Things Fall apart

Essay by andreaespinoza93 November 2014

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Espinoza

Okonkwo's Heroes Journey

"We define heroism in a modern education as an act and process involving collective will and vision" (Brown, 5). The Heroes Journey is a pattern in which the author, Joseph Campbell portrays the classic adventure where the main character, the hero, sets off and achieves great actions on behalf of a group that he left behind. We can see this typical plot in many works such as drama, storytelling, movies, myths, and psychological development. The fun thing about this pattern is that although the same steps are taking place but with completely different stories. Characters always take different paths in different situations and will have obstacles to overcome but in the end the hero always reaches the end of the cycle. There are many stories and examples where we can see the Hero's Journey being applied such as Okonkwo's journey in "Things Fall Apart".

"Heroes must make their journeys on their own, but they don't need to make them by themselves".

(Steinhouse). We all know what the word "hero" means, but do we really know what makes someone a hero? A hero is described as someone who overcomes all the obstacles goes the "extra mile" in what is expected from them. They go above and beyond their responsibility to help those who need help. The hero in the stories usually stands out because he risks his/her own life. In most stories heroes are born because of the situations that they have to go through and when something bad happens, the hero acts and saves his/her people. In "Things Fall Apart" Okonkwo takes the place of a different type of hero: a tragic hero. A tragic hero is an exceptional man who, because of circumstances beyond his control and because of his own fatal flaw, is...