Chinua Achebe 's Things Fall Apart

Novels and plays often depict characters caught between colliding cultures-national, regional, ethnic, religious, institutional. Such collisions can call a character’s sense of identity into question. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, there is a cultural collision that takes the form of the missionaries coming to Umuofia and forcing their religion upon the people. Different people react differently to this clash of cultures, ranging from simply conforming to going as far as killing somebody.

In Things Fall Apart, Achebe shows the ruthlessness of the missionaries in pursuit of new converts. Domestic support for the missions depended in large measure upon the tangible success of their preaching, ''success'' being reflected in the numbers of conversions. This relentless focus on "success" caused the "cultural rape" of the people of Umuofia.

In Things Fall Apart, the Umuofians thought there was one way of life- their traditional government and religion. However, the “white man” their abolished their everything they have believed in: spirits,

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe describes how and why the colonized people are influenced to question their culture’s conventions. The colonized starts to doubt their tradition because of its disadvantageous impact on their lives. Consequently, they slowly start following the new convention of the colonists, and finally they even take acts to prove their original conventions wrong. Initially, the colonized starts off by doubting the disadvantageous aspect of their culture. The novel Things Fall Apart describes that “none of his converts was a man whose word was heeded in the assembly of people.” (Achebe 143) The men of Umuofia who do not have a title are disrespected and affected by prejudice; and they are also the first to convert to the colonizers’ conventions. Secondly, the colonized will soon start to follow the colonists’ conventions. Mr. Kiaga, who is a native convert, convinces other villagers to convert to Christianity.

Two cultures, two kinds of people, two different ideas of what is right. All around the world there are thousands of cultures living side by side, their realm of influence dictated by boundaries. But what happens when one culture oversteps their boundary? A cultural clash. When two cultures clash, there is normally conflict followed by a wide range of results, both negative and positive. In the novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the cultural clash caused by European imperialism in the Mbanta Tribe caused a widespread negative reaction in the community. However, in this hatred of the white people and fear of losing their own culture some Mbanta Tribe members, like Nwoye, found opportunity.

Arianna Rabago Ms. Ramirez English II- A1 29 April 2015 Argument Essay: Things Fall Apart In sections two and three of the short novel Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, the reader is transported back in time and given the opportunity to recount the establishment of Christian missionaries in Ibo society as well as view the impact they had on Umuofia. Chinua Achebe's purpose of writing this novel is to portray the Ibo community as vividly and honestly as possible while demonstrating the intricate customs, rituals, and laws that were followed daily by citizens. With the acceptance of a new religion on the rise, ancient tribal traditions begin to fade into a memory and the morality of the village becomes jeopardized.

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,

Books can bring very good and deep messages and in the books that were chosen, it made people aware that within conflict there is culture and within culture there was much change. In the book Things Fall Apart, there are many different cultural practices but when conflict erupts there is a change in all their known traditions. When the white men invaded into the tribe, the people tried to put them in the forest to live because in their cultural, you die if you live there. When the white men survived the forest and never died, all the religious practices of the tribe Umuofia were taken away. This shows that the conflict between cultures simply powered over the traditions that the Umuofia people already had. This took away their way of living. They were not

The fictional novel, Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe is a novel about a profound culture that was later annexed by the Europeans claiming to spread their religion. The cause of why these Europeans are portrayed this way in Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe is because throughout the 1800’s, white men had a belief of white supremacy and ideas of manifest destiny. The Europeans disembarked onto South Africa where they stumbled upon Umuofia and the Ibo culture. The very title ‘Things fall apart’ foreshadows a tragedy which happens at the end of the novel. The novel depicts the tragedy of an individual along with the tragedy of his society. The cause for this dilemma is due to the Europeans.

In novels, there is always a certain character or group of characters who are portrayed as bad or evil. In Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, the group of characters representing bad or evil are the Christian missionaries. The villagers see the christian missionaries as intruders to their village, trying to bring a new religion into the village of Umuofia. The english settlers were introduced to have arrived in Umuofia in chapter seventeen, when Obierika, Okonkwo’s closest friend, visited Okonkwo, two years after he was given his exile. The Christian missionaries are represented as bad or evil in Things Fall Apart because they are trying to teach the people of the village a new religion.

All throughout history and even still today, inequality has been a huge problem for our society. In the novel, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe conveys the idea of gender roles as wrong and extreme. Men and women have been driven to act differently and expected to be a certain way; affecting the society as a whole. Things Fall Apart unveils a theme of do not take anything for granted because one day it could all be gone. Women are treated differently because for as long as time has been recorded men have been superior.

In the 19th century, the Europeans started colonizing Africa without African consent. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, a nigerian writer who grew up with both the Igbo and European culture, the story follows Okonkwo, a strong willed protagonist, and how his relationships and surroundings change with the entering Europeans. In the story, Okonkwo had fallen apart along with the Igbo culture. In the beginning of the story, Okonkwo shows no emotions other than anger, because he does not want to become womanly, similar to his father.

Normally, a successful hero arises from a rough past. However, Chinua Achebe wrote a story that contrasts with the usual pattern of a hero’s life. The novel Things Fall Apart centers on a man named Okonkwo, a clan leader in the village of Umuofia. From Okonkwo’s tragic hero qualities and struggle with his son and culture, readers can learn several qualities to consider and to avoid. A tragic hero is defined as a person who experiences a disastrous fall after accumulating high titles.

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.”

The structure and beliefs of many cultures are based on religion, and this is clearly evident in Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart. The novel takes place in the in the1890’s, a just before British colonization began in what is now known as Nigeria. In the novel this area of land is recognized as Umuofia, which is composed of nine villages that all speak the Igbo language. The Umuofia is the village where the main character, Okonkwo, is from. Okonkwo’s village was completely run by men, and he was one of the most successful and powerful men in his village. Okonkwo, was one of the reasons that his village was feared by all of its neighbors. The villagers of Umuofia put a lot of emphasis on religion and they used their religious beliefs for formulate their cultural views on things like gender roles, and polygamy. Through reading and analyzing Things Fall Apart, it is made clear that there are several similarities and differences between the culture of the Igbo and the culture of modern day America. The key differences are the societal gender roles, the acceptance of polygamy, and the role of religion. The most substantial similarities are the role and significance of warfare, and the ideas on government and community leadership.