A Comparative Character Analysis of Okonkwo and Kurtz as Tragic Heroes

A Comparative Character Analysis of Okonkwo and

Kurtz as Tragic Heroes

Comparative Novel Course

Supervised by

Prof. Nazife Aydınoğlu

Prepared by

Shamal Y. Yaseen

June 8, 2014

Introduction

"Heart of Darkness" (1902) is one of the best novels of

the 20th century. First of all, it is a symbolic journey

into the dark places of the soul. And it is also a story

of spiritual breakdown. The central idea of this novel—

darkness is the true nature of our world—gets into the

veins of the story. This type of darkness will break

human, as it did to Kurtz. Through Marlow’s narration, it

can be seen how Kurtz, who came to Africa full of hopes,

deteriorated physically and spiritually at last. Though

Kurtz seemed to be the most successful and capable man

that Marlow met during his journey, his life is actually

a tragedy. On other hand, "Things Fall Apart" (1958) is

one of the masterpieces of 20th century African fiction

and has always been regarded as a landmark not only in

African literature, but also in English literature as

well. In this novel we follow the life of a man named

Okonkwo and his experience of the colonization of Africa.

Although he is a powerful and proficient man, his life is

tragic as well.

Achebe’s novel is very different from Conrad’s story. In

“Heart of Darkness” (1902) and “Things Fall Apart” (1958)

two characters face a tragic ending, Okonkwo in “Things

Fall Apart” (1958) and Kurtz in “Heart of Darkness”

(1902). Both started with respect and a sense of nobility

but yet both had a tragic ending. Each one worked hard

for something with little accomplishment in the end. This

essay endeavors to examine a comparative analysis of what

is tragic with these two characters and explains their

scenarios.

A Brief Biography of Joseph Conrad

Joseph Conrad was born in Poland in 1857, son of a Polish

patriot who suffered exile in Russia. At the age of

fifteen he amazed his family and friends by announcing

his passionate desire to go to sea; he was eventually

allowed to go to Marseille in 1874, and from here he made

a number of voyages on French merchant ships to

Martinique and the West Indies. In 1878 he signed on an

English ship that brought him to the east coast English

port of Lowestoft and in six voyages between Lowestoft

and Newcastle port he learned English (Abram Stillinger

et al., 2000: 1952). He spent a number of years at sea in

various merchant navies, eventually obtaining his

master's certificate as maritime career. His novels show

that his knowledge of the sea, and his service in Africa,

were a lasting influence. He was dogged by ill-health for

most his life, and did not begin to achieve real fame

until as late as 1913, with the publication of "Chance".

Conrad's most famous novels are "The Nigger of the

Narcissus" (1898), "Lord Jim" (1900), "Heart of Darkness"

(1902), "Nostromo" (1904), "The Secret Agent" (1907),

"Under Western Eyes" (1911), and perhaps "Victory"

(1915). Over the last two decades of his life, Conrad

produced more autobiographical writings and novels,

including "The Arrow of Gold" (1919" and "The Rescue"

(2000). His final novel, The Rover, was published in

1923. Conrad died of a heart attack on August 3, 1924, at

his home in Canterbury, England. (Marten Stephen, 2000:

306) .

Conrad as a Modernist and Postcolonial Writer

Joseph Conrad was perhaps the first major novelist of the

modernist style. Conrad's perception of objective

reality, non-linear narrative style and use of subjective

narrators put him firmly in the 'modernist' class of

novelists. For example, two separate monologues are

present throughout "Heart of Darkness".

Furthermore, Written at the turn of the century, Joseph

Conrad's darkness presupposed the modernism movement in

literature in form and theme, if not in style, setting

the stage and inspiring the writers who would work in the

last days of global imperialism, and under the shadow of

two world wars. For example, in Joseph Conrad's "Heart of

Darkness" (1902), a chaotic form of writing takes place

which is characteristic of the Modernist's experiments in

their style of literature of stream-of-consciousness

(Eric Martin, 2010). Consequently, with regard to his

thematic preoccupations and literary styles Conrad can

certainly be considered a Modernist writer, but

Conrad's work can be more suitably inserted into the

genre of Postcolonial as well. it is more likely that

he shifts between two, because Conrad's skeptical

critiques and literary interrogations of distinctly

Eurocentric conceptions of morality and tradition does

not come from within the metropolitan, bourgeois

cityscape that was the home of so many self-fashioned,

high Modernist authors. Instead, they emerge from

colonial settings, underdeveloped environments, from

contact zones in which colonizing and colonized

cultures clash and conflict, such as in  "Heart of

Darkness" (1902) "Lord Jim" (1900), "Nostromo" (1904)

and "Nigger of the   Narcissus" (1898) (Dominic Davies,

2014).

A Brief Summary of Heart of Darkness

"Heart of Darkness" (1902) is a story within a story. Five

men on board the Nellie are anchored in the Thames

Estuary at dusk. One of them narrates what happened

aboard but mainly retells the story told by another crew

member, Charlie Marlow, about his journey to Africa and

up the River Congo as a representative of a trading

company. Marlow shares his experiences as a steamboat

captain transporting ivory downriver but particularly

focuses on the lack of efficiency of white trading agents

and how they mistreated the natives. However, the center

of his story is his search for the mysterious Kurtz, an

ivory trader, who gathers huge quantities of ivory

through very peculiar and secret methods and who has

raised himself as the god of the tribes surrounding his

station. It is through Kurtz that Marlow discovers the

various forms of darkness in Congo and this throws light

on himself (Samet Guven, 2013).

A Brief Biography of Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe was born in Nigeria in 1930. He was raised

in the large village of Ogidi, one of the first centers

of Anglican missionary work in Eastern Nigeria. In 1944

Achebe enrolled in the Government College in Umuahia and

four years later, he entered the London-affiliated

University College at Ibadan. He graduated from Ibadan in

1953 and published his first novel; "Things Fall Apart"

(1958).He has published novels short stories, essays, and

children's books. Of his novels, "Arrow of God" (1964) won

the New Statesman-- Jock Campbell Award, and "Anthills of

the Savannah" (1987) was a finalist for the 1987 Booker

Prize (Chinua Achebe, 1995: 5). As one of the founders of

a Nigerian literary movement that drew upon the

traditional oral culture of its indigenous peoples. In

1958, he published "Things Fall Apart" as a response to

Joseph Conrad’s "Heart of Darkness" (1902) novel, that

treat Africa as a primitive and cultureless foil for

Europe. In 1990 he met with a car accident and was

paralyzed from below the waist, forcing him to use a

wheelchair and he died after a short illness on 21 March

2013 in Boston, United States. (Abram Stillinger et al.,

2000: 2616).

Chinua Achebe as a Postcolonial Writer

Achebe's colonialized settings, underdeveloped

environments, from contact zones in which colonizing

and colonized cultures clash and conflict made him as

one of the postcolonial writer. Achebe composes his work

in the language of the colonizer which is one of the

characteristic of postcolonial writers, but integrates

folklore, proverbs, tribal customs, and the performance

of oral storytelling in order to evoke Igbo tradition and

to force the reader to acknowledge the story he tells on

his own terms. For one thing, Achebe's usage of nicknames

like "Amalinze the Cat" and folklore gives a rich

tradition to the tale. In addition, the structuring of

his narrative creates the physical aural connection of

hearing rather than reading the story. For example, he

often inserts bits of songs, such as the teasing song in

his novel "Things Fall Apart" (1958). These songs remind

the reader not only that there is a story teller, but

also that the teller has a distinct voice (Chinua Achebe,

1995: 7).So, this is one of the narrative techniques that

made him as postcolonial writer.

A Brief Summary of the Things Fall Apart

"Things Fall Apart" (1958) is centered on the life of the

protagonist of the novel, Okonkwo. As the novel develops,

at a funeral celebration Okonkwo’s gun explodes and he

accidentally kills a boy. He is exiled from the clan for

seven years. Going to his mother’s kinsmen, losing his

place and possessions in his village, he begins to

struggle with some aspects of his society. But when vast

changes begin with the arrival of white missionaries, he

closes his heart against new ideas (Brenda S. Cox., 2000:

8). When Okonkwo returns to his village he sees the major

transformations that Umuofia has undergone during his

exile. Unhappy with the change, Okonkwo and other

villagers come together to drive the white missionaries

out of their land. Their efforts are in vain as the

missionaries send their messengers to abort the meeting.

Okonkwo kills one of the messengers and in shock at his

actions the villagers let the other messengers escape.

The messengers report back to the missionaries and they

take off to bring Okonkwo to justice only to find him

dead (Mohamed Gassama and Anwar Saleh, 2012).

Analysis

Aristotle’s Poetics defines a "tragic hero" as a good man

of high status who displays a tragic flaw (“hamartia”)

and experiences a dramatic reversal “peripeteia”, as well

as an intense moment of recognition “anagnorisis” and

"hubris". Okonkwo and Kurtz, both of them are regarded as

“tragic hero”, in the same post-colonial setting but each

with a different, unique style. In fact, these two

characters not only define the said term, they take the

term to the next level through their self-centered,

desirous actions and the path of doom each one takes is

different (Patrick C. Nnoromele, 2000) .Okonkwo as Tragic Hero

In Chinua Achebe’s novel "Things Fall Apart" (1958),

Okonkwo is a tragic hero because he belongs on a high

status and has his flaws, which include fear of weakness

and failure, irrational anger, violence, insatiable

ambition "hubris", and events beyond his

control. According to Aristotle's definition of tragic

hero, Okonkwo is “a man of action, a man of war” (Things

Fall Apart, p.7) and a member of high status in the Igbo

village. He holds the prominent position of village

clansman due to the fact that he had “shown incredible

prowess in two intertribal wars” (Things Fall Apart, p.1).

Accordingly, Okonkwo is a leader and hardworking member

of the Igbo community of Umuofia whose tragic flaw is his

great fear of weakness and failure (Harold Bloom, 2010:

44_45). Okonkwo’s hard work had made him a “wealthy

farmer” and a renowned individual amongst the nine

villages of Umuofia and beyond. His idle father left

nothing for Okonkwo, but he gains his own yam farm and

eventually becomes wealthy by owning many yam farms and

wives. Indeed, an older man of the village astutely

observes, “Looking at a king’s mouth, one would never

think he sucked his mother’s breast” (Things Fall Apart,

p.26).Thus, Okonkwo’s rise from poverty further

illustrates his heroic virtues because all Aristotelian

tragic heroes must undergo "peripeteia", or a reversal of

fortune caused by one of their flaws, or "hamartia"

(Yves, 2011) .

Consequently, Okonkwo’s tragic flaw isn’t that he was

afraid of work, but rather his fear of weakness and

failure which stems from his father’s, Unoka,

unproductive life and disgraceful death (Diana Akers

Rhoads, 1993) :

“Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man.But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear offailure and weakness….It was not external but lay deepwithin him. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be

found to resemble his father.” (Things Fall Apart, p. 20).

This quote illustrates that his flaw is his ambition. His

fear of being a powerless, worthless man like his father

motivates him to work ceaselessly to appear a man of

worth. Thus, this quote demonstrates how Okonkwo’s self-

interpretation leads him to conclude that a “good man” is

someone who is the exact opposite of his father and

therefore anything that his father carries out is weak

and unnecessary (Patrick C. Nnoromele, 2000). Although

Okonkwo expressed rigidity and inflexibility in his life,

Achebe tells us that down in his heart Okonkwo is not a

cruel man. In contrary, he doesn't want to lose his high

position in the village and regarded as weak man by the

elders of the village. His fear of being weak leads him

to treat members of his family harshly. So, his

irrational rage is another significant flaw. Okonkwo

mistreats his wives, beats his children, especially

Nwoye, the oldest son, and even strikes his wife during

"the Week of Peace" for not cooking his meal and killing

his son Ikemefuna in front of the senior's men of the

village in order not to be regarded as weak man. So, He

does not use his anger wisely and beats Nwoye when he

sees signs of laziness or characteristics of his father

in him (Yves, 2011). 

Subsequently, Okonkwo wrestles with his fear that any

sign of weakness will cause him to lose control of his

family, position in the village, and even himself. Like

many heroes of classical tragedy, Okonkwo’s major tragic

flaw, fear, also makes him excessively prideful. Thus,

the classic flaw of "hubris" also plays a role in

Okonkwo’s downfall (Chima Anyadike, 1999). For example,

When Osugo, a man with no title comes to the kindred

meeting, Okonkwo states, “This meeting is for men”. The

oldest man present who reminds him of his humble origins

later rebukes him when he blames sternly to Okonkwo that

"those whose palm-kernels were cracked for them by a

benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble"(Things

Fall Apart, p.28). So, after achieving success despite early

disadvantages, he became exceedingly arrogant and this

conceited caused him to demise (Patrick C. Nnoromele,

2000) .

Another two reasons of Okonkwo’s downfall are a result of

the events beyond his control. For instance, the first

one is when Okonkwo’s gun accidentally goes off and kills

Ezeudu’s sixteen-year-old son and he exiles for seven

years and the second one is changes created by the coming

of the British Colonists to Igbo. Thus, Okonkwo's fate

was doomed the moment he kills Ezeuu's son and the coming

of colonists also causes Okonkwo’s tragic flaw to be

worsened. Okonkwo construes change as weakness, and as a

result of his interpretation Okonkwo only knows how to

react to change through anger and strength (Andrew Foley,

2001). He derives great satisfaction, “hubris” or

prideful arrogance, from the fact that he is a

traditional, self-made man and thinks that to change

would mean submitting to an outside force (Christianity).

Eventfully, according to Aristotle's term of

"anagnorisis", Okonkwo succumbs to his character flaws

when he kills the court messenger who came to stop their

meeting, the crowd asks, “Why did he do it”? It is at

that moment Okonkwo realizes there is no way to restore

the past and walks away from the crowd and suicides

himself. Thus, Okonkwo displays all of the

characteristics of tragic hero according to Aristotle's

definition and his flaws cause his downfall at the end of

the novel when he suicides himself (Alan R Friesen, 2006).

Kurtz as Tragic Hero

In Conrad's novel "Heart of Darkness" (1902), also Kurtz

is regarded as tragic hero; he belongs on high status and

has his flaws, which include greediness, vehemence and

insatiable ambition "hubris". Manfred Beyer (1998) states

that Like Okonkwo, Kurtz belongs on one of the high status

in his community, for example Kurtz’ personality described

by some of his relatives and people before departing for

the Congo. Kurtz’ cousin told Marlow that he could have

been a “great musician.” A journalist said Kurtz had the

potential to be an excellent politician. “He could get

himself to believe anything–anything. He would have been a

splendid leader of an extreme party.” (Heart of Darkness,

p.55). No one could deny that whatever he was, and

whatever he did, as his cousin said, Kurtz was "a

universal genius".

But when Kurtz enters in wilderness his personality

changed completely, he becomes cruel, arrogant and greedy

and these flaws that he has are the main reasons for his

demise. Thus, Kurtz’s fate was doomed the moment Marlow

sees the remains of his predecessor Fresleven, who has

been killed in a scuffle with the natives and buried by

nobody but the grass growing through his ribs.

Consequently, Kurtz’s weakness is that he lacks the

ability to overcome adversities presented by the jungle,

that is to say insanity. Unlike Okonkwo, Kurtz’ key flaw

is that he is greedy and self-righteous. And this is

very clear when Marlow states why Kurtz went to the Congo

in the first place (Karin Hansson, 1998: 5_8):

“I had heard that her engagement with Kurtz had beendisapproved by her people. He wasn’t rich enough orsomething. He had given me some reason to infer that itwas his impatience of comparative poverty that drove himout there.” (Heart of Darkness, p. 57)

This quote proves that Kurtz’ intent upon entering the

Congo. He is motivated by money but only to earn the

right to wed his intended bride. So, Kurtz's rise from

poverty after arriving at jungle further demonstrates his

heroic virtues because all Aristotelian tragic heroes

must undergo "peripeteia", or a reversal of fortune

caused by one of their flaws, or "hamartia". Therefore,

when he departs to Africa's wilderness, he loses sight of

the thin line between corruption and goodness and he

becomes greedy; as described by the Russian trader when

he says (ibid) :

“I had a small lot of ivory the chief of that villagenear my house gave me. Well, he wanted it, (Kurtz) andwouldn’t hear reason. He declared he would shoot meunless I gave him the ivory and then cleared out.” (Heartof Darkness, p.70)

Accordingly, this quote determines that because of

Kurtz's flaw which is gluttony, nearly he would kill the

Russian trader over some small ivories. So, the abnormal

greediness of Kurtz lied in his absurd belief that

everything belonged to him, and he wouldn’t sacrifice any

of the goals for the sake of another. Therefore, we can

say for sure that even if he was rescued by Marlow, he

wouldn’t live in the civilized city with his “beloved

Intended”. Instead, he would again go back to the Inner

Station where there were so many things he couldn’t

abandon (Mandfred Beyer, 1998). Furthermore, Watt (1989:

226) argues that under the guidance of his illogical

thoughts, Kurtz’s mind is “capable of a fearless acting

out of the whole past of human barbarism”. And it was the

main reason why he enslaved the natives and even killed

them when they rebelled, and why he wouldn’t let the

Russian keep even a small lot of ivory. To me, Kurtz’

success in upholding the Inner Station and his position

as well as the ivory collection actually predicted his

doomed fate of being a tragic hero, since he was covetous

and the representative of the colonizers who would take

advantages of the weaker part (Jiping Zhao, 2008).Kurtz's tragic flaw, greediness, also makes him

excessively prideful. Thus, like Okonkwo the classic flaw

of "hubris" also plays a role in Kurtz'a downfall as

well. For instance, when he sees the natives demonstrate

far more concern for the welfare of Kurtz than do most of

his countrymen. True, they worship him and they actively

work to ensure his safety (Mandfred Beyer, 1998). Kurtz

has succeeded with the Africans “they adored him.” And

He himself has ordered the attack to be made on the

steamer because he “hated sometimes the idea of being

taken away” (Heart of Darkness, p. 41). Marlow believes that

Kurtz's immersion in the wilderness has fundamentally

changed him. Living deep in the Congo, among the

“savages” and far from the structured life of society,

Kurtz has learned some deep, dark secret about the nature

of life which is ravenousness and prideful (Enas Subhi,

2010) .Furthermore, the figure of Kurtz has come to assume an

almost mythical status in colonial literature. This is

due to a number of reasons, perhaps the most important of

which being the contradictions in character that proves

to be his eventual downfall. One is reminded of the Greek

hamartia, or tragic flaw. Elbarbary (1993) writes that

"Kurtz is seen in a double focus; genius and nobility of

personality find themselves in easy partnership with

insanity and monstrosity". While the reference to an

"easy partnership" seems odd considering the course of

the novel and Kurt'z eventual demise (Pieter Hendrik

Hugo, 2006). Finally, according to Aristotle's term of

"anagnorisis", Kurtz succumbs to his character flaws in

sickness and his infamous last words solidify his demise,

“the horror, the horror.” (Patrick C. Nnoromele, 2000). Conclusion

In conclusion, according to Aristotle's definition of

tragic hero, through sufficient examples we analyzed and

discovered differences and similarities between the

character of Okonkwo from Chinua Achebe's novel "Things

Fall Apart" and Kurtz from Joseph Conrad's novel "Heart

of Darkness" as tragic heroes. we investigated that both

of them belong on high status in their community, and

their tragic flaws are different. Okonkwo as a man of war

is well- known among the clansmen of the village and his

tragic flaw is fear of resembling to his father's

unproductive life and disgraceful death and his harsh

treatment with his family when he beats them and even

killing his son Ikemefuna in order not to be regarded as

weak in the eyes of the villagers cause his tragic

demise. Kurtz's as a great musician, an excellent

politician and a universal genius praised by his people

and his tragic flaw is greediness, after leaving to

wilderness and collecting huge amount of ivories. His

greedy over ivories sometimes make him cruel when he

tried to kill the Russian trader and finally his covetous

makes him tragic hero. We explained that both of them

undergo "peripeteia", or a reversal of fortune caused by

one of their flaws, or "hamartia" and the classic flaw of

"hubris" also plays a role in Okonkwo and Kurtz's

downfall. And we clarified that Okonkwo's fate was doomed

the moment he kills Ezeuu's son and Kurtz’s fate was

doomed the moment Marlow sees the remains of his

predecessor Fresleven. And according to Aristotle's term

of "anagnorisis", Okonkwo succumbs to his character flaws

when he kills the court messenger who came to stop their

meeting and he suicides himself, but Kurtz succumbs to

his character flaws in sickness and his infamous last

words solidify his demise, “the horror, the horror”.

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