Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart Essay examples

In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, it is shown that the African people had their own complex culture before the Europeans decided to "pacify" them. The idea that the dignity of these people has been greatly compromised is acknowledged in the essay "The Role of the Writer," which is explanatory of Achebe's novels. A writer trying to capture the truth of a situation that his readers may know little or nothing about needs a sense of history in order to appropriately address the topic. It is not enough "to beat" another writer to the issue. Writers should make the attempt to express a deeper understanding. Without proper mental investment in a written work, the

The Igbo people’s language is saturated with proverbs which allows the language to sustain a sophisticated way of communication. This shows they should be considered to be a civilized culture because the use of proverbs mean their language is advanced enough to be able to support the usage of metaphors and figurative talk. For example, Achebe states, “Okoye said the next half a dozen sentences in proverbs. Among the Igbo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten” (Achebe 10). This shows that the Igbo people stress the use of proverbs, a complex use of their language, to express their ideas and to communicate with others. Another example is when Okonkwo was justifying his role in killing Ikemefuna to Obierika. Okonkwo says, “The Earth cannot punish me for obeying her messenger, A child’s fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam, which its mother puts into its palm.” (Achebe 64). This shows that Igbo’s use of complex proverbs and language allow for the people to prove their points and their arguments. This shows the culture is civilized because the Igbo language is used in it’s complexity to explain points of views and argument effectively, which is a sophisticated part of day to day communication. The use of language in the Ibo culture allows for the people to communicate and express their ideas in complex ways,

This novel is the definitive tragic model about the dissolution of the African Ibo culture by Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe. Okonkwo, a great and heroic leader, is doomed by his inflexibility and hubris. He is driven by fear of failure.

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

Niane, D T. Sundiata an Epic of Old Mali (2nd Edition). New York: Longman, 2006.

The advents of the locusts, for example, clearly represent the descent of the colonizers upon Nigeria. Mr. Brown’s very name is symbolic, representing the cooperation and mixture of the races. The starkly contrasting irony in the initial description of his successor, Rv. Smith, is masterful. “He saw things in black and white.” (p. 184). Rv. Smith and the District Commissioner are more typically portrayed as arrogantly cruel and ignorant colonizers. The novel’s tragic end is blatantly critical and laced with irony. The District Commissioner muses that Okonkwo’s life could make for a paragraph in his book on the African conquest: The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger. This illustrates his incredible superficiality and ignorance, seeing as Achebe has just written an entire novel on Okonkwo’s life, and that the root of the entire Nigerian conflict was in fact the so called Christian

The excerpt continues on with a description of what the Commissioner believes about African culture. During the last paragraph, the reader learns that the Commissioner believes that attending such situations would give a bad portrayal of him. Achebe uses this to point out the presumptuous nature of the Commissioner. This notion is further substantiated, as Achebe writes that the Commissioner plans to write a book about his work. By now, the reader has already characterized the Commissioner as almost uninformed, as indirectly characterized in the beginning of the excerpt, when he bombards Oberika with questions.

The narrator begins his story by focusing on the central idea which encompasses the whole novel. This is the idea that although the narrator has a physical body/appearance, he is an “invisible man” to others because they simply “refuse to see” him. This is directly related to the fact that because he is African American, he is not seen and respected in the manner that a

Before investigating how Igbo culture was changed by the Europeans, the novel uses the Umuofia tribe to exemplify what the established Igbo

Igbo land, the land that’s known as Nigeria now. Okonkwo struggles with his masculinity and his strong ties to his culture that’s been destroyed by the british and their goal to convert everyone into christians. The missionaries make things hard for Okonkwo as he tries desperately to hold on to his traditions as his whole town that he once knew, is changing. In this analysis you will know the themes and the literary devices that contributed to the perfecting of the book.

In the story, the African natives are described as persons markedly dignified and gentle albeit subservient to the arrogance of the colonists, and their lands and villages reflect the beauty of the context and of a culture that integrates with it. Conversely, the settlers are arrogant and unjust, and their settlements are desolate and neglected places by underlining the lack of respect and the inability to see and appreciate the richness of the native as well as their culture and land. Indeed, the author emphasizes the contrast and separation between two cultures with the obvious intent to point out the prejudices of the white

Through the perspectives of these two characters Achebe is able to create an African perspective of the loss of a distinct African culture as it is replaced by the adaptation to westernized culture and religion. Achebe skillfully establishes a heart wrenching novel that perfectly describes colonization of foreign soils. Achebe's artfully created novel conveys that as a society, we must wisely evaluate our choices to adapt as long as it positively shapes our

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.

This paper reflects the novel “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe in 1958. Achebe gives an overview of pre-colonialism and post-colonialism on Igbo, detailing how local traditions and cultural practices can “fall apart” in some scenarios through some introduced, externally created hassles elevated because of colonization. The protagonist named Okonkwo mentioned in the story is a proof showing the lifestyle of the tribe. My main objective and focus is to lay emphasis on Africa specifically the Igbo society, before and after the arrival of the Europeans in Umuofia community; the results of their arrival concerning Igbo culture, thus leading to the clash of cultures between the two categories. I will also draw on post-colonialism with respect to globalization.

The book takes place in the Umuofia and Mbanta villages around the 1900s. During the 1900s the rise of European Imperialism in Africa becomes very much prevalent between 1881 and 1914.