Chinua Achebe 's Things Fall Apart

Everyone knows and learns about the winners in a situation and their story but one never cares to learn the other side, the losing side. In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart cultural differences are the core of why things were destined to fall apart in Nigeria. Okonkwo, the main character of the novel has impacted the results negatively of the colonization of Nigeria’s territory. Umuofia is the home to many Igbo people but later would be overcome by the Europeans. Okonkwo with his very violent tendencies never wanted to appear as a weak person. Okonkwo denied failure because his father was a failure and he was determined to be the opposite. Never would he realize his stubbornness would cause failure for him and his community. Achebe has used the novel Things Fall Apart to demonstrate how colonization affected Nigeria and how conflicts and misunderstandings resulted from two cultures colliding.

What effects can fear have on a person? And how can these effects influence that person? Fear is defined in the Oxford dictionary as ‘an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain or harm’. The tragic novel “Things Fall Apart”, written by the renowned Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe, is an incredibly influential text. The novel is also an example of how fear can be utilised as an approach to characterisation. Achebe composed his novel in a manner, which portrays a complex and dynamic community to represent Nigerian cultures to a western audience. Achebe was able to attain this through the Ibo communities and the main character Okonkwo. In the beginning of the novel, Okonkwo is represented as a man of pride, success, and hard

In Chinua Achebe 's novel Things Fall Apart, a well-known aphorism, "pride goes before a fall", was used. I agreed with and supported this statement. The story line itself backed up this statement as well. Through Okonkwo 's hard work he became a "great man" with a sense of pride and haughtiness, who then suffered a loss of pride, which ultimately led to his down fall and his own suicide.

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

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

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

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.

“Things Fall Apart,” by Chinua Achebe, is a story that takes place during the colonization of africa by European powers, and follows the adult life of Okonkwo. The village that Okonkwo calls home, Umofia, has a rich history and culture. A large part of their culture is how the two sexes are treated differently. Men are much more revered than women. The roles assigned to men and women greatly impacted Umofia’s society because of women’s required subservience, the treatment of women, and the unchangeable tasks assigned to each gender.

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.

Throughout life many challenges come up that aren’t expected to arise. In some cases the best thing to do is help people that are hurting in tough situations. Instead of saying things about what people are doing wrong, boost them up. Everybody in life has good days and bad days. Many times you don’t understand what the other person is going through, so don’t say something that is going to hurt the other person. Everybody should watch what they say because the person you are talking to may see it in a completely different way. These tough situations could change history completely if each person took time to understand the other person that they are communicating with. In the book Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, many times the readers

In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, rising modern ideals challenge the traditional values in Ibo culture. These confronting principles influence changes formed through chaos and disarray. While some Ibo people are more welcoming to the newer concepts, Okonkwo, a strong warrior, famous wrestler and well known leader in the Umuofia clan stays true to his traditional ways. The devout man assures himself to not stray from the traditional path due to haunting memories of his lazy father Unoka. At a young age Okonkwo concluded to vigorously work on not become his disgraceful father. In the end, Okonkwo’s life becomes dictated by his conscious will to oppose to his father, contributing to several problems with his family, friends and

In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Achebe narrates the complicated life of a man named Okonkwo. Okonkwo is a man that fears weakness and failure while always striving to be great. This fear of failure was instilled in him by his father's lack of fathering. Okonkwo’s dad was in deep debt and was unsuccessful. This picture of his father is what Okonkwo strived not to be. Okonkwo was a very successful man and to great pride in all that he had learned. He had three wives and many children which was a social status of that time. Okonkwo’s passion to not end up like his father, ultimately was what caused him end up like his father. His impulsive and materialistic behavior puts blinders on his life's vision and leads him to become someone

My six word story explains that no matter how you decide to carry out your life, death plays in no one’s favor and by no one’s rules. Death is inconsiderate about how you presented yourself to the world, or how you struggled to gain the fruits of your labor. You could be an eminent business man during your time, only to be the victim of a homicide conducted by your best friend. This six word story applies to ´Things Fall Apart´ by Chinua Achebe. Okonkwo lived his life with a hardworking and prosperous attitude. He held many titles, had several wives and children, and abundant fields of yam. Okonkwo showed no emotion, just strength and wrath. He believed that, “To show affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was

Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian novelist, once said, “When suffering knocks at your door and you say there is no seat for him, he tells you not to worry because he has brought his own stool.” In his novel Things Fall Apart, Achebe depicts the impact of one story on the Igbo society, how stereotypes heavily influenced the perspective of the Europeans who came to exploit Africa, and how Africans struggled to get their voice heard. The novel is about a violent and independent man named Okonkwo, and how his religion, power, and identity was disrupted by the emergence of the Europeans that discarded the laws he followed. Achebe satisfies his purpose of giving Africans a voice in their story by contradicting commonly held stereotypes about Africa such as their animal-like behaviors, their lack of deep intellectual understandings, and their low-ranked position compared to others. He achieves his goals by setting his story in a realistic setting and lightning the rich culture and traditions of the Igbo people.

For many years anthropology has held a primarily western ethnocentric point of view when evaluating other cultures from around the world. Recently however, anthropologists have begun taking a more holistic approach when preforming ethnographies. After concluding that all cultures are equal and that no one culture is innately superior to the other anthropologists have not only taken other world cultures into account when studying a new one, but also experimenting with new ways to illustrate a more complete view of that culture. In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart he paints a holistic image of the Igbo people in Nigeria and their culture. This book has given me several insights into what cultural anthropologists do when evaluating and a describing a culture. Within a given culture there are a myriad number of key aspects that anthropologists look towards to help them evaluate it. The foremost of which is their economy, hierarchy, descent, gender, and rituals. I chose Things Fall Apart because it offered substantial information on all of those points of interest. By using fiction and creating characters Chinua Achebe is able to show Igbo culture in its entirety. While other works have been harsh in the criticism of African life Things Fall Apart shows the Igbo for what they were not inherently superior or inferior, rather it is simply snapshot of what life was like among the Igbo culture.