A Normal Man

My first image when someone says the word hero is a vast blue sky with puffy white clouds and a peaceful atmosphere. Then, in comes my dad wearing a superman suit which I can never imagine to the detail point of how my father can even fit in that suit. Nonetheless, it gives me an edge of humour when I think about heros. This type of thinking started when I used to have nightmares and was to the point of insomnia because I would not sleep for the fear of the images my mind produces when I fall asleep. To combat that, my father would tell me when I dream of such frightening nightmares, I should produce an image of him flying into the scary scene and perform "an act of awesomeness" to save me. Of course, as a child, I did scoff mentally, thinking of how in the world would I be able to control my dreams to make my father appear if I cannot even stop my nightmares; however, I never did tell him my opinion and let him believe I was a gullible girl. Nevertheless, that image has been on my mind since I was young and has never left my side. As such, a hero has become to me a person who is capable of mistakes yet still a man, or woman, trying every opportunity and using every angle to help or save another person in need. 

Okonkwo in my definition never quite made it to the top of the building. He never became a hero in my eyes; he was, instead, a perfectly normal man. I have said in my essay that he was a hero of his people yet a coward of his heart. While that may be true for the first few chapters of the book, it does not hold statement for the rest of the novel. Indeed, Okonkwo was a hero to his people for bringing power to their name, but in the end, he could not hold onto that status. He gave up his life for a change his society has adopted. This suicide has given me a thought of Okonkwo's hero status which was determined solely by his clan. He was declared a hero for bringing prestige to his clan's name yet the characteristics of a hero determined by me has yet been fulfilled. 

Okonkwo has never really done anything to help anyone except for his own gain which is usually to show that he is not weak like his father. For example, he did love Ikemefuna, but to him, the importance relied heavily on his name. Therefore, Okonkwo aided in the murder of Ikemefuna because he did not want to be weak. This is a man who is capable of making mistakes and someone who faced forked roads like all of us. This is what made him be viewed, to me, as a normal man who made his own decisions, whether right or wrong, and tried to continue living on despite everything. Even though Okonkwo did fail to grasp that rope of life, he chose the way to end himself and the reason why. May that reason be superficial or justified, Okonkwo has still been seen as a normal man with burdens and mistakes carried on his back in my eyes. Therefore, he is not a hero to me and probably never will be because he has shown me that his character is not fit for my definition of hero. As such, he will be remembered as a normal man, in my mind.