According to Webster's dictionary, a tragic hero is a protagonist who would otherwise be perfect except for the flaws inherent in his character, which often lead to his death. In Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo, the protagonist was different from tragic heroes such as Oedipus, Iago and Beowulf, because he was not born into nobility, but had to achieve fame and earn respect through his exceptional endurance, hard work and his historic unrivaled success in defeating the famous cat Amalinze. Like Beowulf and Oedipus, Okonkwo shares characteristic traits of a tragic hero. These traits highlighted his mortal fear of failure, fear of weakness, and fear of becoming like his father who was lazy and poor. Okonkwo also possesses unshakable pride and uncontrollable anger. Fear, pride, and anger are some of the traits of a tragic hero that were inherent in Okonkwo, and this article will seek to explore how these traits contributed to his downfall. Okonkwo's connection of manhood with anger, ferocity, and recklessness ultimately leads to his downfall. Okonkwo finds it difficult to accept the changes that the Missionaries have brought to Umuofia. The missionaries changed the way of thinking of the people of Umuofia, leading to an irreversible division among the people. Fear is a worry about something that threatens to bring bad news or negative outcomes. Okonkwo's success was founded on the fear of failure, which forced him to resent his father in every way. His will to succeed, heavily influenced by the fear of failure, made him successful and respected by his people. Although the fear of failure made him a successful man, it was also what led to his downfall. This is the kind of irony that is pervasive in… middle of paper… his words that he had committed great evil; we live at peace with our fellow men to honor our great earth goddess without whose blessings our crops will not grow. You have committed a great evil (Achebe 30). Okonkwo shows another fit of anger during the new yam festival, when he almost killed his second wife with a gun because she had cut some leaves from the banana tree to wrap some food. Without patience to discern his explanation; she was beaten mercilessly and almost killed. Okonkwo lacked a sense of affection towards his family, which may be linked to his fear of weakness. Repudiate any display of emotion or patience so as not to appear weak. His family lived in perpetual fear, he never gave them the opportunity to get close to him without being afraid of him, and this really had a great effect on the relationship he had with his family.