les, but as being the most important man in nine villages –referred to in the previous passage.The second condition for a character to be a tragic hero according to Aristotle is that he should share common human qualities and concerns. He is a mixture of good characteristics and bad ones. Also, he must be someone that people can relate to, and, therefore, must have the same human problems and must go through life with the same obstacles of ordinary people. This we can see when the author is describing Okonkwo’s feelings for Ikemefuna, a young boy who has been in his household as compensation to the village for a murdered citizen of Umuofia,“Even Okonkwo himself became very fond of the boy –inwardly of course. Okonkwo never showed any emotions openly, unless it be the emotion of anger. To show affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was strength. He therefore treated Ikemefuna as he treated everybody else –with a heavy hand. But there was no doubt that he liked the boy. Sometimes when he went to the big village meetings or communal ancestral feasts he allowed Ikemefuna to accompany him, like a son, carrying his stool and his goatskin bag. And, indeed Ikemefuna called him father” (Achebe, page 28) From this text we find out that Okonkwo actually had feelings of fondness and admiration toward Ikemefuna. This we see when Okonkwo takes Ikemefuna with him to important village meetings. This shows us that Okonkwo has an ordinary positive human quality which is fondness and caring for other people. Another quality we find common in certain people especially in people who have a tough character is that they do not express any feelings of love and tenderness but keep them deep inside them. This is the case with Okonkwo who refuses to express his feelings towards Ikemefuna as he sees such expressions as a sign of weakness. Thus, we find at least two ordinary human qualities in his ch...
