Chinua Achebe 's Things Fall Apart

After Nwoye’s childhood, he discovers the trouble he has with pleasing his father, and Okonkwo always contradicts Nwoye about not having the same or even more status as Okonkwo had when he was his age. Nwoye will never be the “great farmer and great man” Okonkwo wants him to be, during society at this time, opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative was very admirable (33). With the type of negative feedback, Nwoye receives from his father saying that he will amount to nothing, shows how Nwoye develops insecurity with his identity as an Ibo citizen. Contradictingly, Okonkwo is very pleased and rather arrogant with his status in matter of the village. He is already one of the “greatest” men of his time starting from his youth when in Ibo culture age was respected. The setting of Nigeria plays a major role in the identity of Nwoye and Okonkwo seeing that prosperity for men at that time is having wealth and potent personality. Okonkwo was obviously successful in terms of riches; he owned a huge barn full with yams, the king of all crops, and has three wives. During this time Okonkwo lives a lush life and could not have been more proud of who he is identified as. Having the drive to accomplish significance in life, Okonkwo’s achievements were admired by most people in the village, showing “if a

What would you do if Christianity came and took over your world? In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, describes a man who was affected by Christianity which not only destroyed him but also his family and his tribe. Okonkwo is the main character who faces the demise of his world when the missionaries came in and took over his world. Okonkwo is a very independent, impatient African leader and is affected by Christianity, impacting the way he is accepted back into Umofia or the way he lives. Achebe 's description of life in the village after colonization, helps to create a setting that condemns colonization. In the Caryl Phillips interview, Achebe believes that “Conrad is for the colonizing mission, and he concedes that the novel, in part,

Imagine having your lifestyle and culture by a group of unknown men who has contradicting beliefs, and single handedly changed in the course of your lifetime, some changes are for the greater good and vice versa. In the novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the people in the igbo culture lived with their culture being not tampered for quite some time with living in a polytheist religion, inequality in gender roles, and practices of ancient tribal rituals. Rumors started to arise from distant villages about unidentified white men with iron horses were roaming around land, converting and dissembling the way the igbo people lived with, but it took some years for those same white men to arrive and tamper with the village of Umuofia. Time

In the story Things Fall Apart the author, Chinua Achebe, uses the character Okonkwo to show that a man’s hubris can one day lead to a terrible fate. Achebe does this by having the main character Okonkwo struggle with keeping his life together. As Victor Uchendu talks about life in The Igbo World “is an equilibrium that is constantly threatened, and sometimes actually disturbed by natural and social calamities”(Uchendu 227). In the beginning of the story Okonkwo starts off as the strongest character when he defeats “Amalinize the Cat” (Achebe 3). This shows the reader that Okonkwo is the strongest and is determined to stay the strongest. Achebe uses certain events later in the story to foreshadow that Okonkwo will soon meet a terrible fate by having him kill Ikemefuna, by having him get kicked out of his village, by having the British change his son, and by displaying his rage and despair at the end of the story.

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

Throughout the book Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe challenges the typical stereotypes of colonial Africa. The story follows the lives of the Ibo people, and explains the culture and traditions of African tribes in Nigeria before and after being colonized by the Europeans.

Chinua Achebe’s first novel, “Things Fall Apart” takes place in Umuofia, Nigeria in the 19th century. Okonkwo, the protagonist, was a respected, strong leader of the Ibo clan providing for his three wives and their children. His father was a failure, making Okonkwo’s greatest fear being seen as a weak failure, but this also makes Okonkwo strive for success. “His whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness“ (2. 12). With his drive to succeed, Okonkwo managed to make many poor decisions resulting in unwanted consequences. Okonkwo is an exact representation of a western tragic hero in the novel, “Things Fall Apart.”

The African civilizations are often thought to be primitive, unsophisticated regions made up of barbaric and merciless people.  However, this notion is a common misconception that has been portrayed by the British to justify slavery.  The author of Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe, attempts to educate his readers by disproving the common perception of African civilizations and by initiating a process of re-storying.  He believes that the African side of the story has not been told and he must tell their story so Africans are no longer victims of other people’s accounts.  While some may believe that Achebe is ineffective in educating his readers about this fallacy, Achebe clearly shows that the Igbo had components of an advanced civilization.  After thoroughly reading and analyzing this novel, I certainly understand Achebe’s desire to portray the Igbo as civilized despite contrary British literature.  Three major elements, including an organized religion, centralized government, and complex system of communication are portrayed by the author to indicate the intricacy of the Igbo.  Chinua Achebe effectively educates his readers that the Igbo had components of an advanced civilization prior to British colonization rather than being a primitive, barbaric society.

Its impetrative to analyze and research the novel “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe so as to be able to understand what the novel is all about. It involves deciphering all relevant interpretations about how one culture develops in direct competition against the emergence of another foreign culture, such as the colonialist. The novel, together with its various themes and aspects of culture therefore portray deep knowledge about the novel.

When outsiders encounter a culture unlike their own they tend to make misconceptions about that culture. The British see the Igbo culture as dark and gory. Achebe sees it as a fully functioning society. The Nigerian community may seem odd and not functional when in actuality it is functional. For a society to be functional, it must have a culture as well as properties of a civilization. The British judge it as dysfunctional, but this is irrelevant to whether the society truly is or isn’t functional. The Nigerian society fulfills many, if not all, of the properties of a functioning society. Despite the negative stereotyping of the Igbo culture by the British, Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart shows a fully functioning society.

Western views of African culture have often been those of disdain. Some books about Africa have set out to change the typical Western views of African culture, but others have upheld these negative views of African culture. Through each of their novels, Alan Paton, Chinua Achebe, and Joseph Conrad approach the topic of African culture and Western views on it differently.

For the duration of the novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the role of religion and tradition is a very important part of the characters lives. It decides how they live their life and decides their fate. Some of the customs that are practiced in this culture may not be accepted and are frowned upon by the western cultures. One example of this is that they think that in some cases a child should be killed or that the spirits of the dead must be appeased. Thinking this could create a consequence with the white men. They feel the need to “save” the natives from themselves.

In 1958, Chinua Achebe a famous Nigerian author publishes one of his most famous novels Things Fall Apart. The novel takes place in a Nigerian village called Umuofia. During the time that this novel is published Nigeria is being criticized by the Europeans for being uncivilized. In response, Achebe uses his brilliance in this novel to express the valued history of his people to his audience. His focus in the novel is on the pre-colonized people of the Igbo tribe and their tribal leader Okonkwo. Achebe discuses early in the novel that the tribe is outlined by many rituals and values that they follow religiously. However, when the well-respected leader Okonkwo mistakenly

In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the Ibo culture is presented through the lives of the people and the circumstances in which the natives have to rely on their understanding of the world and life through the customary teachings and ways of their ancestors. Customs like polygamy and polytheism are deeply rooted in the Ibo culture. The communities carry out many exercises of punishment and actions to ratify any wrong done. No harm is done without retribution. As the book progresses, it becomes evident that the way of life carried out by the people has somewhat of an unmovable and unwavering presence. However, the strength of the traditions and beliefs is heavily dependent on people who haven’t seen a culture and society that is very different from theirs. This leads the people to questioning and abandonment of the ways of the people and the destruction of the fabric which makes up their culture and heritage. The European religion was first placed to control the Africans minds; making them question the Gods their people were brought up believing. After becoming followers of Christ, the Europeans were able to control the actions of the Africans by making them believe that not only was their religion right, but their way of conducting society was as well. Violence and physical force was used on those who choose to cling to their heritage and not convert to Christianity.

Prior to joining NBC, in 1958, Achebe published his first novel: Things Fall Apart. The groundbreaking novel centers on the cultural clash between native African culture and the traditional white culture of missionaries and the colonial government in place in Nigeria. Thoroughly explained Igbo people/culture gave representation Achebe reflects on how western culture has impacted his life as he personally experienced the clash of two cultures. He writes the Things fall apart, to not only to show how uncompromising both sides were but to make sure Native African know their