Research PaperIt is the third leading cause of death among students, it is also the second leading cause of death among adolescents. More adolescents and young adults are dying from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, childbirth. defects, stroke, pneumonia, flu and chronic lung disease, combined, it's suicide. After reading Things Fall Apart and Antigone, it became apparent how large a role suicide played in the plot of each of these stories, and how despair was a factor in the suicides of characters such as Okonkwo from Things Fall Apart, Haemon and Queen Eurydice from Antigone. I chose the theme of despair and how that plays into suicide, not only because of my personal experiences, but also because of the obvious effect despair has on the characters. In the Greek tragedy Antigone and the novel Things Fall Apart, it is evident that the major commonality of suicide victims is that they have lost hope in themselves and have lost sight of what life is really about. In the novel Things Fall Apart, suicide plays a major role in the outcome of the story. Everything the main character, Okonkwo, once knew has changed drastically, leading to his suicide. He was a renowned warrior and one of the many leaders of his clan. He had land, 3 wives and over 25 children between them. But all the changes began when a white missionary visited his village. After the arrival of the white man, everything goes wrong for Okonkwo and his family, Okonkwo accidentally kills a man and is banished for 7 years and he lost everything including his land and title. Okonkwo is devastated by the loss of his social status and is grief-stricken. Achebe wrote: "The work no longer had the same arguments for him [Okonkwo]...... middle of paper ...... the posters display the theme of suicide but also because Haemon, the Queen Eurydice and Okonkwo have all lost something. it was precious to them. Okonkwo saw his village being taken over by the white man and he was powerless to stop it. he tried to rally his countrymen and attack the Christian, but his plan failed almost immediately. Ultimately, Okonkwo saw his culture and beliefs disappear and be replaced by the white man's own beliefs and Okonkwo couldn't handle that, so he committed suicide. In Antigone, Haemon came across the lifeless body of his fiancée, Antigone, hanging from the ceiling of her tomb and the loss of his love triggered his desire to end his life. Once Harmon's mother, Queen Eurydice, learned of the loss of her son, she was immediately struck by grief and cursed Creon with her dying breath saying that he was the cause of all the pain and suffering..