Chinua Achebe
The book things fall apart successfully expresses how Chinua Achebe had succeeded in writing a different story. It pointed out the conflict of one’s self, the traditional beliefs, and the religious matters of the Africans. Throughout the book Chinua Achebe used simple words and unlike other books he also included some flash backs to make the book more interesting. Things fall apart was about a man named Okonkwo, who was always struggling with his inner fear although he was known for being a very strong, powerful, and fearless warrior.
For colonialists, Christianity was used as an effective wedge between the Ibo and their land. They knew that without infiltration from the inside, the people from Umofia and surrounding villages would continue creating conflict amongst the natives they were able to gain a foothold into the psyches of the tribe’s people. Converted Christians having been ostracized by the rest of their communities were forced to rely on British for support. The presents of natives loyal to the queen gave the British blanket jurisdiction over the entire village and the royal administration and judicial system could now enforce British law over the Ibo.
There was not only agriculture that Chinua Achebe mentioned in the story but the role of women at the time was also an important factor. When a man wanted to marry a woman, he had to pay the bride price to her relatives if they accepted him. Each day, the wives had to prepare their own dishes for their husbands and would have to obey them for whatever reason. Although their order might go against their wives, they could not question their husbands because it was against the cultural traditions. When a child was born it belonged to its father and his family instead of the mothers because the man was the head of the family and the wife was always supposed to obey his command. But when a man was in exile he would have to return to his mother’s kinsmen until the period of exile was over. Furthermore when a woman died she was taken home to burry with her own kinsmen and not with her own husband. Chinua Achebe described these customs because they revealed the distinctness of the ibo women at that time and these traditions made the story more appealing to the readers.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is the story of an Ibo tribe before and during the arrival of white missionaries. The main character, Okonkwo, is a highly respected man within his society who slowly falls in esteem as the story goes on. He involves himself in more and more conflicts with the people around him, including an ongoing battle of impossibly high standards for his son Nwoye, who decides to leave his family in the end for the Anglican Church. The warrior archetype Okonkwo is too rooted in his ways to survive marginalization, but his son Nwoye understands his only choice and resolves the doomed father-son conflict by abandoning his own culture.…
- 687 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In the novel, “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe a Nigerian author, tells the history of a small village in Nigeria. The history is focused on the daily life of a man named Okonkwo. Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was a man known for his laziness, and cowardice. He was unoccupied, poor, libertine, gentle, interested in conversation and in music more than anything else. Unoka died in disrepute, leaving many village debts unsettled. In response, Okonkwo consciously adopted opposite ideals and becomes productive, wealthy, thrifty, brave, violent, and adamantly rejects everything for which he believes his father stood. Okonkwo always leaded in his own way, a way which made his wives and children afraid of him. With the arrival of white missionaries,…
- 833 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart exemplifies two sharply contrasting sides of the impact that religion can have on a society, being its ability to unify and segregate the people of a community. In the book’s first part, religion acts as the glue holding together the structure of Ibo society: it is the basis that helps to found the society’s rituals, moral code, and gender roles. Religion’s position as the leading authority in the tribe also helps to communicate a major theme in the book: the idea that society determines what is worthy of respect. Yet, in parts two and three of the book, the introduction of another religion, Christianity, to the tribe of Umuofia divides the Ibo people and creates immense controversy. Furthermore, even though there are major similarities in the religion of the Ibo and Christianity, the various more minor…
- 621 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Things Fall Apart illustrates the beauty and fragile nature of the Igbo clan, and the tragic downfall of their entire culture. The title, Things Fall Apart, has a deep meaning that brings the unfortunate situation of Umuofia to light. The Second Coming, and Things Fall Apart, have striking similarities in their themes, and the ideas present in both of the pieces, making them seem as if they are written by the same person, or are somehow connected. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe chose the title of his book to illustrate the tragedy of losing a culture to the destruction of evil.…
- 474 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Achebe depicts the Igbo as a people with great social institutions. Their culture is rich and impressively civilized, with traditions and laws that place great emphasis on justice and fairness. The people are ruled not by a king or chief but by a kind of simple democracy, in which all males gather and make decisions by consensus. Ironically, it is the Europeans, who often boast of bringing democratic institutions to the rest of the world, who try to suppress these clan meetings in Umuofia.…
- 3934 Words
- 21 Pages
Good Essays -
Of the many themes that appear in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, individuality versus nationality becomes a central topic as the story progresses and develops. With the invasion and colonization of the European missionaries, Okonkwo’s nationality and contributions to society are called into question. Achebe explains the idea of nationality over individuality by showing that society is the precursor to individuality. Examining the life of the protagonist, Okonkwo, before and after his resistance exemplifies this key idea in Things Fall Apart.…
- 831 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Everyone in the entire world has obstacles. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart focuses especially around Okonkwo and his struggles. Achebe demonstrates how people have to change to overcome obstacles but not lose themselves in the process through Okonkwo’s internal conflict, the climax in the plot, and the tribe’s internal conflict.…
- 350 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a novel about the colonization of an African culture. Also, the novel is about a tribesman named Okonkwo who lives in an African village called Umuofia which undergoes the drastic changes of colonization. In Things Fall Apart there is an overwhelming amount of masculinity in the culture of Umuofia and clan life in general. However, there is also a balance between masculinity and femininity in certain aspects of their culture and life. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe the careful balance of masculine roles and feminine roles in society are shown by the point of view in the novel.…
- 564 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a novel about the life of the Ibo tribe in Nigeria during the 19th century. In the passage, the protagonist, Okonkwo, is afraid to be seen as weak and attends the funeral of Ezeudu, an aged man who achieved three titles. Unfortunately, Okonkwo is exiled from the city of Umuofia for inadvertently shooting Ezeudu’s son at the funeral. Achebe uses the banishment of Okonkwo to show the Ibo tribe’s compliance to the Earth goddess and Obierika’s perspective of Earth goddess to carefully reveal Ibo tribes are conforming to their unjust Earth goddess because they believe she will give calamity to the entire Ibo tribes when one denies her will.…
- 661 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
“Tradition becomes our security, and when the mind is secure it is in decay” – Jiddu Krishnamurti. Things Fall Apart is an English-language novel written by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe that was published in 1958 by William Heinemann Ltd. In Things Fall Apart the Umuofia tribesmen refuse to change and show this through killing a fellow tribesmen, an English messenger, and eventually their own death. My arguments will show that Chinua Achebe uses the elements of a tragic hero to support the theme of the struggle between change and tradition in Things Fall Apart.…
- 741 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Albert Chinualamogue Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart, was born into a large African village known as Ogidi in Nigeria. He would go on to receive his education in English, nonetheless, he would obtain an upbringing that was multi-cultured. This would no doubt be due to the town of Ogini, in the early 20th century, continuing traditions. While in college he would discover an interest in Indigenous Nigerians, furthermore, he would reject his Christian name Albert and instead standing by his indigenous name Chinua. In 1959, Things Fall Apart, would be published by Achebe.…
- 1997 Words
- 8 Pages
Better Essays -
“Things fall apart, the center cannot hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world” (Achebe). In his postcolonial tragedy, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe writes about the collapse of the Ibo African tribal system due to the arrival of aggressive European missionaries. Achebe focuses on “both what was strong and what was weak in the African past” (Appiah). He traces back the roots of his people to the “moment when [they] lost [their] initiative to other people, to colonizers” (Appiah). Throughout his novel Achebe shows the effects the Ibo culture experiences when Christian colonizers arrive.…
- 501 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe follows the character Okonkwo, an influential and powerful man in the village of Umuofia. Through the book he goes through the intense inner struggle of trying to be the man his father never was and also makes quite a few big mistakes along the way. Some mistakes include beating his wives and even killing a young man. He is exiled from his village for seven years and he seeks a place he can call home in the motherland. During his exile white missionaries come and settle in the surrounding villages including Umuofia. When he returns to Umuofia, it is not the same as it was before and many people including his own son had been converted to christianity. After being sentenced to be hanged, Okonkwo kills himself in a desperate attempt to protect his pride and to prevent himself from seeming weak to other. Throughout the novel, figurative language devices like metaphor, simile, and personification is used to display the theme of the culture fueled pressure of masculinity.…
- 1080 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
In Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe there are several moments throughout the novel in which there are changes in social attitudes and traditions. In particular, male vs. female and change vs. traditions are just some of the prominent themes within the novel where Achebe wishes to modify these changes. On the other hand, there are certain techniques such as the use of language, point of view, and historical setting that the author uses to influence the audience’s viewpoint of the novel. To begin with, in Things Fall Apart, readers are able to see that there is a continuing conflict between women and men within the Igbo society. Throughout history, women have always been portrayed as being inferior to men.…
- 847 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Overall, Okonkwo has proven to have hubris and hamartia, given the events and actions he’s taken upon. His father’s failure and Okonkwo’s hope to oppose him his whole life, clouded his thoughts and sometimes his focus. Readers now have knowledge to never let their weaknesses get in the way of their journey. The story of Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe completely exemplifies a perfect tragedy and tragic…
- 457 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays