Chinua Achebe 's Things Fall Apart

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.

Many people look at unique social groups in their own way. In the novel, “Things Fall Apart,” by Chinua Achebe, the men are seen as superior and powerful than anyone else. In the novel, it states that men have to meet a certain expectation to be seen as worthy and to be respected. On the other hand, women are represented by being less than the men in any situation. They are seen as objects and trophies for the rich powerful men. The word “women” is used as an insult to men that hold no titles. The importance of women being seen less than a man is that many cultures see this as normal and natural, because in this case the Igbo culture wants men to be respected more than the women.

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,

When we think about a European colonialist world view it is often based on judging a society by two major assumptions. These assumptions are the idea that other societies are filled with violent people without manners, and that their religious practices are a hedonistic affront to their own religion. These assumptions make it easy for European Colonialists to somewhat invade a land, and try to take it over. This practice of invading a foreign country is made even easier by the way European Colonialists dehumanize the native population and convince themselves that they are helping. Chinua Achebe’s book Things Fall Apart attempts to correct these misguided views of African societies by portraying a more complex culture that values peace, and the art of conversation. Achebe also tries to portray the idea that not all European people they come in contact with are aggressive, and misconstrued in their view of the African societies. Achebe tries to show us the value of his society through repeated views into conversations, religious practices, and encounters between people.Ultimately Achebe tries to show us that Africa’s complex cultures deserve more credit than taking up a chapter or two in a European colonialist’s book. This attempt at showing Africa as a complex group of diverse cultures goes directly against everything that European colonizers are working for because it humanizes a society they want to dehumanize.

In the book, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe presents the main character, Okonkwo, to us as a tragic hero. We watch Okonkwo progress through the book, and observe as his tragic flaw leads to his ultimate downfall. Obierika, Okonkwo’s best friend, always stands by Okonkwo and serves as Okonkwo’s voice of reason as they face the British colonization of their villages. The way Achebe presents these characters to helps shape the overall theme of the novel: the interpretations people have of one another’s culture can lead to their downfall when they clash. More specifically, the misinterpretations the Igbo tribe had of British intentions led to their downfall when the cultures clashed in Things Fall Apart.

Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, is a tale about Okonkwo, erstwhile respected warrior who is troubled by his father’s actions, which causes Okonkwo to make unscrupulous decisions with his life. The novel begins with Okonkwo, an extremely skilled wrestler that was recognized throughout the nine villages especially after he defeated Amalinze the Cat. Okonkwo was tall, massive, and had wide nose that gave him a very severe look. Okonkwo disgraced his father Unoka, because to the fact that he was particularly lazy and profligate person. Unoka was a failure in life for the reason that he was poor, he barely could feed his wife and children. Unoka could not receive help due to the fact that he was a debtor and refused to pay people back. Ogbuefi Ezeudu, a respected elder and powerful orator, announces “Those sons of wild animals have dared to murder a daughter of Umuofia.” Umuofia was feared by the other villages because of their skilled military. Okonkwo arrives at Mbaino, in a settlement Okonkwo is given a young virgin and a young boy named Ikemefuna because one of Mbaino murdered a girl from Umuofia. Okonkwo is chosen to represent the Umuofia because he’s a vicious warrior. Since Okonkwo fears failure and weakness for the reasons of his father Unoka, Okonkwo ruled his house with an iron fist. Okonkwo becomes a father figure to Ikemefuna who also builds a strong relationship with Okonkwo’s son Nwoye. Ikemefuna lives with Okonkwo and his family for three years until such

At the conclusion of Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart it states how profound changes lead to the demise of Umuofia’s great warrior. “ Then they came to the tree from which Okonkwo’s body was dangling, and they stopped dead.”

Imagine your favorite TV show, and think about the characters. Which character is your favorite? Most of us would say it is the main character, the one that is the most relatable. That character is called the protagonist, and it is often the one that we identify with the most. In contrast to the protagonist, a character we think about less often is the foil character. This character is the complete opposite of the main character. Usually, a foil goes through the same events as the main character however he will see things differently and have a different opinion. The purpose of this character is to shed light on the main character, and to show how things could work out differently

Chinua Achebe was born in Europe in 1930 during the transitional period of colonialism. He attended the University of Ibadan and later became a professor at two different universities, David and Marianna Fisher University and Brown University. To educate and inform the Nigerian people of the Umuofia village, Achebe wrote the novel Things Fall Apart. He wants to demonstrate that the Umuofia people that they were not primitive prior to the arrival of the Europeans. His purpose is to inform the Umuofias that the Europeans did not create the culture of their villages. To convey his message, Achebe used Okonkwo to be the protagonist of the story and to be a representative of the traditional lifestyle of the Ibo people. In the novel,

Specific attributes correlate with each other to help create or not create the ideal strong family. However, through those attributes arise conflicts and major disputes. This issue of trying to achieve and create a strong family is of immense importance in one’s life, especially in Chinua Achebe’s, Things Fall Apart, a milestone in African literature. For instance, the father leaves his legacy behind for his son to follow but when the son’s future is not secured by the father, it results in desolation. Just as the speaker illustrates that the father needs to provide for his family, so too does he illuminate that reciprocal respect is a necessity for a sturdy family. The dearth of this attribute leads to an inevitable downfall. This also brings about the prominent issue of unity in one’s family. Without unity nothing but misery and corruption follows. Overall, then, through the importance of family values the speaker illustrates what can destroy or help create a strong family. The text ultimately becomes a comment on the characteristics and essentials in which a family needs or else the intractability of these practices will prove to be lead into downfall.

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.

Okonkwo is the protagonist of Chinua Achebe’s story, Things Fall Apart. He has a calamitous flaw that dominates his life. His fear of failure and of weakness causes him to take unnecessary and destructive actions. His fear of weakness leads him to be emotionally distant from his children, beat his wives, kill Ikemefuna whom he loved, and the Commissioners messenger. His fear of failure causes him to disown his oldest son who did not meet his expectations, become well than his idle father, makes a comeback after exile, and keeps his property in check. Okonkwo needs his home, Umuofia to be untouched since its structure and system were measures that gave him worth and meaning in his life. He obligated to this purpose because his

Things Fall Apart was written by a Nigerian man named Chinua Achebe in 1958, with the intentions of fully exploiting the truth and creating a new perspective about African culture. Seeing as though Achebe lived through the colonization of the Igbo people, he was able to write without stereotyping Africans and European people. Achebe purposefully wrote this novel in English instead of Igbo language because he wanted the perspective shared across Europe to defeat previously construed beliefs of the Nigerian culture and ways of life. Achebe touches on a variety of topics throughout his novel, three of which are how things fell apart through imperialism and colonization, the ideas behind tradition and change, and social construction of patriarchy & masculinities.

Chinua Achebe, a native born Nigerian, with an education from the University College, Ilban, has written multiple novels, short stories, essays, and children’s books. Achebe wanted to make a realistic novel with a true African viewpoint. As an author, Achebe made an internationally affecting, cultural contribution to everyday literature by creating a novel so embedded into the African Culture that he experienced when he was younger. In the book, Things Fall Apart, author, Chinua Achebe, introduces the reader to an entirely new side of African culture, and the changes brought when outside forces collided with a different culture through the author’s characterization, the novel’s theme, and the author’s purpose.

In my opinion, both the Igbo society and Okonkwo fell apart. This has a great deal to do with the arrival of the Christian missionaries, whose goal was to get the Igbo people to abandon their traditional values and practices in order to convert to Christianity. I also believe that the sense of family in the Igbo society was destroyed due to the fact that some of the Igbo people actually did convert to Christianity. The actions of the missionaries destroyed the most valued aspect of the Igbo society, causing it to fall apart. In my opinion, I believe that things fell apart in this novel for the worse. I say this because the Igbo society was invaded, and controlled by a foreign power which condemned the traditional values of Igbo society. The ultimate example of how things fell apart throughout this novel explained by the suicide of the protagonist Okonkwo. Upon seeing Okonkwo’s hanging body, Obierika stated ferociously “That man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself; and now he will be buried like a dog…” (Achebe, 1958,