Chinua Achebe 's Things Fall Apart

White. White everywhere. White men everywhere. White men with new idea everywhere. These are the thoughts running wild in a person’s mind who has never seen a person with white skin and when they begin to bring new things and ideas their thoughts begin to build. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe what seemed to be a normal day in Umuofia turned into a day of new faces and later to come, a new clan. As white men arrived they brought many things from their culture and at the beginning they seemed to be making a difference for a more positive society but readers quickly find out that these things were only brought to manipulate the Ibo people into doing the desired actions of the white men.

During the mid 1800s and 1900s, the continent of Africa was being invaded by European superpower nations such as Great Britain, France, and others. The proper act was named as Colonialism which according to my lecture notes means: “a racially based system of political, economical, and cultural domination forced on an indigenous majority by a technological superior foreign minority” (Zeitler). For instance, many European nations enforced imperialism on the continent of Africa because of its recently discovered natural resources which would be beneficial for their countries, and Europeans used western education and religion as a moral “cover” for their easy access to the native African’s lands and enforce the natives to be more civilized

Who are you? Have you ever wondered where you get your identity; what exactly defines you as a person? The obstacles in our lives shape us people, Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart illustrates the circumstances one man and his son face in an Ibo village in Nigeria. Okonkwo, the protagonist/antagonist has a tragic flaw, the fear of weakness which ultimately causes him to expect more from his son, Nwoye who never falls short in disappointing him. The relationship between the two is not the most desired seeing that they both do not show the affection most father-son relationships do. Traditionally, most sons follow their father's footsteps, however, this is not the case for both

Throughout the story of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the author portrays Okonkwo as the tribes’ strongest warrior to a disgrace of the Ibo people. The author exposes Okonkwo negatively through his journey from earning a good reputation to a sudden extreme downfall. After not agreeing with the western ways and noticing he cannot turn the tribe back, Okonkwo kills himself which is why Okonkwo is the character most affected by cultural collision.

Raid. Invasion. Destruction. A land rich in culture suddenly crumbles as a foreign species of man intrudes. The aliens impose their own traditions, replacing the original ways of life.

Traditions is a representation of the history, beliefs, and language of a group of people or country. Traditions usually have a symbolic meaning due to the origins in the past. Unfortunately, most traditions aren't as positive as they should be. There's really negative traditions that can sometimes effect the people and the way they think. The people can sometimes become very narrow-minded or depending on the customs and traditions, they'll become violent. In the book Things Fall Apart Umuofia's traditions have a negative effect on the people, specifically Okonkwo. Okonkwo happens to be a respected member of the Umuofia clan. Okonkwo's wealth and High-ranked position in the community makes him very powerful. On the other hand his extreme

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

In the novel, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe demonstrates how the integration of two different cultures can result in the destruction of one entirely. The story is centered around Umuofia, one of the 9 Ibo villages in Nigeria, Africa. It is a confined, well-structured society that is commonly viewed as a Utopia, or an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect. It is a tight-knit community with little to no conflict. All inhabitants share the same cultural beliefs, the village has a well-developed justice system to keep things in order, and they even have traditions that bring them all closer together. However, it doesn't take too long for things to completely fall apart. Sooner rather than later, the village

Which would you consider more justified: locking up a criminal in cage with minimal living conditions, or exiling him from city? In Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, the level of civilization depicted by Igbo society may vary among the readers due to disparities in judgement and opinion. Throughout the book, the Igbo civilization is portrayed as civil through their established social system and enforced legislative laws; however, one may perceive Igbo culture as primitive, especially when compared to that of their own. The establishment of social positions within Umuofian society convey a rather high-level of civilization.

Women in the Igbo society are not as respected as men and they are treated badly. In order for the men to prove their power, and look manlier they tend to mistreat their women by beating them. In the novel Okonkwo beats his wife. However, he beats her at a time where he was not allowed to because it was the week of Peace; moreover, he did not care and kept beating her just because she did not cook, and instead went to do her hair. “He walked back to his obi to await Ojiugo’s return. And when she returned he beat her heavily. In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace. His first two wives ran out in great alarm pleading with him that it was the sacred week. But Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through,

In the novel Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, the Igbo society is faced with many cultural changes. Okonkwo, the main character, is a person of strong, prideful nature. He has dedicated himself to being a powerful leader in his village and to never be a coward like his father. Along the way, Okonkwo is faced with challenges in proving his masculinity, and is given consequences for his actions. As the missionaries become more influential within Igbo society, the people change their view on their own belief system.

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.

The author illustrates a clear picture of a man more concerned with playing his flute and drinking plum wine. A father who ignored his patriarchal duties and instead was deeply in debt and unable to care for his wife and children. In a cultural society where a son was to inherit a barn, a title, a wife and crop; the author describes a much different life for Okonkwo (Achebe, 1959). In addition, based on the religious culture of the Igbo tribe, Unoka was considered to have bad chi, an ill-fated death of evil fortune and a dishonorable burial. Thus, Okonkwo hated his father for these attributes and swore to be the opposite of him. Achebe articulates this fear by saying, “He was possessed by the fear of his father’s contemptible life and shameful death” (Achebe, 1959, p. 18).

In order to be capable of understanding a novel from another country, it is imperative for one to understand the culture of this other world. The culture of Nigeria is vastly different from the Western society in which we live in. In Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, culture is immediately introduced in the most fundamental of manners. While the English reader explores the culture of Nigeria in the first several chapters it is evident that their culture is a major literary element for developing the characters and settings of the novel. Achebe uses the element of culture in order to explain his culture foremost and then that the Nigerians are maybe not so different from the Western World after all. Achebe writes to display that the

Proverbs are short sayings giving advice or stating facts One proverb, used to teach children about responsibility, is, “As elders said, if a child washed his hands, he could eat with kings.” (p7) This is especially relevant to Okonkwo. His father was very irresponsible and lazy, and was always poor; he never got to “eat with kings.” Okonkwo wanted to be the opposite of his father, so he did everything he could to get a high status. These proverbs are used to communicate important traits and values that are important to the Igbo people.