Chinua Achebe, In His Novel “Things Fall Apart” Masterfully

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

For Nwoye, after Ikemefuna's murder Nwoye seems to have finally given up on his father and loses reverence towards him. When Nwoye was at the stage of confusion he experiences an epiphany after being drawn to the new religion that made him “feel a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul” following his exposure to Christianity (147). This was an escape for Nwoye to finally find meaning in his life and ultimately make the decision to start a new life and leave the past behind. Compared to Nwoye, after Okonkwo’s time of crisis, he is faced with a transformed village and culture seeing that at the time of Okonkwo’s life many things were changing. This causes Okonkwo to experience denial and “mourn for the clan, which he saw breaking up and falling apart” (183). Drowned with memories of the past, Okonkwo misses the time at which he knew and was comfortable with. Ultimately, Okonkwo chooses to end his own life in fear that no longer exists in his clan and feels he is no match against the white men, as compared to Nwoye who chooses to live life

Okonkwo was a great clans member to the clan of Umofia. Through the acts of European expansion, Okonkwo and many like him felt the influence of colonization. “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe tells the account of Okonkwo’s life and the beginning of European expansion into Africa. This paper will explain the story of Okonkwo’s interactions with Europeans, and how they affected the African people.

Lastly, the missionaries drive Okonkwo to violence and brutality through the mere presence of them in Umuofia. For example, Okonkwo ‘trembles with hate, unable to utter a word’ (204) as they integrate Christianity into his village. Thus, Okonkwo’s hatred and closed mind with his son, his community, and the missionaries drive him to mental stress, causing his life to turn into bad struggle and savagery. Firstly, after Nwoye shows disloyalty towards his father, Okonkwo disowns him. He tells his other children the ‘great abomination’ Nwoye is and how ‘he is no longer his son or their brothers’ (172). This dispute within the kinship is due to Okonkwo’s resistance to embrace his son's beliefs and admiration for Christianity. His unwillingness to see through the ‘betrayal’ of his son leads to division in family, hurting his mental state. Furthermore, the people within his village create angst in his life as well. With all the change in Umuofia, Okonkwo develops a new outlook on the men and people, seeing them as weak and frail. To illustrate, he exclaims that ‘he mourned for the clan’ and ‘mourned for the warlike men of Umuofia, who had unaccountably become soft like women’

Chinua Achebe, the author from “Things Fall Apart,” chose to end his novel in a poignant way of the people ’s -- Igbo and colonists -- pasts and their perspectives on significant events in the novel, to show that things fall apart for everyone. The colonists try to make up for their pasts; Achebe’s insight of both of the cultures, and the presentation of Okonkwo’s awareness, and how serious his death was. With a sudden realization of Okonkwo’s behavioral twin, the District Commissioner.

During the 19th century, European colonization and imperialism swept the face of African societies. The voices of these entrapped societies were highly suppressed throughout the time period resulting in a narrow westernized perspective of the event. However, this changed when Chinua Achebe-- the first African to have a novel published-- created his masterpiece Things Fall Apart. Through this spectacular novel, Achebe depicts the clash of cultures between the British colonists and the Igbo tribe as well as the mixed emotions in regards to western influence among tribal members through the lenses of Okonkwo and his son Nwoye. Through the cultural interactions between the British and the Igbo people, Achebe is able to artfully and elaborately

Growing up in an environment where one’s parents and society restrict the behavior of that individual, can be a very challenging situation to be in. This was so for Nwoye. Raised in the Igbo culture, social order was said to demand conformity. It was a culture where he was forced to act a certain way, or be punished by his father Okonkwo, which wasn’t a type of lifestyle Nwoye would want to be living all his life. The book, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe uses Nwoye to exemplify the outcomes in a relationship, of a father forcing masculine and cultural tradition values his son, Nwoye. Although, Nwoye’s curiosity on the Igbo culture and will to become the person that he wants to be, comes before him even if it calls for going against

Before the British intrusion, Nwoye was still just a young boy living a life of pure innocence. He was naïve and was constantly having to deal with the criticism of his father, Okonkwo. Okonkwo, believed that Nwoye was too feminine. Too sensitive to his surroundings. Which is true, he was just a child and had absolutely nothing to worry about. Even as much as Nwoye "knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent" (Achebe,53), he still "preferred the stories that his mother used to tell" (Achebe,53) and his future masculinity was just for show. Nwoye was an innocent, carefree child with no worries in the world. His effeminate actions, however, did not help him deal with the unjust loss of his elder brother, Ikemefuna. He lost all faith in Okonkwo for taking part in the murder and spent most of his time after the incident, dwelling on the inhumane actions of not only his father but also his village. There were several unexplainable occurrences in his community such as them putting twin babies in pots and "throwing them away in the

In Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the characters Ikemefuna and Obierika are used as “foil characters,” and reveal pertinent traits of Okonkwo’s true nature. The traits of Ikemefuna and Obierika contrast the traits Okonkwo, and allow the reader greater insight into Okonkwo’s fear of emasculation and his trepidation for the transformation of Igbo culture. Both Obierika and Ikemefuna accentuate the abhorrence Okonkwo has for becoming epicene and opprobrious like his father. Obierika also is skeptical of the Igbo culture in that he questions aspects of Igbo traditions and rituals, for he feels a certain degree of change may benefit their society. Furthermore, Ikemefuna’s character also reveals not only Okonkwo’s fear of emasculation, but

Have you ever wondered why African cultures don’t affiliate with other cultures? This is because they don’t handle new cultural customs in the best way possible. The mixture of different cultures colliding in Africa causes a bowl full of drama and problems that rise because of it. The way they simply react doesn’t help either them or the other culture. In the book Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo is a masculine, abusive leader put down and went silent full of fear when missionaries of a different culture came, which tell us he was not able to adapt to the change in an efficient way.

Ekwefi, the second wife of Okonkwo, in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, had endured a lifetime of hardships and heartache. Once the village beauty, she became smitten with a fierce wrestler named Okonkwo after he defeated the notorious Cat. After leaving her first husband and marrying Okonkwo, she was determined to raise a family of her own. Over the years she lost nine children, and with every one she buried the happiness she had exuded in her youth was slowly draining out of her. Finally, she gave birth to a beautiful daughter, Ezinma, but that did not mean that her struggles were over. Upon further analysis, it is evident that Ekwefi’s sole motivation in life is to be the best possible mother for her only daughter, Ezinma. Despite her painful past, her journey to follow Chielo when she took Ezinma to meet Agbala, and the near death of Ezinma, Ekwefi is motivated to be the best possible mother to her daughter even if she has to overcome struggles and hardships.

Achebe uses Nwoye to make the leaving of many Ibo members more personal for the reader. Although the effect of other members of the society leaving would have worked, having a family member that the reader knows well leave the culture creates a much greater impact. This makes the situation very personal for Okonkwo. When the very thing he loves the most, his culture, is out at risk, to have a family member join the enemy, rips an ever deeper hole in Okonkwo and adds on to his piling internal conflict. Okonkwo even sees “himself and his father… waiting in vain for worship and sacrifice and finding nothing but ashes of bygone days, and his children the while praying to the white man’s god” when Nwoye first converts his faith (153).

The most description can be found through Okonkwo, who is vexed by why he has “begotten a son like Nwoye, degenerate and effeminate…” (Achebe 146) and even goes on to describe the boy as “a woman.” (147) Such descriptions, coupled with Nwoye’s “incipient laziness” (PAGE NUMBER), may portray him in a negative light; however this is an injustice, for Nwoye is simply a sensitive boy in a world unfit for emotion in a man’s heart. He even acknowledges this when the narrator dictates, “Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent, but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell…” (PAGE NUMBER) Altogether, his actions and personality portray him as a sensitive, compassionate character, with significant deviation from the tough and cold-hearted nature that is expected of men in the

In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, there is a religious, ethnic, and cultural collision. This collision is seen in the village of Umuofia when Westerners come to “civilize” and bring Christianity to the Igbo tribe. Once the Westerners arrive, their presence in Umuofia bring many conflicts to a head between Okonkwo, one of the tribes most prestigious members, and the Westerners, who have come to settle Nigeria. Okonkwo’s experience of cultural collision between Western culture and his own exemplifies Okonkwo’s unwillingness to change which ultimately leads to his downfall.

Nwoye most likely remembers the twins he heard thrown in the Evil Forest and intends to be like Isaac, and protect twins and others that the Ibo consider evil. Nwoye has also become a teacher which shows his devotion to Christianity, greater than any devotion he had in Umuofia, whether to working in the fields, his father, or his culture. Mr. Brown's friendly nature is also shown in this section. He heard of Okonkwo returning to Umuofia and "immediately paid him a visit" and "hoped that Okonkwo would be happy to hear of it," referring to Nwoye. Okonkwo, however, drove Mr. Brown away and threatened him. This treatment of Mr. Brown shows Okonkwo's genuine hatred of Christianity that stole his first-born son and any change that has come with it.