Redefining The Tragic Tragedy Of Chinua Achebe s Famous...

Tom White McQuaid Jesuit High School, 2014-2015 Sophomore English Adv. A.M.D.G. Redefining the Tragic The power of tragic heroes in literature is almost immeasurable in that they evoke multiple emotions within the reader. Through pain and suffering, heroes of tragedy fill the audience with not only terror and pity, but also relief through a cathartic experience. Over two thousand years ago, Aristotle first defined what characteristics make up a tragic hero. He claimed that heroes of tragedy must be fundamentally decent, of noble status, and eventually destroyed by a situation that exposes their one tragic flaw. Consider Chinua Achebe’s famous Things Fall Apart: the protagonist of the novel, the once mighty and respected warrior, Okonkwo of Umofia, is the paragon of the Aristotelian definition of a tragic hero. His suicide and loss of power within the tribe is not caused by his negative qualities, but rather his respect to his elders and their traditions. However, there are also characters of literature that do not fulfill all of Aristotle’s requirements and still leave the reader with an overwhelming sense of tragedy. For instance, the main character of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the average and short-tempered, George Milton, fails to meet several aspects of the ancient definition. Despite his low social status, George’s murder of his mentally disabled companion, Lennie, consumes the reader with a feeling of both compassion and fear. Also consider The Good Earth by