A Great Tree Has Fallen: Words of Chinua Achebe Essay

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a story about personal beliefs and customs, and also a story about conflict. There is struggle between family, culture, and the religion of the Ibo, which is all brought on by a difference in personal beliefs and customs of the Igbo and the British. There are also strong opinions of the main character, Okonkwo. We are then introduced to the views of his village, Umuofia. We see how things fall apart when these beliefs and customs are confronted by those of the white missionaries.

Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe like any other novel has its changes and progressions. When the novel first starts out it talks about Unoka. Then it goes to his son Okonokwo who is the main character and who the book is mainly about. It then talks about Nwoye who is the son of Okonokwo. Another is Ikemefuna who has to live in this village because of a crime who his father commits. It shows how much the tribe changes during these years and how it affects the lives of these four men.

Achebe also illustrates the Ibo judiciary and political system throughout the entire story. Similar to those in other cultures, the Ibo people had a very structured social order. In the beginning of the story on page 18, Achebe describes Nwakibie’s status in the Ibo village by stating he, “…had taken the highest but

Chinua Achebe’s novel “Things Fall Apart” chronicles the life of Okonkwo, a strong man whose existence is dominated by fear and anger, and the Ibo tribe, a people deeply rooted in cultural belief and tradition. As events unfold, Okonkwo’s carefully constructed world and the Ibo way of life collapses. The story of Okonkwo’s fall from a respected and feared leader of the Ibo tribe to an outcast who dies in disgrace dramatizes his inability to evolve beyond his personal beliefs, affecting the entire Ibo tribe beyond measure. The “things” that fall apart in Achebe’s novel are Okonkwo’s life – his ambition, dreams, family unity and material wealth – and the Ibo way of life – their beliefs, culture and values.

Things Fall Apart is an English novel by the Nigerian author Chinua Achebe which was published in 1957. Throughout the book the role of customs and traditions is very important and decides the fate of men, women, and children. Some of the customs practiced in this culture would certainly be frowned upon in the West yet are perfectly

Achebe’s image of the African people is depicted extensively in his novel. Achebe gives us a look at life in an African village and what it was like during African colonialism. Tribal life in Nigeria is told from an inside perspective through the life story of a man, Okonkwo.

Chinua Achebe is a Nigerian novelist who wrote "Things Fall Apart". In this novel, he explores Nigerian's belief in their cultural identity, traditions, customs, death, life and also superstitions. Furthermore, Achebe uses different characters to elucidate how Nigerian's responded when their beliefs were disrupted by British foreigners. The protagonist, Okonkwo, provides clear evidence when he encounters conflict both internally and externally with nature and with society. Okonkwo outwardly is a fearless, outspoken man however, he deals with a lot of internal fears.

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” In Achebe’s award winning novel, “Things Fall Apart,” he wants the reader to learn that we need to take away experiences from the past in order to keep the Ibo culture alive. The story is told through three generations of a family, Unoka (the grandfather), Okonkwo (the father), and Nwoye (the son), who are all a part of the Ibo culture. By comparing the lives of Unoka, Okonkwo, and Nwoye, Achebe tries to secure a platform of understanding- of believable and symbolic characters, Achebe builds empathy in the western reader.

In this story, Achebe acknowledged the culture in Ibo where he described their tribal code of conduct specifically in marriage. In connection with this, he was born and grew up in the Ibo village of Ogidi, Nigeria. After the World War II, it is said that new sense of African awareness and confidence rise and this directed Achebe to believe that they, Africans, have stories to tell. In 1958, Achebe published his first novel and there, he wrote stories showing the Ibo's past and the destructive effects of colonialism on cultures of the Africans. On the other hand, it is said that this story, "Marriage is a Private Affair", is set in a colonial Nigeria. In this story, Achebe emphasized the clash between two cultures in terms of marriage. Achebe put emphasis on how the old ways in the small village collide with the modern ways in city of Lagos. Moreover, applying the post colonialism approach, it could be comprehended that, truly, colonizers do not only invade physical territories but also the ideology of the colonized

As the story progresses, his actions formulate into nothing but hopeless dreams. The story is set in Nigeria, during the early 1900’s. Achebe describes Igbo culture as a combination of polytheistic religion

Born in the town of Ogidi, in Eastern Nigeria which was a British colony at the time. Although Chinua Achebe first language was Igbo he was educated in English as a result of that he wanted to learn more and focus on his language and background to tell the story for many others like him. In the novel, “Things Fall Apart”, Chinua display that language is what uniquely separate each person by introducing beliefs, speech rhythms, and the Igbo language. Achebe's use of Igbo language, speech patterns, proverbs, and richly drawn characters creates an authentic African story that effectively bridges the cultural and historical gap between the reader and the Igbo. Say you were one of the characters in the novel Things Fall Apart and were faced with some of the obstacles similar, will you hold on to your beliefs or sway

They must choose among resisting or embracing the change. However, they face the dilemma of trying to determine how best they can adopt to the reality of this change. Many of the villagers are excited about the new opportunities and techniques that the missionaries bring. This European influence, however, threatens to extinguish the need for the mastery of traditional methods of farming, harvesting, building, and cooking. These traditional methods, once crucial for survival, are now, to varying degrees, dispensable. Throughout the novel, Achebe shows how dependant such traditions are on storytelling and language and thus how quickly the abandonment of the Igbo language for English could lead to the eradication of these

Chinua Achebe’s, Things Fall Apart, is a story of a traditional village in Nigeria from inside Umuofia around the late 1800s. This novel depicts late African history and shows how the British administrative structure, in the form of the European Anglican Church, imposed its religion and trappings on the cultures of Africa, which they believed was uncivilized. This missionary zeal subjugated large native populations. Consequently, the native traditions gradually disappeared and in time the whole local social structure within which the indigenous people had lived successfully for centuries was destroyed. Achebe spends the first half of the novel depicting the Ibo culture, by

To start off, Achebe uses proverbs throughout the novel. A proverb is a short saying or story that tells the truth or a piece of advice. In Achebe's case, proverbs are used to tell the traditions and explain the culture of the Igbo tribe. These proverbs tell of traditions, culture and history. For example, a passage in chapter one tells us a story about Unoka and his neighbor Okoye, in which Achebe describes a custom of the Igbo tribe. In the proverb, Okoye brought Unoka a kola nut which is supposed to "bring life" (Achebe, 3). The proverb then goes on to say that "Unoka prayed to their ancestors for life and health, and for protection against their enemies" (Achebe, 3). This

Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor and critic. He is mainly known for his trilogy that investigates, using fiction, the history of Nigeria. The trilogy begins with Things Fall Apart, followed by No Longer at Ease and ended with Arrow of God. Furthermore, in this critically analytical essay, through a feminist perspective, a chapter of his second novel, No Longer at Ease, published in 1960, will be discussed. The setting of the novel is Lagos, Nigeria and Umuofia, Nigeria during the 1950s, before Nigeria attained independence from Great Britain. The novel, No Longer at Ease begins with Obi Okonkwo on trial, charged for accepting a bribe. However, using flashback, the author takes us back to the point before Obi’s departure