Fall Aristotle on Things Fall

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Aristotle on Things Fall Apart

Aristotle's Poetics has served as a seminal work of and on Western literature, defining and analyzing texts in a way that has continued to inform and inspire authors for millennia. Though Chinua Achebe is not exactly a Western author, being a Nigerian native, his novel Things Fall Apart can be analyzed form the perspective of a tragedy as defined and described by Aristotle in Poetics. The traditional arc of the tragedy is very clearly present in the novel, as an initial balance is eventually eroded away to the point of utter collapse and total devastation. Even the scope of the novel is almost ironically tragic by an Aristotelian definition; it involves the higher echelons of power within a set of Nigerian villages just as tragedies in Aristotle's day were (essentially, according to Poetics), concerned with the ruling families of the Greek city-states, though in Achebe's novel this power structure is revealed to be largely insignificant in face of the pressures of the larger world. It is in the area of character, however, that Achebe most closely matches the Aristotelian ideal.

There are several aspects of character that Aristotle deems essential for the development of a proper central character for a tragedy, including that the character be both good and consistent in their actions and behaviors (Poetics Part XV). This consistency of behavior, according to Aristotle, helps to propel the properly structured plot: "As in the structure of the plot, so too in the portraiture of character, the poet should always aim either at the necessary or the probable" (Poetics Part XV). This creates a character with behaviors that both create their success and lead to their downfall -- what is called a tragic flaw.

This tragic flaw is very clearly apparent in Okonkwo, the protagonist of Achebe's Things Fall Apart. He is very strong and very masculine according to the expectations of his people, and this both helps him to win success amongst his people despite the shame of his family background -- his father was not well respected in the community -- and causes him to be banished from the villages. This banishment somewhat ironically -- though in a perfect twist for a tragic plot -- weakens the villages and enables the white newcomers' ways to dominate the society, which ultimately leads to Okonkwo's "weak" death at his own hands. The beginning of the change can be seen when Okonkwo convinces himself to take part in the ritual slaying of a kidnapped boy from another village, despite warnings that he should avoid participation: "When did you become a shivering old woman,' Okonkwo asked himself, 'you, who are known in all the nine villages for your valor in war?'" (Things Fall Apart Chapter 8). This clearly shows the transition form Okonkwo's consistent strength turning from a benefit to him and his society to a detriment, leading to his downfall.