Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

Imagine living in a world of perfect paradise, where no one disturbs you or takes away your freedom of thought. You’re living in pure harmony and feel as if your life is going to be peaceful forever. But what if one day someone comes along and changes your world, taking away your custom beliefs and changing your culture. What would you do? In the novel Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, the character Okonkwo, an indigenous member of the Ibo tribe, comes in conflict with the European settlers as they try to convert his tribe to Christianity. Even though many people choose to convert to this new system, Okonkwo, along with a few friends, respond adversely to this foreign settlement as they attempt to restore order in their native village. As the Europeans bring their religion, messengers, and government into the tribe, the outcome of Okonkwo 's response, causes him to bring his identity into query when he realizes that things that were formerly common, will always collapse in the end.

Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart, once said: “A man who makes trouble for others is also making troubles for himself”. This concept can be seen in the development of Okonkwo as a character throughout the book. Creating plenty of trouble for others, but ultimately creating the most trouble for himself is possibly the plot for the entire book. Generally, the creation of trouble is not a value that is appreciated in any culture, especially in Umuofia. Okonkwo breaks many of the boundaries and social norms within his culture; his tendency to be immature and unaccountable combined with being very self-concerned and the defiance of elders creates an interesting mix adjacent to the cultural standards.

Social rank and relative wealth play great roles in determining a person’s life in Umuofia society. Sometimes a man with sheer force of will cannot change his future through hard work. One of the main conflicts in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is the clash between Okonkwo’s determination to succeed, his free will, and fate – which seems to have less appealing things in mind. Okonkwo’s will plays a major factor in determining his future; he chooses to kill Ikemefuna with his own hands, he chooses to kill a government official, and in the end, he chooses to take his own life. However, the pre-destined conditions of his life, his father’s failures, and a series of unfortunate circumstances ultimately lead to Okonkwo’s downfall.

In Things Fall Apart there are many cultural collisions created by the introduction of Western ideas into Ibo culture. Through careful examination about the character Okonkwo in the novel “Things Fall Apart”, by Chinua Achebe, we come to realize Okonkwo was in fact un-accepting of the cultural collision. Okonkwo was sadly unable to adapt to the new society that was set forth to him.

Change is a natural process that triggers the evolution of human societies; it is the continuous eradication of traditions that are replaced by the new. Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’ (TFA), a novel written in 1958, explores the gradual transformation of the Ibo culture as a result of colonialism and also the attitudes the people of Umoufia developed when exposed to foreign ideologies; the change was either accepted or resisted. Peter Skrzynecki’s ‘Crossing The Red Sea’ (CRS) and ‘Feliks Skrzynecki’ (FS) from the Immigrant Chronicle, a poetry collection published in 1975 depicts the evolution of the Australian society due to factors including migration, assimilation and different perceptions. These forces of change contributed to the

Throughout the novel, we hear about Okonkwo’s father Unoka, a lazy old man who was in debt to almost all the villagers. After growing up with his father, Okonkwo becomes determined to be successful, not wanting to be seen as weak or unsuccessful: “He had no patience with unsuccessful men” (Achebe 1). Okonkwo’s life was run off of being successful, growing yams, having power in the village. He was embarrassed by his father and did not want to be seen by anyone as weak or a failure. Okonkwo also takes pride in his physical strength, which he demonstrates through violent activities.

As a story about a culture on the verge of change, Things Fall Apart deals with how the prospect and reality of change affect various characters. To some extent, Okonkwo’s resistance of cultural change is also due to his fear of losing societal status. Long scorned, these outcasts find in the Christian value system a refuge from the Igbo cultural values that place them below everyone else. The tension about whether change should be privileged over tradition often involves questions of personal status. Okonkwo, for example, resists the new political and religious orders because he feels that they are not manly and that he himself will not be manly if he consents to join or even tolerate them.

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” [Benjamin Franklin] In the book, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo prepares for himself to fail in his later years of life. Okonkwo’s mental attitude kept him from preparing himself for success when his clan started to fall apart. Throughout the book, Okonkwo developed a personality that restricted him from accepting reality, and when his fantasy world fell apart, his lack of preparation and his attitude led him to failure. Okonkwo keeps running from all his fears instead of facing them, in the long-term this creates problems when his biggest fears return and he is unable to conquer them. The next state of mentality that caused problems was that Okonkwo could not adapt to

The definition of sexism is discrimination on the basis of sex. In many cultures sexism was and still is a controversial topic. In fact, women in America couldn’t even vote until the 1920’s. The abundant masculinity in this novel is not sexism but just how the culture functions. Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart is not sexist towards women; in fact, it shows that women are essential to the Ibo society and posses a great amount of strength.

All through “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, the portrayal of culture and rituals is astonishingly important and determines the fortune of the men, women and children. Certain rituals or customs that are practiced in their culture would unquestionably be frowned upon in the United States; thus is completely acceptable in their society. For example, the idea that twins are bad luck and should be left to die in the forest twins, normally abandoned in the ‘evil forest’ on account of the belief that they

Okonkwo is well-known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements (Onuemelukwe). The people in the surrounding villages see him as a hero. Okonkwo is respected for his hard work as an achieved warrior of the Umuofia clan. “Okonkwo worked daily on his farm from cock-crow until the chickens went to roost” (Achebe) and never seems to tire from his work. His three wives are not as strong and did not have the same amount of stamina; his children did not take after him either. Okonkwo uses techniques such as beating and nagging to try and change the poor work ethics of his family members (Achebe). “Okonkwo was not a cruel man, but his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.” Okonkwo wanted to be completely opposite of what his father was and live his whole life being

Okonkwo’s hubris derived from his father, Unoka. Unoka was lazy, buried in debt, “womanly”, and irresponsible. Okonkwo was very ashamed because of his father’s reputation. To not be the man his father was, Okonkwo strived to be the best of what he could be. He defeated the top wrestler in his village because his father wasn’t physical, so he pushed himself to excel at being violent. He showed no mercy to his wives or children when they did not listen to him in order

Imperialistic policy has drastically affected the development of nearly every nation on the planet. Although imperialism greatly benefits European nations, it damages the infrastructure of the nations under it. Entire continents such as Africa were forced into subservience and plundered for their resources. Many tribe’s had their land taken from them, and their culture and customs were altered by Christian missionaries. The atrocities committed against the Igbo are a perfect example of the trials the African people faced. For the Igbo, life before the Europeans was much better. The Igbo ruled themselves and were successful farmers. However, With the arrival of the Europeans came unnecessary bloodshed, and the destruction of the Igbo

The book “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe takes place in Nigeria during the 19th century. This is during the pre European imperial era. In this era the Igbo culture has a very straight forward structure of society, man is afraid of failure, and shame brought to his family. Ever man is trying to take the top position in the clan, working day and night to feed and take care of their family. Our main character, Okonkwo, has been dominated by “the fear of failure and of weakness” throughout his entire life, predominantly to blame by his father, Unoka. Unoka, throughout his entire life was considered as a coward, spending most of his days in idleness, never proving his manhood. Unoka was looked down upon by his fellow tribes men. He always

“Things Fall Apart”, written by Chinua Achebe in 1958, is a book about the changes that occur to the central character Okonkwo and the Ibo culture, and the way these changes like colonisation affect the characters’ identity. Tony Harrison’s poems, such as “Them and [Uz]”, “Breaking the Chain”, “Me Tarzan”, “Book Ends”, “Currants”, and “Bringing Up” were written in 1940-1960 and they explore Harrison’s identity as an educated writer from a working class family. “Frankenstein”, which was written by Mary Shelley in 1818, portrays Frankenstein’s and his monstrous creation’s search for identity and the conflicts caused by it. All three texts explore the individual search for identity. However, the styles and techniques that each text uses to present this concept differ in many ways.