Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

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.

Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, is an excellent example of postcolonial literature. Throughout his novel he uses colonialism and colonial discourse and challenges the cultural stereotypes of the Igbo people.

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.

　　　　Language is a very powerful tool for an author. He uses it to convey mood as well as describe setting, thoughts and appearances of his characters. Inner feelings and actions are expressed through a masterful use of language choice and styles are critical not only to the reader’s understanding of the text but to his appreciation as well. How language is effectively manipulated in their writings enhances the reader’s valuing of the works. The selected novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a representation of Igbo culture and their language. It explores the life of an Igbo tribe at the time of when colonization hit Africa. It could be considered as a post-colonial text, as the protagonist of the story and the other people struggle with the changes the colonization brought into their culture and beliefs. Basically, this kind of literature analyse the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized on the bases of knowledge and power.

Overall, Things Fall Apart exhibits the detrimental effects on the native Nigerian people during colonization. Achebe shows the consequences of being forced into a new way of life and the complete change in traditional Nigerian lifestyle and influences of every aspect of their culture in regards to religion and beliefs, government, social hierarchy, and

Yet by using English, Achebe faces a problem. How can he present the African heritage and culture in a language that can never describe it adequately? Indeed, one of the primary tasks of Things Fall Apart is to confront this lack of understanding between the Igbo culture and the colonialist culture. In the novel, the Igbo ask how the white man can call Igbo customs bad when he does not even speak the Igbo language. An understanding of Igbo culture can only be possible when the outsider can relate to the Igbo language and terminology.

Thing Fall Apart, first published in 1958, is Chinua Achebe’s first and most acclaimed novel. Achebe illustrates an approving rendering of Nigerian and African tribal life prior to and subsequent to colonialism. Achebe presents various aspects of a native African community, including war, women mistreatment, violence and conflict, while maintaining a balance in social coherence, customs and tradition. Achebe portrays a clash of cultures and violent transitions in life. The novel encompasses values introduced by British colonialism and integrates aspects of western literature with Igbo proverbs, words, allegories, phrases and other African literature essentials. Achebe asserts and maintains African oral traditions and challenges the colonialist language and culture. Through the protagonist, Okonkwo, Achebe portrays encounters of a society marked by emergence of a new tradition associated with Christianity and colonialism. Achebe depicts African traditions, characters and roles of African men among other elements of African life. It is apparent that, in Things Fall Apart, Achebe is influenced by the surrounding circumstances, time and place, as evidenced by the portrayal of some inherent elements that affected the local society such as culture, colonialism, and female gender.

Nwoye’s betrayal in the novel is the same level of betrayal that Achebe is condemned with in his lifetime. African literary theorists who vie for the purity of African literature for African languages defy Achebe as a European traitor, writing his stories with his back turned to his native homeland. Yet this thesis argues for a reevaluation of that criticism. Achebe does not in fact deny his beliefs, his country, or his heritage. He rather aligns himself in a tragically ironic way with the hero of Things Fall Apart. Achebe writes his own struggle with colonialism into the life and death of Okonkwo. It is interesting to note that Achebe’s father was in many ways very similar to Nwoye. His father, Isaiah Achebe, was orphaned early in life and spent most of his childhood with his uncle, Udoh. Udoh was a man of the land; he prided himself on tradition and leadership. Chinua writes in his essay, “My Dad and Me,” that the differences between Isaiah and Udoh were seen early through the eyes of Chinua, a questioning child who was placed in the middle

Born in the town of Ogidi, in Eastern Nigeria which was a British colony at the time. Although Chinua Achebe first language was Igbo he was educated in English as a result of that he wanted to learn more and focus on his language and background to tell the story for many others like him. In the novel, “Things Fall Apart”, Chinua display that language is what uniquely separate each person by introducing beliefs, speech rhythms, and the Igbo language. Achebe's use of Igbo language, speech patterns, proverbs, and richly drawn characters creates an authentic African story that effectively bridges the cultural and historical gap between the reader and the Igbo. Say you were one of the characters in the novel Things Fall Apart and were faced with some of the obstacles similar, will you hold on to your beliefs or sway

It is often said that Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe’s 1958 novel Things Fall Apart is one of the leading examples of postcolonial literature out of the African continent. The book’s setting takes place in a small fictional village, Umuofia who was rich in their culture and traditions, suddenly had to react to cultural changes, by the white missionaries that came in and threaten to change their government structure, institutions and every aspect of their lives. Chinua Achebe’s purpose of writing Things Fall Apart was to educate and inform people of the rich Igbo culture, and to show and blame the White missionaries that came in a destroyed their culture through colonialism, metanarrative and valorization of cultural identity.

Chinua Achebe’s, Things Fall Apart, is a story of a traditional village in Nigeria from inside Umuofia around the late 1800s. This novel depicts late African history and shows how the British administrative structure, in the form of the European Anglican Church, imposed its religion and trappings on the cultures of Africa, which they believed was uncivilized. This missionary zeal subjugated large native populations. Consequently, the native traditions gradually disappeared and in time the whole local social structure within which the indigenous people had lived successfully for centuries was destroyed. Achebe spends the first half of the novel depicting the Ibo culture, by

When outsiders encounter a culture unlike their own they tend to make misconceptions about that culture. The British see the Igbo culture as dark and gory. Achebe sees it as a fully functioning society. The Nigerian community may seem odd and not functional when in actuality it is functional. For a society to be functional, it must have a culture as well as properties of a civilization. The British judge it as dysfunctional, but this is irrelevant to whether the society truly is or isn’t functional. The Nigerian society fulfills many, if not all, of the properties of a functioning society. Despite the negative stereotyping of the Igbo culture by the British, Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart shows a fully functioning society.

… [In Things Fall Apart, he] dramatizes only a local struggle around the turn of the century in the Igbo heartland of West Africa between Protestant missionaries backed by British imperial power and the inhabitants of several Igbo villages. Clearly, the many confrontations between Europeans and Africans on the African continent over several centuries varied considerably according to particular political, geographic, and social circumstances. Nevertheless, Achebe focuses on an underlying ethical conflict between two civilizations that eventuated in the destruction of the traditional Igbo way of life. In No Longer at Ease, Achebe offers a reprise of the tragic confrontation of Things Fall Apart, but in a mediated and modernized form.

In Things Fall Apart, Achebe has portrayed the African society with great honesty. He has shown how the African culture is constructive, but on the other hand, he has openly discussed the main shortcomings associated with it. Therefore, he depicts the behavior of Africans as unreasonable, as shown by how superstitious the people were, especially around the matters of religion. The Igbo’s people had faith in Omen, for instance, it was

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is a modern example of postcolonial literature and is one of the most influential pieces of its genre. Postcolonial writing presents important themes and lessons of justice, equality, and freedom that can be applied to present times. It reminds us of how important our freedoms are and why we need to protect them. The colonized write about their exploitation and show how there is persecution in their colonized society. Postcolonial authors use specific methods to undermine their colonizers and reveal their backward logic. Things Fall Apart has various examples of meta-narrative, decolonization struggles, and colonial discourse worked in throughout the novel. Chinua Achebe’s writing styles showcase these techniques to subvert his European colonizers.