Preview

The Importance Of Power In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1178 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Importance Of Power In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart
In the book Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is a successful farmer in his village that looks, and wants, to gain more power throughout the book, but it creates deep consequences for him. Throughout the book Heart of Darkness, Mr. Kurtz is a successful man whose life is consumed by the need to find ivory and the need to become successful. Society leads people to believe that in order to be happy, people need to be successful and powerful. Although the need for power captures people and make them do irrational actions. It leads people to want more power after they’ve gotten powerful. No one is to believe that they can gain too much power because society makes one believe that with power, life is better, so people seek to retrieve as much power as possible. In Things Fall Apart, …show more content…
They told the people how their religion was wrong and that the only right religion was Christianity (Achebe 144-145). They didn’t bother caring what the Ibo people believed they just wanted to have more converts in their religion to make it more powerful. They had their minds set that the Ibo people’s gods could not be real since they were the more civilized, many even more powerful, people. Some Ibo people did not like the fact that these missionaries were trying to push their religion on them. To show that they still had power, some of the Ibo tribe members decided to burn down many of the Christian’s buildings, due to one of their own who transferred to Christianity committing a serious crime to the natives (Achebe 190-191). They looked to show that they still had power, even these missionaries had come in and preached their beliefs and influenced many Ibo people to switch to Christianity. The people used their power to do wrong against the men by burning down their buildings. Their need to show that they are still powerful possessed them, in a way, to do damage to others’

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    “With power comes great responsibility.” This quote perfectly describes the future of not just world leaders, but any leader. Power is a great chance for a good world change, but it can also be manipulated for selfish reasons. If lured to the dark side, control can be one of the most dangerous and horrifying things in the universe. Considering that, power is a negative trait, not just for the user, but also for its victims and the effects power has.…

    • 1077 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the novel, "All Things Fall Apart" Achebe used siginifcant sayings in chapters 1-3 that were called proverbs. The proverb that stood out most to me is located in chapter 3. The wise saying was used while Okonkwo was asking Nwakibie for help with yams. He contines with saying that he knew how it is to trust young men these days with yams especially when they are afraid of work. Then he says that he is not afraid and brings the proverb in to make a point; "The lizard that jumped from high iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no one else did ". Meaning that when a person encounter accomplishments and no one appreciates it thst person appreciates their accomplishments and praise himself or herslef.Okonkwo is praising himself…

    • 265 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout literary works in the past decades, the story of the tragic hero has always been one of interest. In Things Fall Apart, Chinau Achebe tells the story of a hero who makes his own success and is highly respected. As the story develops, the audience experiences his downfall because of his tragic flaws. Okonkwo, the protagonist, fits the definition of a tragic hero because of his characteristics that lead him to his fall.…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ordinarily, us as humans face many situations where we have to make a tough decision. As an example, politics and culture affect a lot of what we do, say, and feel. Sometimes, changes or continuities based on a decision, can change ourselves. How do we cope with these feelings though? Yes, there are many ways to deal with these emotions, some are bad and some are good. Even in books like “Siddhartha”, “How To Kill a Mockingbird”, and “Things Fall Apart” do characters need help in dealing with situations. The individuals distracted themselves by setting goals, actually looking for a change, trying to understand something new, making a change in themselves for the greater good, and the best thing, staying calm. In a way or manner, how you transact…

    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    What characteristics describe heroes? How can one tell a hero apart from an ordinary person? My definition of a hero is a person who will achieve their goals, no matter how difficult their situations are. A hero also needs to be motivational, kind, courageous, and strong at heart. A hero will do everything possible to live up to their beliefs and do the moral thing. Now, a new question arises: Is Okonkwo, the main character in Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, a hero? Some might say that he’s a hero – after all, he is a powerful, prosperous, and well-respected man. Nevertheless, I believe that Okonkwo is not a hero; he doesn’t show the characteristics of being kind nor motivational. He doesn’t try his best to do the moral thing, and…

    • 555 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • 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
  • Good Essays

    In the novel “Things Fall Apart”, colonialism is greatly expressed towards the end of part two and all throughout part three. The way the novel goes about it is through Christian missionaries, who then, later in the book, try to completely take control and dominate their culture.…

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In chapter 11 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster reveals the implications that violence in literature poses about a character. Through a slave women's suicide, Foster reveals that in some situations, "the only power they have, is that they may choose to die" (101). In Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo's suicide, an act of self-directed violence, was his way of escaping from the control of the white missionaries and preventing himself from facing the fall of Umuofia. Okonkwo is an aggressive man who despises weakness and failure due to the cowardliness of his father, Unoka. His strong adherence to Ibo traditions combined with his fear of weakness even leads him to sacrifice his adored adoptive son, Ikemefuna because "he was afraid of…

    • 371 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Okonkwo is the protagonist and tragic hero of the story and this is emphasized by the title of the novel, Things Fall Apart, because Okonkwo’s village, Umuofia, has the ability to be flexible and adapt to changes, while still preserving their own traditions and beliefs. However, Okonkwo consistently test the limits of his society’s fidelity and follows his own stubborn will, not tradition. Hence, this tale is not entirely focused on the breakdown of a customary African society, but it demonstrates the personal misfortune of a single character, whose life collapses. Though this killing was accidental, it could be a form of punishment for his earlier disobedience against his people and gods. His previous killing of an innocent boy Ikemefuna damaged the harmony of the traditions of his clan and society. His condemnation shows the importance of customs within the community. Because…

    • 1146 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What makes a tragedy so tragic is that the tragic hero, frequently because of his hamartia, falls a great distance from the high point where he is above many of us to the lowest point possible. In addition, they tend to be conductors of suffering as critic Northrop Frye says. These heroes catch the attention of the divine power and inevitably serve as instruments that bring suffering to both themselves and the people around them. The suffering that Okonkwo brings upon his clansmen in Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart contributes to the tragic vision of the work as a whole by emphasizing how much control man has over his own suffering, especially when he is an instrument that brings pain upon others as well.…

    • 624 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Being introduced to a new culture can be a big change in someone’s life. In “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, a young boy named Nwoye has a father, Okonkwo, who is completely opposite of him. Nwoye does not agree with a lot of the things that Okonkwo does, even if it is meant to be a part of his culture. When Western ideas and Ibo culture collide, Nwoye becomes a new person. His change in identity was challenged by the Christian religion, the hatred received from his father because of his decision to join the Westerners, and the positive impact the Western culture had brought upon him.…

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Throughout our lives, we will all experience occurrences of political and cultural changes. How we cope with these alterations can set our paths for the near or far future, though it may not be clear at the time. In the autobiography Assignment: Rescue, a man by the name of Varian Fry voluntarily goes to Europe to try to help the men and women on the Gestapo’s blacklist escape before they are sent to concentration camps or killed. In the book Wild Swans, Jung Chang writes about three generations of women in her family, including herself, and their experiences in China before, during and after the Communist Revolution. Finally, the novel Things fall apart, by Chinua Achebe, focuses on a man named Okonkwo who, throughout the second and third…

    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book Things Fall Apart the way they live is not very civil. This is showed in the book plenty of times in part one. You may be asking well what if what they thought they were being civil. The real question you should be asking is what is civilization? I believe that this is a question that can be answered in many different ways. Civilization to me is a complicated and controversial concept, its about religion, its based on settled agriculture, and lastly its associated with states.…

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe intends to inform readers about the values and ethics of being an African during a period of Eurocentrism. Many European and Western nations were focused on “discovering” new land to seize, many using “gold, god, and glory” to further excuse the dehumanization of people and cultural genocide. Specifically, religion plays a powerful role by shedding light on a single ideology which creates a division amongst groups of people, thereby destroying the customs of the oppressed society and the individual. In Umuofia, conflict arises when the polytheistic faith of the Igbo people is challenged by the Christian beliefs of the aggressive missionaries. Paying respects to their gods provided the Igbo with ties to their rich ancestral history and was connected to many of their sacred traditions, some involving farming and governing techniques. Therefore, because such religious behaviours were embedded in their culture so deeply, for some, it created a sense of pride that would not be easily diminished nor deflected. Achebe presents an ironic depiction of colonialism when the prideful missionaries were determined to persuade some of the people…

    • 1215 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, Achebe demonstrates how family brings the Ibo culture together and how it causes it to fall apart. Achebe uses point of view to develop and support how family can bring Ibo culture together but just as easily tear it apart. The purpose of this novel was to show the impact family has in Ibo culture in order to demonstrate the effects to western cultures.…

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays