Communicating with Words in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

A proverb can be defined as “A short popular saying, usually of unknown and ancient origin, that expresses effectively some commonplace truth or useful thought.” From Okonkwo’s dominance in the beginning of Things Fall Apart, to the fall of the Igbo culture, proverbs are a recurring topic. Throughout Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe repeatedly uses proverbs and aphorisms to portray different characters and build a bridge between African and Igbo culture and the reader. With this stylistic Igbo language, Achebe is able to utilize speech to convey spirituality and cultural values, character development and demonstrate the eventual collapse of Igbo society.

Throughout “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, aspects of Igbo culture are presented to the reader in order for them to obtain a grasp on how people from a part of Africa live. For the majority of Part I, different sides of Igbo culture are relayed to the reader predominantly through the 3rd person, as well as through the perspective of Okonkwo, in order to gain the understanding that these people do indeed, have a rich, intricate, and sophisticated way of life. However, things turn for the worse and in Parts II and III, where Achebe recreates the conflict between European and Igbo cultures at the turn of the twentieth century by focusing on the cataclysmic changes introduced by the forces of Christianity and colonialism, and how they destroyed the strong foundation of the once proud Igbo people.

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,

In the novel, “Things Fall Apart’, by Chinua Achebe, proverbs have an important impact on the storyline. All proverbs have some kind of deeper meaning behind them, and this is part of the Nigerian culture. Proverbs are used by people of all ages and statures to tell others about the importance of something. People in the Igbo Tribe use proverbs everyday as they are an important part of their culture and traditions, and the art of conversation is regarded very highly throughout the clan.

“Okonkwo’s gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy’s heart” (124).

The novel “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe, is a tale based on the traditional beliefs and customs of an Ibo village during late 1800’s Africa. Through the telling of this story, we witness the remarkable depth of Igbo culture through its functions of religion, politics, judiciary and entertainment.

Throughout Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, storytelling is portrayed as a critical part of Nigerian culture. From the tales told in this novel, readers learn about everything from the fate of a dishonest tortoise, to the story of Okonkwo’s first human head. Stories in this region are often used to strengthen the bond between community members and define the roles of people from different genders and classes.

Sharing palm wine and kola nuts happens numerable times throughout the book, emphasizing the peacefulness of the Igbo people. For instance, when Unoka, Oknonkwo’s deceased father, is visited by his neighbor to collect his debt, they do not speak immediately of Unoka’s debt, but instead share the palm wine and kola nuts, then proceed to pray to their ancestral spirits before the neighbor introduces the topic of debt through a series of proverbs. Conversation and proverbs are a huge part of Igbo people’s lives. Achebe shows that they are sophisticated and polite, thus contradicting the European perspective of Africans that authors like Joseph Conrad cling so dearly

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.

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.

Introduction Throughout the novel "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe, there are several attributes that lead to the demise of Okonkwo. Often times the result of acting on personal emotional impulses can carry with them negative outcomes. Okonkwo was a noble, appreciated man in the nine villages in which tribes had lived(Achebe 1). The traits that gave him that status are believed to have come through both his fear of failure and desperation to succeed (Achebe 4). Unoka, Okonkwo's father, was unsuccessful in the nine villages which led to Okonkow's lack of respect for him and those who do not work hard in the community (Achebe 1).

A tragic hero is a character that is both protagonist and antagonist, throughout the action they make. According to Aristotle's definition of tragic hero, he explains a tragic hero as a character that has noble stature and greatness. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, depicts Okonkwo as fierce warrior and a respected leader of the Umuofia clan. Even though Okonkwo does not embody noble stature, since he has greatness, fatal flaw, and he recognize his downfall, he meets Aristotle’s concept to a tragic hero to a certain degree. Okonkwo has greatness and occupy a high status position in the village, yet does not have nobility or virtue in his character.

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 Ibo considered proverbs as "the palm oil which words are eaten," and the same folk tales were often "told with a new freshness and the local flavor of a different clan" throughout Umuofia. Achebe thus argues against the Western tendency to see all Africans as one and the same by illustrating the existence of various subcultures within a greater regional population, each with its own set of stories. In addition, proverbs not only served to make sense of the world that they lived in, but also signified the wisdom of the elders to pass on to the next generation. For example, Okonkwo's second wife, Ekwefi, used the proverb of the "great feast in the sky" to explain to her daughter "why Tortoise's shell is not smooth" while also conveying the message of greed and its