Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe tries to bring back up cultural, social, and spiritual basics of traditional Igbo (Ibo) existence from the year 1850 and 1900. The novel cannot be fixed like other societal and political old times of Ibo society since it is a fictional novel. However, the novel describes disagreements and anxiety that occurred in Igbo society. It also shows changes initiated by colonial ruling and Christianity. Colonialism affected the people in the Ibo society by destroying of their family’s relationships, friendships, their religion or even created fights between the tribes. Additionally, Christianity attracted the people of the Igbo society. Igbo and other societies were changed considerably due to this variety of

“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

In Chinua Achebe 's fictional novel, When Things Fall Apart, the reader follows the story of a young man named Okonkwo. Okonkwo is a passionate leader of his tribe, the Igbo. Throughout the book he wishes to please the Igbo people, a one way he does that is by distancing himself from his father. To Okonkwo his father was a disgrace, lazy, poor and cowardice. Okonkwo is first seen wrestling and proving his worth to the tribe. He built his home and earned a reputation of a strong diligent farmer. His reputation is reassured by his good crop and agricultural season, and because of this he earns a large sum of cash. His wealth, influence, and reputation makes him seem like a very suitable man and he marries three women. Later in the book an

Okonkwo returns to a villager he can no longer call his anymore. He finds that the missionaries had dictated what his friends and others should believe in, agree or disagree with and he is intending to retract his morals and beliefs. In the process, Okonkwo is destroyed. His unwillingness to change from the strong, masculine man to a understanding and gentle man, led Okonkwo setting himself apart from the community and him fighting alone against the missionaries. In Chinua Achebe 's novel Things Fall Apart, the author develops the theme of survival of the fittest does not always result in a civil community, in order to emphasize that the beliefs of cultural and religious traditions are important to developing a civilized African community.

Africa is the most diverse continent on this planet, linguistically speaking. There are thousands of languages spoken within many different cultures of people in Africa. Although most of Africa received freedom in mid-late 20th century, it has a very rich history and a strong background on which it is built. After colonization of Africa by the Europeans, the Europeans and their writings looked at Africa as having no diversity or culture in its colonized stage. Things Fall Apart was written as an argument to those writings and the Europeans proving that Africa is diverse.

Imagine a person who has been successful and independently for years living by their own personal standards. Now imagine that same person having every aspect of their life changed and controlled by a ruler who says the person’s way of living are outdated and savage. Also, imagine that if that person refuses to follow these new rules, and sticks with their original ways of living, that person will see his or her demise. Would this person be happy? Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, is a story written to show Christian missionaries and colonists invading African clans with the intent to take over and reform every aspect of the African clans’ traditional culture, customs, and traditions with their modern culture, customs, and traditions that they are executing their plan wrong, as cultures do not easily blend. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe shows how old culture, customs, and traditions do not easily blend with modern culture, customs, and traditions through the event at Abame, the conflicts between the church and the Ibo clan, and Okonkwo’s ultimate demise and failure.

Chi, is what gives life, it differentiates a corpse from a live human being. It is energy that unites the body, mind and spirit. This concept is one that we all would be familiar with and has its origins in early Chinese philosophy, but in terms of the novel “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe in 1958, this concept of chi differs slightly. In Igbo there are two distinct meanings of the word chi, the first is often translated as guardian angel, personal spirit etc. and the second day or daylight and is most commonly used for the transitional periods between day and night or night and day. It is an individual’s personal god, whose merit is determined by the individual’s good fortune or lack thereof. It is said that “wherever something stands, something else will stand beside it”, nothing is absolute. A man lives here and his chi there. Meaning that there are two versions of everything, one in the spiritual world and one in the human world. As there is for the characters in the novel. *Put up the two pictures of Okonkwo, write up one for Okonkwo + Okonkwo’s chi*

In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe the ideas of the Ibo tribe are greatly influenced. The main character, Okonkwo, does not embrace the cultural collision of the introduction of Western ideas into the Ibo tribe and the cultural collision leads to his tragic downfall.

“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.

“Imperialism ... it does ungodly acts in the name of God” from The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Publication Division demonstrates how Gandhi believed Imperialism was justified through religion. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a secondhand novel of the colonization of Africa and specifically two small clans in Nigeria known as Umuofia and Mbanta. Achebe describes multiple ways in which missionaries changed the lives of the people throughout this story, but the most disruptive response was how they reacted the Christianity and the missionaries trying to falsify their gods.

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.

In today’s society, people cannot afford to miss out on changes in trends, or technology. With the ever-rapid pace of the growing economy, one must be able and be willing to adapt and accept changes. Perspectives within different cultures and societies may differ with changes. People need to teach each other that much like the changing of the seasons, our way of life in time will also change. It should not be something forced, and that a way of life for one may not be the best way for others. People should also know that when trying to change a culture or society; it’s better to incorporate their religions, beliefs, and traditions to help gradually make the changes. Forcing something on a person or society would only lead to chaos.

Packed with patriarchal superiority, Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart focuses on protagonist Okonkwo and his desire to live his life as a strong, masculine figure with a title worth showing off. This Nigerian novel provides an inside view of the oppression women faced in nineteenth century Igbo culture and the lengths to which men were willing to go to avoid appearing feminine. Criticizing Achebe’s novel through a feminist lens makes abundantly clear the unbalanced relationship between the sexes in the western African nation. Things Fall Apart showcases the accepted cultural norm of viewing women as inferior in society by judging feminine qualities to be of less worth than masculine qualities, treating women as property to be done with as the males see fit, and forcing women to live in fear of being heavily abused if they do not follow the commands of their husbands.