The Tragic Hero

Chinua Achebe repetitively characterizes Okonkwo as a Tragic Hero in a variety of ways throughout the text. By definition, a tragic hero is a character in a story that exhibits courage yet also is faced with a variety of adversities that will ultimately result in his/her downfall. Achebe follows Aristotle's characteristics to develop Okonkwo's character.

Okonkwo's hamartia is his fear laziness, which exhibit through his handwork achieve a powerful title in the Igbo society. When it is announced that Ikemefuna must he ignores his emotional attachment to the boy, and instead participates in his slaughter to fulfil his own pride, a demonstration of hubris. This event could also be considered Okonkwo's peripeteia, as it impacts the development of the story. Peripeteia is also evident later on in the text where Okonkwo is somewhat framed by his fate in an accident with a gun which kills a young boy during a funeral. This event leads to the exiled of Okonkwo and his family to Mbamba, his motherland. So when his home village of Umuofia is colonised by Europeans and the Igbo people do not resist, he commit suicides as he fears the feeling of powerlessness. 

Achebe's purposeful use of hamartia, hubris and peripeteia impact his targeted audience on a personal level. The mistakes and downfalls that Okonkwo experiences are also experienced by the reader to an extent. The reader is then taught to avoid the mistakes the hero makes and sadness is evoked when the hero experiences his/her downfall. As Achebe has explained in previous interviews, his choice to write literature about Nigerian culture is due to the lack of Nigerian literature, essentially humanising the international view of Nigeria. Evidently, Achebe intends to use the tragic hero as a method for the reader to humanise Okonkwo as a character. 

A European's guide to Igboland

A pleasant surprise

During the completion of my post in Igboland over the past three years, I have observed the habits and customs of the Igbo people, one of the largest ethnic groups in the whole continent of Africa. It seems to me that their culture and society is structured similarly to that of the Europeans, and I would like to provide other Europeans with a guide to how to behave there.  So, without further a do, here is my version of a European’s guidebook to Igboland.

Cultural Structure:

A significant difference of cultural structure between the West and the Igbo people, would be their lack of "centralized political structures", however similarly, the Igbo people follow democratic political decision-making. They like the idea of direct involvement in government/political decision. "Cross cutting ties" was something they adherently subscribed to, so when Europeans arrived, the Igbo societal structure was halted by our impositions. Before our arrival, Igboland could consider itself divided into 200 separate groups, which emphasizes the diversity of cultural values within the country.

Title:

Throughout Igboland, the title "ozo" was appointed to men who merited the title throughout wealth, dedication and respect. The word is not used lightly and has a high significance to this culture, since status is very important to them. However, while colonizing Igboland, the ozo's have been stripped of their title by British colonizers who overtake their powerful place in society. Nowadays, the terms "igwe" and "ogbu efi" are use to describe the ozo's. The age group system seems to be significant to this culture as well, as it promotes respect as individuals age and gain wisdom. Also, the Igbo people must maintain a “transparent” life, meaning that they must not live a life of secrecy and should deal with their conflicts through compromise.

Religion/ worship:

Eze Nri is the Igbo people's first family to be created on the Earth, while Chukwu is the name for a god. Contrarily to Christianity, each person forms a belief in his or her own individual god, while acknowledging the main god Chukwu.

Marriage:

Men are allowed to have many wives. The main/first wife often brought the junior wives to the husband. Each wife is given her own house and also have the right to leave if unhappy in the marriage. Although this may not adhere to Western standards of cultural structure, there do not seem to be major issues that surface as a result of these different customs.

Death:

Igbo people believe of multiple lives and that their social status would be carried on throughout these lives. However, the death of an individual is considered to be a disturbance to the cosmological balance of their society.

Women:

Similarly to men, women are involved in associations that contributed to the wellbeing of their society. Also, women are considered to be more spiritually aware.

Children:

Children are valued very highly and deemed to be important for lineages to be continued.

Source of food:

Don’t expect apples or potatoes as sources of vitamins and potassium. Instead, develop an open mindedness to yams, cocoyams, bananas and plantains, as Igbo agriculture mainly revolves around these staple fruits and vegetables.

Above are different aspects of the Igbo culture and society that one must be aware and extremely respectful of. However, they are aware of the differences between theirs and our culture, and the mistakes or assumptions we may make during our stay in Igboland.

Chinua Achebe Interview Meaningful Takeaway

During our Shared Inquiry Discussion in class today, I was struck by the lack of books recounting African stories from the point of view of an African individual. It was not a concept that I had previously considered, yet, the extent of it on the African culture must be considerably large. In the interview with Achebe, he explains that previous to his endeavours in literature, there were a significant amount of "authentically African" books written by European or American authors. He went on to say that "The last four or five hundred years of European contact with Africa produced a body of literature that presented Africa in a very bad light and Africans in very lurid terms. The reason for this had to do with the need to justify the slave trade and slavery." (p. 2-3) This seems to be a complete marginalisation of the voices of Africans, who are equally as able to recount African stories. Since Western culture had incredible power over cultural minorities, their ability to manipulate other Westerners opinions on Africans allowed them to justify their dismissal and ignorance towards African cultures. By Africans publishing their own books, and recounting their own stories and experiences, they are able to express themselves and their cultures in a more positive. Additionally, by using English in their literature, they are able to reach a wider audience, and perhaps humanise themselves to Western audiences, who have only ever been shown dreading images of African cultures. 

Paper 1 Practice

Emma Watson presents a speech at a UN assembly in an attempt to persuade society to support the #HeForShe campaign. In doing so, she also presents an argument as to why equal gender rights have not yet become tangible, as a method of further persuading her targeted audience. The employment of the persuasive appeals pathos and ethos, as well as a variety of literary devices such as anaphora, amplifications, personal experiences as well as a great understanding of her targeted audience, are successful methods to gain the support of her targeted audience for the #HeForShe campaign.

         Firstly, Watson’s speech takes a serious and positive stance towards the issue of gender equality, as it neither condemns nor blames a specific group, but creates the mood of a welcoming and hopeful speech, in the hopes to encourage her targeted audience to support the #HeForShe campaign. The speech begins with Watson identifying herself with the term “I”, and directly addressing her targeted audience with the terms “you/your”, which allows this audience to feel comfortable with the speaker and her point of view. This use of pathos is evident by Watson saying, “I am reaching out to you because we need your help” (l. 1-2), as she directly references the audience, creating a relationship with them.

Later on in the text, this Goodwill Ambassador explains the concept behind the #HeForShe campaign by defining the word feminism as “the theory of political, economic and social equality of the sexes”(l. 15), as this is the overall message of the #HeForShe campaign. By defining this term and explaining the #HeForShe in more detail, Watson appeals to the audience’s ethos, allowing them to feel more comfortable with her credibility. She then chooses to recite that “the reality is that if we do nothing, it will take seventy-five years, or for me to be nearly 100, before woman can expect to be paid the same as men for the same work” (l. 103-105) as a fact relevant to the topic of gender equality. She further develops her credibility with the audience by stating, “15.5 million girls will be married in the next 16 years as children. And at current rates, it wont be until 2086 before all rural African girls can have a secondary education” (l. 106-109). By conveying these facts, the targeted audience is able to understand the effects of gender inequality and support the #HeForShe campaign.

Watson employs a variety of literary devices within her speech in an attempt to further persuade her targeted audience to support the feminist campaign. In the third paragraph of the speech, the use of the anaphora “when at (…)” (l. 18-23), is sourced from Watson’s personal experiences which allows the audience to familiarize themselves with her, and therefore feel more comfortable with her point of view. An anaphora is also used between the lines 43 and 45 to further this appeal to the emotions of the audience. Later on, she uses the rhetorical question, “why has the word become such an uncomfortable one?” (l.31), referring to the word ‘feminism’, to further the argue to those against the term and concept of feminism. The use of the imagery “imprisoned by gender stereotypes” (l. 73-74) allows Watson to support her argument about the effects of gender stereotypes.

Since the #HeForShe campaign was launched at a UN assembly, it is essential to consider her targeted audience to be of a variety nationalities and multicultural backgrounds, as well as gender. The UN ensures to employ both men and women, which allows for both genders to be part of their decision processes. In terms of the public audience of this speech, a video was launched across social media allowing mostly the newest and middle-aged generations to view the speech and reflect upon the #HeForShe message. Also, although Watson mentions her British nationality and personal experiences, this is meant to persuade her audience to broaden the audience to an international scale. She uses her British nationality as a platform to speak out against gender equality issues, such as her reference to “rural African girls” (l. 108) and "child marriage" (l. 107). This infers her acknowledgement of International issues, allowing her to gain a wider audience to persuade.

All in all, the effect of this text on Watson’s targeted audience should be considered to understand her persuasive success. The extensive use of literary techniques, persuasive appeals, personal experiences and a great understanding of her audience allow for a triumphant persuasive speech.