Comparing the Tragic Hero in Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness Es

The Tragic Hero in Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness A tragic hero could be considered a "noble person with a fatal flaw" or "an opponent of society who is willing to take action that 'sensible people' might applaud but never perform themselves". In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart and Joseph Conrads's Heart of Darkness, two characters, Okonkwo and Kurtz, have some qualities which could categorize them as tragic heroes. However, only the reader's interpretation of the characters' actions will determine if they are tragic heroes or not. In his Ibo society, Okonkwo would certainly be considered a "noble person". Not only has he worked his way up from poverty to become one of the leading men of Umuofia, but he has also been deemed one of the greatest warriors and wrestlers in the land. "Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements", (Achebe 3). Due to the exemplary actions, Okonkwo has gained respect from his fellow tribesmen. Okonkwo has also taken two titles in his clan and he is a member of the egwugwu, which demonstrates his leadership capabilities and the power and "nobility" he holds in Umuofia. Despite his skills in those areas, Okonkwo does have a "fatal flaw". "His whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness", (Achebe 13). Unoka, Okonkwo's father, was considered an "agbala", or a woman, because he was soft and not masculine enough. Okonkwo had also hated his father because he was em- barrassed by him, so his life's passion is to be the polar opposite of him. Due to this fear, Okonkwo held in his emotions and acted hard, which ultimately made him weak, because a s... ...o appears to have more qualities of a tragic hero than Kurtz. Achebe had created Okonkwo with some nobility, and he definitely had a fatal flaw; his fear of weakness ultimately culminated into his death. Also, Okonkwo had opposed the white society and some of his fellow tribesmen. However, his clan did not approve of his final action: suicide. Due to this fact, Okonkwo can never be a true tragic he- ro. Now, Kurtz never was considered to be a noble man by society's standards and he didn't really have a flaw; instead, he had the ability to persuade and manipulate people to his advantage, which would not be a flaw for his sake. Kurtz was a mixed man of society; he opposed some parts while accepting others. Despite this, both characters have exhibited some characteristics of a tragic hero and only the reader's response can determine their roles. Â  

Jane Austen’s Use of Irony in Pride and Prejudice Essay

Irony is the art of expressing two meanings simultaneously; the obvious surface meaning the majority will regard as the only meaning and on a deeper profounder meaning which lies behind the obvious. The tension created by this ambivalence can be and has been put to a variety of uses. Ironies abound in Shakespeare, so do they in Dryden and Poe.Shakespeare employs them to underscore the tragic plight of a man, while Dryden and Pope use them to mock at human follies and foibles.among the forty eight writings, Fanny urney’s ‘Cecilia’,’Comilla’ and other novels are based on quiet but incisive irony. Thomas Love Peacocks â€Å"Headlong Hall†, â€Å"Nightmare Abbey’,†Maid Marian† and so on are the vehicles of attacks on the cranks and the fads of his day.but very few writers have exploited all possible resources of irony as Jane Austen.It may not be an exaggeration to say that Jane Austen is nothing if not ironical.Irony is her very forte;it is in fact the very soul of her art. Pride and Prejudice, for instance, is steeped in irony.To put it in other words, it is an artistic blend of ironic  and dramatic design.almost everything in this novel, be it related to the context or to the style, points to an  ironic contrast between ‘appearance’ and ‘reality’.it is the complex handling of â€Å"First Impressions† that  lends to Austen’s irony. Perhaps the opening sentence of the book offers the aptest illustration of irony.It states that â€Å"‘a single man  in possesion of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife† and claims that â€Å"it is truth universally acknowledged.† But as the story unfolds itself we learn that â€Å"universal truth lies† in the opposite direction.Mrs Bennet’s concern for getting her daughters gainfully husbanded constitutes the basic theme of Pride and Prejudice. In an essay Reuben Brower writes: † In analysing the ironies and assumptions, we shall see how intensely the dialogue is, dramatic in the sense of defining the characters through the way they speak and are spoken about.† The confusion that even very intelligent people are capable of making between the apparent and the inherent is initially drawn towards Wickham mainly because of his external graces and Darcy’s first reaction to Elizabeth is that of repulsion simply because to quote Darcy, she is â€Å"not handsome enough to tempt† him. The situations——at least a good number of them —–in Pride and Prejudice. are also very ironical. Darcy’s first proposal to Elizabeth is made exactly at the moment when Elizabeth hates him most.When Darcy proposes to her she simply rejects him and blames him for separating Jane from Bingley;She further accuses him of his abominable treatment of Wickham.She tells harshly—-‘..my opinion of you was decided.Your character is unfolded in the recital which I received from Mr.Wickham†¦can you defend yourself?’ Later on Darcy changes,and happily, the changes are mostly for the better. The changed Darcy does not feel shy of confessing : † I have been a selfish being all my life, in practice, though not in principle.†Once Darcy has been humbled,Austen turns her irony on Elizabeth.She shows that Elizabeth in resentment of Darcy’s conscious superiority, has exaggerated his faults and failed to see that there is much goodness in him.then again. Lydia’s elopement with Wickham, which Elizabeth fears shall spoil her prospects of marriage with Dercy, strangely enough brightens the same.similarly, Lady Catherine’s attempts to prevent this  marriage succeeds in only hastening it. All these clearly spells out Austen’s attitude towards life.She knows that human nature and human situations are often too incongruous and contradictory.But she does not deride this aberrations with the cruelty of a Dryden or a Pope,her irony is always gentle and sympathetic.she uses it mainly in order to raise a hearty laughter.This, however is not to suggest that her comic is not rooted in any sense of responsibility. She has very certainly a distinct moral purpose of her own. She will not only expose the antithesis between sense and nonsense,she will at the same time state her preferences in unmistakable terms.needless to say she casts her vote in favour of sense.there is pride in life as also there is prjudice; but life, in order to be ideally lived needs to be a combination of both..Darcy has to stoop to conquer his pride before he becomes worthy to be happy and Elizabeth has to get over her prejudice in order to enter into a life of bliss. It is this moral vision that spells itself out in course of the novel â€Å"Pride and Prejudice†, though Austen’s irony plays the all pervasive; yet it never allows this vision to attain the abominable portions of any kind of didactism.indeed, it may be said that one of the greatest charms of this novel is derived from the gentle â€Å"tongue in the cheek† way of describing people and situations.For this Jane Austen’s tales offer a rippling sense of pleasure to her readers.

A More Than Modest Proposal to Solve the Ever-Growing...

More Than Modest Proposal to Solve the Ever-Growing Traffic Troubles On average, an American commuter spends around 30 hours per week sitting in traffic going to and from the job that they may or may not love. Commuters in some cities like Washington DC, that is both near and dear to our hearts, can spend roughly 60 hours per week stuck in traffic. Not only is time wasted wasted while commuting, but the gas that we constantly fill our cars up with may as well be flushed down the drain. Following the gas that is going down this metaphorical drain here, is a ridiculous amount of money from an innocent commuter’s wallet. Additionally, time wasted while commuting could’ve been time well spent with one’s family or even with one’s pets. The†¦show more content†¦Because there are no drivers of the pods, there is zero chance of any casualties caused by drunk drivers, or by drivers who are texting or plugging information into their GPS. These pods will eliminate any chance of pedestrians or animals getting hit due to the se nsitive sensors that will be placed in each pod. Though there are alternate means of transportation such as carpools, buses, or simply walking, these alternatives can be just as problematic as cars themselves. With carpools, we still run the risk of drivers that are not paying full attention to the road because they are paying more attention to the members of their carpool. Though with the intent of conserving gas, carpools will still pollute our fresh air with the harsh chemicals found in gas. Buses are more or less a large- scale carpool. Buses may seem to promote mass transportation of people, they are very costly because drivers must be paid and money must be spent on gas. Not to mention that buses can be extremely dirty, whereas the pods are self sanitized. 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