Chinua Achebe (1930 – 2013) is best known for his novel Things Fall Apart, in addition to writing novels, Achebe was a critic and a poet. This paper intends to analyze and discuss Achebe's war poems. The poems that Achebe wrote in the time of the Nigerian civil war which lasted for three years and Nigerian people suffered a lot because of that war, Ogaga Okuyade in his article Of the Versification of Pain: Nigerian Civil War Poetry states that: "The Nigerian civil war is about the ugliest moment in the history of post-colonial Nigeria – a moment of hatreds and sufferings." (Okuyade in Emenyonu. 128). Poets of civil war, including Chinua Achebe, try to show the pain and suffering of the Nigerian people due to that war and what follows it from poverty to killing and starving of children and women. …show more content…
In his collection of poems in 2004, Achebe has divided his collection into five main sections: In Lieu of a Preface: A Parable Prologue, Poems About War, Poems Not About War, Gods, Men, and Others, and Epilogue. The concentration of this paper is on Achebe's war poems, and it will try to read his view of the civil war and how he describes the war, and whether he is with or against the war, with some critical analysis of the poetical aspects of Achebe's war poems and whether the African war poems are affected by the poems of the First World War in themes and images, or it has its unique
The weight of societal expectations is one carried by all individuals. Children, however, are often influenced to a lesser extent by these binds due to the innocent lens through which they view the world. The short story "Pigs Can't Fly" follows the experiences of a young boy named Arjie, as he tries to find his place in a world, stuck in between a harsh limbo between fantasy and reality. The author's use of symbolism, and metaphors emphasizes the Arjie's perspective of the world and how his youthful innocence hides the expectations of a grown up world bound by expectations. The author further emphasizes this by using a first person point of view, placing the reader in the shoes of Arjie, and the setting of the passage to suggest that the innocent lens in which children see the world shields them from the perceptions of those around them.
The novel “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe, is a tale based on the traditional beliefs and customs of an Ibo village during late 1800’s Africa. Through the telling of this story, we witness the remarkable depth of Igbo culture through its functions of religion, politics, judiciary and entertainment.
Through the perspectives of these two characters Achebe is able to create an African perspective of the loss of a distinct African culture as it is replaced by the adaptation to westernized culture and religion. Achebe skillfully establishes a heart wrenching novel that perfectly describes colonization of foreign soils. Achebe's artfully created novel conveys that as a society, we must wisely evaluate our choices to adapt as long as it positively shapes our
Throughout “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, aspects of Igbo culture are presented to the reader in order for them to obtain a grasp on how people from a part of Africa live. For the majority of Part I, different sides of Igbo culture are relayed to the reader predominantly through the 3rd person, as well as through the perspective of Okonkwo, in order to gain the understanding that these people do indeed, have a rich, intricate, and sophisticated way of life. However, things turn for the worse and in Parts II and III, where Achebe recreates the conflict between European and Igbo cultures at the turn of the twentieth century by focusing on the cataclysmic changes introduced by the forces of Christianity and colonialism, and how they destroyed the strong foundation of the once proud Igbo people.
The excerpt finally ends with the Commissioner’s last thoughts, as the reader is then told that the book would be entitled “the pacification of the lower Niger”. Achebe adds this in to serve as indirect characterization of the Commissioner, as it depicts an ignorant man who believes he is superior. This is done intentionally to portray the notion that western culture about the status of society in Africa.
The novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe discusses the rise of an Igbo chieftain who came from great poverty to power and the eventual loss of Igbo traditions, rites, and the influence of his clan through his eyes due to western imperialism and colonialism. The intended audience for this novel is very broad, but if we tried to define it would primarily be people who have not experienced the Igbo culture and westerners or people who speak English. In this essay I will be focusing on the last six chapters: chapters 20 to 25. These chapters highlight the loss of power and customs of the Igbo people who have succumb to colonial rule. I fell Achebe is rhetorically effective and
Chinua Achebe?s Things Fall Apart is a narrative story that follows the life of an African man called Okonkwo. The setting of the book is in eastern Nigeria, on the eve of British colonialism in Africa. The novel illustrates Okonkwo?s struggles, triumphs, and his eventual downfall, all of which basically coincide with the Igbo?s society?s struggle with the Christian religion and British government. In this essay I will give a biographical account of Okonwo, which will serve to help understand that social, political, and economic institutions of the Igbos.
More than those of any other African writer, Chinua Achebe’s writings have helped to develop what is known as African literature today. And the single book which has helped him to launch his "revolution" is the classic, Things Fall Apart. The focus of this essay includes: 1) Achebe's portraiture of women in his fictional universe, the existing sociocultural situation of the period he is depicting, and the factors in it that condition male attitudes towards women; 2) the consequences of the absence of a moderating female principle in his fictions; 3) Achebe's progressively changing attitude towards women s roles; and 4) feminist prospects for African women. In the context of this study, the Igbo people whom Achebe describes will
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Nwoye’s betrayal in the novel is the same level of betrayal that Achebe is condemned with in his lifetime. African literary theorists who vie for the purity of African literature for African languages defy Achebe as a European traitor, writing his stories with his back turned to his native homeland. Yet this thesis argues for a reevaluation of that criticism. Achebe does not in fact deny his beliefs, his country, or his heritage. He rather aligns himself in a tragically ironic way with the hero of Things Fall Apart. Achebe writes his own struggle with colonialism into the life and death of Okonkwo. It is interesting to note that Achebe’s father was in many ways very similar to Nwoye. His father, Isaiah Achebe, was orphaned early in life and spent most of his childhood with his uncle, Udoh. Udoh was a man of the land; he prided himself on tradition and leadership. Chinua writes in his essay, “My Dad and Me,” that the differences between Isaiah and Udoh were seen early through the eyes of Chinua, a questioning child who was placed in the middle
The novel, things fall apart was set in the late nineteenth century which was a period of conflict and drastic change in Africa, where indigenous societies clashed with imperialistic European powers. The author, Chinua Achebe adds this tension of the historic British colonial expansion to present another dimension to Okonkwo's tragedy. Achebe challenges ethnocentric views of Africa through his use of language throughout the novel. The author also includes themes of Cultural relativism by introducing the Ibo’s traditions and language.
Achebe also expands on the reflection of the Ibo peoples of being civil, depicting the civilised aspects of the Ibo religion. Another example similar to the peaceful reparation, previously
Civil Peace. One rarely hears those two words together. It is usually either Civil War, or perhaps Civil Chaos, but rarely is it Civil Peace. This is because it is not the times of peace that are remembered, but the times of war. It is during these times that people truly shine as the need arises or are exposed for their truer, more evil selves. Like Jamie Sullivan said in A Walk to Remember, "There would be no compassion without suffering." Chinua Achebe's Civil Peace is a story about going through hardships and never forgetting what is most important.
Chinua Achebe once said, "the world is like a mask dancing...if you want to see it well, you do not stand in one place," (Goodreads). Renowned for his novel Things Fall Apart, in which he responds to the stereotypes of the British who conquered the continent of Africa in the era of New Imperialism, Achebe explores Igbo culture through many aspects of daily village life. Contradicting the racism employed by whites in the 1890s in order to justify slavery in earlier history, Things Fall Apart offers a new fresh perspective into the lives of ordinary villagers of the Igbo tribe in Nigeria, before they are taken over by the British. Just as the whites in Europe, the tribe applies their own religion, customs, beliefs, and language to their lives. Through this lens the reader is able to extract a deeper meaning of the powerful message Achebe communicates by penning the famous novel.
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