Many ancient societies have a record of tragic tales that observe problems of human life and the nature of the gods. For instance, both Greek and Nigerian tragic tales of King Oedipus and Things Fall Apart prove to be similar in structure. Both civilizations demonstrate their belief in tragic heroes who posses a tragic flaw as well as a belief in the ultimate powers of their gods. In Greek tragedies, the audience was often familiar …showed first 75 words of 1057 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1057 total…not aware of his own tragic flaw, unlike the reader who is fully aware of it, and this knowledge the reader has creates the suspense. Both Sophocles and Achebe make their tragic tales suspenseful through their structure. They both rely on dramatic irony to help create the suspense. The reader is supposed to know more about the protagonist's fate than himself, and this knowledge is suspenseful when the reader watches the hero's life fall apart.