Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

In the novel, “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe the Igbo tradition revolves around structured gender role. Everything essential of Igbo life is based on their gender, which throughout the novel it shows the role of women and the position they hold, from their role in the family household, also planting women crops, to bearing children. Although the women were claimed to be weaker and seemed to be treated as objects, in the Igbo culture the women still provided qualities that make them worthy.

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.

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

The women in Things Fall Apart may seem to be an oppressed group with little power which is true to some extent with the way some women are treated. This characterization of Ibo women is limiting, but when more in depth in the book it shows the divers roles of women, and how important the women are to their tribes. The women in the tribes are sometimes shown as the weak ones of the group but when these women are the foundation, nurturers, and caretakers of the tribe that shows the great responsibility they have and how important they are.

Solomon Northup executed his very gruesome and serious tone throughout his memoir by providing dialogue said by real life people and using diction to give nauseating details to events going on around him throughout his twelve years in bondage. For example, Solomon Northup explains in chapter five how a fellow free slave named Arthur was abused for trying to protest the unfair kidnapping. Solomon states,” He fought until his strength failed him. Overpowered at last, he was gagged and bound with ropes, and beaten, until he became insensible.” (39). The slave masters were not compassionate and defiantly enforced the depressing tone of the memoir. Solomon Northup explains how Eliza, a slave mother, is being separated from her son and the cruel,

“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

Things fall apart, this phrase being used in both the novel title Things Fall Apart and the poem written by Yeats, “The Second Coming” keeps us wondering how both are related. Achebe uses Yeats’ poem as an epigraph to foreshadow how the events in the novel later on might occur. Reading the epigraph, we come to understand that Yeats is referring to an image of disaster and to a society that is losing control. In Things Fall Apart, the community faces some changes that affect the lives of certain main characters and leads to a very severe disaster. Achebe uses a lot of imagery and dualism in his novel to portray certain messages to the readers and to clarify his point. Also, Achebe wanted to answer back any writer who criticized the Africans and insulted them. He wanted the voice of the Africans to be heard and to take a stand when the Christians came in and tried to change a lot in the traditions that were present. Both, the poem and the novel are related in a way that shows how the downfall of the main character, Okonkwo, happened and what lead to it. Both writers have many things in common in their writings that can be compared in a social and religious way. Achebe uses double meaning in order to pass on his messages to the readers.

An intelligent motivational speaker, Peter Senge, once said "People don 't resist change. They resist being changed!" As we go on in life, we come across two types of individuals, ones who see the chance to better themselves by making important changes, and ones who think there is no need for change due to the belief that everything about them is perfect. In the two books, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff, the characters Okonkwo, Nwoye, and Pooh all illustrate the effects of accepting and or resisting change.

Okonkwo from the book “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe and Roy Moore from the article “Who is Roy Moore?” by Mark Berman are both similar men due to the fact that they do not give up and that they are both men of action. Roy Moore was a man of action because he wouldn’t let the federal court over rule him and he did what was on his mind as he defied a federal judge more than one time as shown in the following quote by Mark “Moore is back in the spotlight this week for once again defying a federal judge.” This shows that he doesn’t care about the judge and will do whatever is on his mind and that he is a man of action and is not afraid of the consequences Okonkwo is also a man of action and was afraid of failure and weakness

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

In the Western part of Africa there is one dominant religious group in Nigeria that surpasses the rest. They have had much success in politics, economics, an above all have had better education levels than any other West African group. This astounding group is known as The Igbo. During British colonial times Christianity was enforced into the Igbo way of life, this changed some Igbo to believe that what the Christian missionaries were saying is true and that the Christian faith was the way to go. Through commercial trading Islam spread into Igboland, and this led to more Igbo people leaving the Igbo way of life for another, whether it be Islam or Christianity which divide the country in two. In the novel Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe British colonialism and the migration of Muslims to Nigeria led to the change in the faith, social and economic changes in the Igbo society.

The first chapter of ‘All Things Fall Apart” by Chinas Achebe was very interesting. The book started by explaining the setting of the village then it introduced Okonkwo and his achievements as a young man that led him to be very wealthy. What caught my attention was the difference in character between Okonkwo and his father Unoka. In page four it revealed how Okonkwo felt about his father and how he disliked individuals like his father that were unsuccessful and lazy.

Have you ever heard of the phrase “With great power comes great responsibility?” Perhaps this quote from The Amazing Spider-Man sounds familiar. Even if it doesn’t, I want you to think about it for a minute. This quote is pretty self explanatory, but it does not explain the consequences that may come if one fails to have great responsibility. The complication that great power brings is the potential for power to fall into the wrong hands and dismantle a community. In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe one observes the many consequences this issue can have on a town. Okonkwo is the main character of this novel, the leader of the clan of Umuofia. The violence that Okonkwo inflicts on his clan gradually turns him into the man he has always feared of becoming and without the guidance of an outstanding leader the people of Umuofia are with ease altered by colonialism which not only rips the people apart from each other but also tears them from their culture, one can learn to reflect on morality of their desires before acting out of control.