FREE ESSAY ON OKONKWO AS A PROTAGONIST

OKONKWO AS A PROTAGONIST

Okonkwo as Protagonist
All stories have a protagonist, which is a person or place that the story focuses on and
gives special traits. In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart , the story follows the life
and actions of Okonkwo. As the story progresses, the reader becomes most intimate and
learns a great deal about Okonkwo. Okonkwo acts as the protagonist in Things Fall Apart
because he appears to be a very strict father and husband, by showing loyalty to his
village, and by working hard.
The first reason that Okonkwo acts as the protagonist is because he is a strict father
and husband. In the Nigerian culture it is a custom for a man to be strict and harsh in
the ruling of his family. For example, in the story Okonkwo says, I will not have a son
who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of the clan. I would sooner strangle him
with my own hands. This is showing that Okonkwo is so strict that he would threaten his
own son, maybe even strangle him rather then let him grow up weak.
Another reason that Okonkwo is the protagonist inThings Fall Apart is because he shows
loyalty towards his village. He fights skillfully and bravely in order to defend his
village. When Okonkwo has his fill of the invading British, he risks his life by killing
the head messenger, who is attempting to brake up a traditional Umuofian meeting. This
shows that he has loyalty for his village by sacrificing himself and killing one of the
messengers but letting the rest of them go so that Umuofia would not go to war.
Okonkwo is also a very hard and dedicated worker. For example, following the harvest, The
only work that men did at this time was covering the walls of their compound with new
palm fronds. And Okonkwo had already done that. He had finished it on the very day the
locusts came. This makes it evident that Okonkwo works hard and does not procrastinate .
In Things Fall Apart, Achebe excellently portrays a typical African village during the
British invasion. With the character Okonkwo, he expresses the feelings of many Africans
of the time period. It is for this reason that the book Things Fall Apart is a modern
classic.