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Things Fall Apart

Decent Essays

By: hulseb

Things Fall Apart: An Evaluation In "Things Fall Apart," Chinua Achebe tells two different stories at the same time. One is of Okonkwo, the villager whose rise to power is halted because of all of his misfortunes. The other is of Okonkwo's village, Umuofia, and its struggle to hold on to its cultural tradition while facing colonialism from the West. The title, "Things Fall Apart," describes perfectly what happens to both Okonkwo and his village. Okonkwo's life falls apart and as a result, he commits suicide by hanging himself. The cultural tradition of Umuofia falls apart, and becomes influenced by the West. In "Things Fall Apart," Achebe uses Okonkwo and the village's falling out to show how African culture, as well as …show more content…

When the white missionaries arrived, the villagers did not take them very seriously. They refused to see the missionaries as a threat and this led to their demise. However, because of the strength of the west, the village's falling apart might have been inevitable. Very few civilizations, if any, were able to withstand the threat of Westernization. It was a force that was too powerful and sophisticated for such common people to fight. Achebe's book shows how Westernization led to the demise of many ancient cultures. The reason this book sold so many copies, I believe, is because it can be applied not only to Africa, but to all of the other cultures around the world that were ruined by Westernization. In "Things Fall Apart," Achebe not only describes the life and death of one man, but also the life and death of the world's many different cultures, as a result of Westernization.

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