Is+Okonkwo+a+Hero

[|Chinua Achebe Podcast]
 * Suggested Listening:** This is a recording of a presentation Chinua Achebe made in Philadelphia just last March (2008). The podcast is about an hour long and Chinua talks about so many different topics: politics, religion, why he doesn't return to Nigeria, and he even is asked how he wanted reader's to interpret the end of the book. However, if you scan to the last 1/10 of the stream you will encounter a question answer session where he directly answers the reason why he wrote this novel....right from his voice!!!

=Post Assignment Directions= //Things Fall Apart// is a novel that resonates in reader's minds because the ending is left to interpretation. Okonkwo is one of the most famous characters in the entire world and yet, there are so many unresolved issues. How do we walk away from the Umoufia people now? How do we settle our feelings about our main character? Is he a tragic hero? Or...does he define a more modern day definition of a hero. Can he compare to Oedipus? Hamlet? There are so many topics you could post about and as long as you express a really strong statement, you can't be wrong. There are a number of essays, interviews, and magazine articles directly addressing our Okonkwo so if you are having trouble identifying your own position, it is very possible that you could seek inspiration from others. I am very interested in these posts and expect ONE ORIGINAL POSTING WITH YOUR REACTION as well as TWO REPLIES to others. I would like to see a good thread of discussion going on here to prepare for the debates we'll have in class tomorrow.