story, because simply it is not. The history of the Igbo tribe and the issues they had faced could not be put into simple terms in order to be entirely comprehended. The complex character of Okonkwo is put through many situations due to his tragic hero status; through those situations, western literature is introduced to the Igbo people through their reactions to all those situations individually. Allowing us to understand the culture in depth and through a variety of situations. Thus diminishing any possibility of a single story. 

By portraying Okonkwo as a tragic hero, Achebe constructs a gateway in which allows the intended audience (English literates) to be introduced to the Igbo people from various perspectives that if Okonkwo wasn't a tragic hero wouldn't be possible. 

Igbo Background: The Royal Colonial Institute Speech

Good evening noble guests, it is an honour to be here. I have travelled long and far to ensure that Igbo people are spoken for. I have been an ambassador for the Igbo people in the United Kingdom for the past decade. Since starting my journey, I have accumulated and understood your people's opinions on colonisation, and today I hope to spread my people's word. Through the course of colonisation, as we have begun to intertwine ourselves, we settle that the British and the Commonwealth have the same interests at heart.

We believe in unity, while we correspondingly preach acceptance. Therefore we must learn to understand foreign lands and situations to overcome them without having to change them. You came to my country, and you provided us with affluence and British civilisation. The unity that we have built proves to us that such diversities are key. Nations that are poles apart can still unite as one strong power, and gain prosperity from both ends.

The Igbo are a spiritual culture, in which spiritual factors are what drive their decisions. They believe in a supreme force, a God called the Chukwu. This god is someone the Igbo people worship, and honour as this higher energy is believed to have created all, and with praising such a God, comes the support in settling relationships within the communities od the world. And so from here, I ask, why do people seek to change what is different? The Nigerians believe in governance that maintains collectivism. Where we make decisions together to ensure that everyone is satisfied. Which differs from Britains individualistic form of governance, but once again, such variety is key. We must learn to work together in harmony.

Colonisation has benefited thousands of people, where different countries begin to help each other develop into greater things. Unfortunately, such great things have been done at the cost of the lives of many. We must ensure that there are no men left behind to fulfil the responsibilities the British Empire has. We must stray away from becoming what is known to the colonised areas as the "wicked men", rather becoming a source of victory and affluence to these countries. Ensuring that we have both our interests at heart. Learning to deal with each country specifically to their necessities, for example in Nigeria due to the various amounts of cultures, one must learn to deal with them accordingly. This is all to be done with the vital ideology that we believe in unity, while we correspondingly preach acceptance and thus variety is key!

Thank you, I hope you all have a good evening

Interview

As I was not present on the day of the shared inquiry discussion, I took it upon myself to inquire further than I had already done the first time I read the interview. I thoroughly questioned the relationship between the cultural and literary contexts' and Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart. The interview inquires the author's direct background of the novel, discussing his own opinions about the cultural and historical background of Nigeria, in addition to his opinions on their local literature.

I was fascinated by the fact that the author was unaware as to how influential this novel would be. "So these people across the waters were able to relate to the story of dispossession in Africa. People from different parts of the world can respond to the same story if it says something to them about their own history and their own experience". This quote resonated with me as I was very affected by the truth of it. Unfortunately, I could personally relate on the basis that those of which have come for colonised nations, per say. So I was surprised and heavily pleased with the author once he stated: "Once you allow yourself to identify with the people in a story, then you might begin to see yourself in that story even if on the surface it's far removed from your situation. " I have often felt the emotions of the antagonist or those in his community, but never had it been stimulated by the same issue, but once you allow yourself to identify with the characters you don't need to have been stimulated by the same exact situation to relate or sympathise. This applies to all literary works.

“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.”

But out of the entire interview, the quote above is the one in which has affected me the most. The author in this instance is referring the European literature. He spoke of how for centuries European literature displayed Africa in a single story, maybe even worse.

This is due to them initially referencing Africans as beasts, which to us now is evident that it had been done with intentions to defend slavery. But the times went on people began to propagate stereotypes of Africans. Although Africa was a continent filled with a variety of cultures, different languages and dialects and so much diversity. It was painted with layered strokes of cliches and stereotypes.

To diminish such happenings one must be given an opportunity to paint their own pictures, in order to establish authenticity and accuracy. Which brings me to the importance of a novel such as Things Fall Apart, as it introduces us to well-known historical events from the eyes of the oppressed as opposed to the oppressors; finally securing the balance of stories.

The Ballot or the Bullet by Malcolm X

The provided text was an extract from “The Ballot or the Bullet”; of which was a speech delivered by Malcolm X on the third of April in 1964, and has since then become one of the most empowering speeches in American history. Thousands of people turned up to hear the activist Malcolm X present, what can be identified as a political speech as it exemplifies the use of rhetorical devices, figurative techniques such as alliteration, analogies and more, references to real world events, as well as appeals to particular needs. The aforementioned conventions of the political speech were heavily utilised by Malcolm X, which to evoke a sense of urgency in his audience and to call them to action in order to reclaim civil rights.

When this speech was given, it mainly targeted African Americans. However, it is multivocal as it somewhat targets the American Political system as well; this speech embodied the activists’ urgency in cultivating his audience and promoting black nationalism, as Malcolm X was a black civil rights activist who had significant influence during the civil rights movement in the mid 20th century. At the time African Americans were limited to making their own decisions on who to vote for due to the impositions and forcefulness that the white politicians projected towards black neighbourhoods in America.  It can be deduced from the speech’s subject of black nationalism that this speech calls for its audience to take a step and fight for their rights and to do so by voting for whom they deemed most supportive of their rights in the United States election.

Furthermore, it is evident in the use of the slogan "The Ballot or the Bullet" as it articulates the purpose. The slogan discusses liberty; to either be free or to die trying. The purpose of the text is introduced evidently at the beginning of the extract, "Black nationalism is a self-help philosophy",  in which is then emphasised in the subsequent sentences. The emphasis is conducted through the use of Anaphora, " You can...You can...You can" by which is used to elucidate the inclusivity that black Americans are provided when it comes to black nationalism. After that, the importance of Black nationalism is further re-instated, "if you are black and you not thinking black at this late date, well I'm sorry for you." in which creates a bandwagon appeal towards the audience of black Americans. This is done to evoke the members of the viewers, that may not be vocal activists that are actively fighting for their rights, to feel left out and old-fashioned. Thus making them feel the need to become a better influencer in this civil rights movement by voting for who is the best option for them; which aforementioned is one of the major subjects that Malcolm X is trying to persuade his audience in doing. After that, the speaker goes on to further illustrate the ease of his ideologies through the use of anadiplosis in the statement, "Once you change your philosophy, you change your thought pattern. Once you change your thought pattern, you change your attitude. Once you change your attitude, it changes your behaviour pattern, and then you go on into some action." In contrast to his earlier use of a bandwagon appeal, Malcolm X now directs his audience through clear steps that should be taken, using repetition is used to ensure that what was said is memorable and has resonance on the targeted viewers.

Aforementioned, this remarkable speech had left many of its audience members affected and called them to action by motivating them. An intrinsic part of why this speech was so successful is due to how Malcolm X uses the contextual properties of the issue on hand to help drive the purpose throughout the speech. Which can be seen in the second paragraph as it begins with a logos rhetoric by which the speech giver is referencing real world events in order provide validation and enlighten his audience by allowing them to see that his goal is achievable. "people in Africa and Asia are getting their independence." Malcolm X counteracts his earlier statement by providing the audience with his opinion as to why their actions of public marches would not gain them independence."They're not getting it by singing 'We Shall Overcome'" but instead makes a foil statement, in which he brings up measures that are the opposite of his resolutions to emphasise the effectivity of his resolutions. The author here is allowing the audience to follow along with him by connecting themselves through popular culture references such as the prior statement. The use of popular cultural knowledge is utilised once again later in the same paragraph where Malcolm X compares "Second class citizenship" to "20th-century slavery."  This comparison is made through the use of anaphora from lines 28-30 that help explain how Americans although not literal colonisers but are in fact a "hypocritical colonial power". Which Malcolm X then makes a swift transition into a hypophora to clarify his prior statement, "What do you call second-class citizenship? Why, that's colonisation." In the last paragraph the author makes another popular culture reference in which he alludes to “Uncle Tom”, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s character, to emphasise and explain their awareness of their own lower-class status due to their race. The combination of all of these literary devices is used to lead his audience along with his ideologies, simplifying it into a step-like process to quickly persuade the audience into buying into his claims, in which he finishes with a hypophora to finalise through a sense of objective.

Previously established in the context of the speech, the themes vacillate throughout, where the major themes of the subject are repeatedly referenced, those themes being: Black nationalism, colonialism, and change. Which are all exemplified through Malcolm X’s use of literary devices that both enhance the themes and consolidate them. Such as his use of epiphora from lines 15-18, repeating the word “sit” in different instances to compare the audience’s in which do not vocalise their activism to elders, chumps, and other in hopes to elicit actions from his audience. Which is used as a persuasive strategy to call his targeted audience to action and thus utilising literary devices to develop his themes in order to drive his purpose throughout the text.

As this was a persuasive political speech, the speech giver demonstrated an informative, instructional register in his tone. This is evident in his recurring use of the logos rhetoric that implements both statistics and historical references “The freedom of 22 million Afro-Americans here in this country… for the past  400 years”. Such references are put into practice in order to validate his clauses and calls to action. Moreover, this speech is proposing to a variety of black Americans, at a time where the ethnic group weren’t all granted adequate education. Meaning that the use of the abovementioned popular culture tropes is done to resonate with the audience and calls to informing the audience through both scholarly back-ups as well as cultural references to keep all of the members of the audience in the loop. This approach leads the audience to an influential state, one in which allows them to feel liberated as someone is finally fighting for their best interest, furthermore the audience are enabled to access an enlightening.  Moreover, the audience is told their situation bluntly and brutally, “He made a chump out of you. He made a fool out of you. He made you think you were going somewhere and you end going nowhere but between Lincoln and Washington.” This statement is told using anaphora to appeal to the audience’s need to aggress; Malcolm X believed that if the government continues to block full African American equality, then violence might become necessary. This all works towards setting an imperative mood, where the audience is advised. Malcolm X’s didactic approach to his speech through the use of statistics and cultural/historical references informs his purpose of influencing the audience to make the right decisions.

The stylistic use of repetition, rhetoric, persuasive appeals, statistics and other persuasive advances, which were previously mentioned, are used to progress the structure. An arrangement in which drives the speech’s purpose throughout explicit paragraphs. Such stylistic choices drive audiences to take action in order to demand equal African American rights. The structure of this text follows traditional political and persuasive speech conventions.

In order to appreciate this speech's effectivity, one must understand all the various kinds of devices used to prosecute this text. The major reason as to why The Ballot or the Bullet has become one of the strongest examples of a political speech is due to the Malcolm X’s efficient stylistic choices. This political speech exemplifies the use of rhetorical devices, figurative techniques such as alliteration, analogies and more, making references to real world events, as well as appealing to its audience's needs. The abovementioned conventions of the political speech were greatly employed by Malcolm X, in order to evoke a sense of urgency in his audience and eventually call them to action in order to gain equal rights.