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Failure from Fear Tragic heroes exemplify a number of qualities including courage and some type of personal sacrifice. The character Okonkwo in the novel Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe demonstrates many of the characteristics of a tragic hero. However, he also exhibits many qualities not representative of a tragic hero. It is these differences that prevent Okonkwo from being an actual tragic hero. Though Okonkwo appears to have many of the attributes of a …

…Okonkwo. Okonkwo fails to accomplish anything in his death and destroys what little chance there was of someone following in his footsteps by committing suicide. He had the potential of a hero, but in the end, was not strong enough to continue his fight. He gave up before he had done any good and therefore failed in his quest to save the clan. It is safe to say that Okonkwo was not a tragic hero.