When Things Fall Apart Research Paper

The essence of a literature, in most cases, parallels life’s mysteries. As Ernest Hemingway put it, “To be truly memorable, a book must have at its core one of life’s great quests: the quest for love, truth, or power.” In other words, the very heart of a text must show its readers the pursuit of self-fulfillment. Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, reveals through the customs and traditions of Ibo culture, as well as the choices and consequences made by each character that a body of work is only worthwhile if there is a search for love, truth, or power.

This novel is the definitive tragic model about the dissolution of the African Ibo culture by Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe. Okonkwo, a great and heroic leader, is doomed by his inflexibility and hubris. He is driven by fear of failure.

Things Fall Apart. Those three words spell misery for whatever they describe. This phrase is the title of a novel by Chinua Achebe. Achebe chose to use this phrase from a poem, The Second Coming, by William Butler Yeats. By writing The Second Coming, “Yeats describes an apocalyptic vision in which the world collapses into anarchy because of an internal flaw in humanity.(“Things”)” which helps to convey his feelings about humanity. Chinua Achebe decided to use a line of this poem to depict the effect of British imperialism and to indicate the state of life in Umuofia.

One day at a kindred tribal meet a man contradicted Okonkwo’s view. Okonkwo was quick to call him a woman, and just as quickly Okonkwo was reprimanded by the other tribesmen. These outbursts made Okonkwo look ignorant and brash, but he could not stand weakness of any sort. This is one of many situations that convey the severity of Okonkwo’s tragic flaw.

Even though the novel depicts a societal conflict between colonizers who attempt to impose change and tribesmen who reject that change, Achebe avoids stereotyping the colonizers as “bad” and the tribesmen as “good.” The protagonist, Okonkwo, is portrayed with little sympathy. An angry, callous man, he is shown to act outwardly only in violence. Growing up, his father was a weak, effeminate man, and Okonkwo aspired to be everything his father was not: “He was ruled by one passion—to hate everything his father had loved, one of these was gentleness” (13). Even though his motives are established, Achebe does not attempt to justify the selfish and detrimental actions of Okonkwo. On the contrary, Okonkwo’s uncle Uchendu is rendered as a selfless, compassionate, and wise old man. When Okonkwo is banished from his tribe, Uchendu receives his nephew with open arms and helps him re-establish his life. “As soon as Uchendu saw him with his sad and weary company, he guessed what had happened, and asked no questions” (129). By showing both undesirable and appealing characters, Achebe offers a reputable and non-biased portrayal of his native people to unfamiliar American audiences.

Okonkwo wrestles with his fear that any sign of weakness will cause him to lose control of his family, position in the village, and even himself. Like many heroes of classical tragedy, Okonkwo’s tragic flaw, fear, also makes him excessively proud. Okonkwo’s downfall is a result of the changes created by the coming of the British Colonisers to Igbo. The introduction of the Colonisers into the novel causes Okonkwo’s tragic flaw to be exacerbated. Okonkwo construes change as weakness, and as a result of his interpretation, Okonkwo only knows how to react to change through anger and strength. He derives great satisfaction, “hubris” or proud arrogance, from the fact that he is a traditional, self made man and thinks that to change would mean submitting to an outside force (Christianity).

For instance, Okonkwo deters the collision of culture as a response to the European colonialism. He endlessly strives to fight the changes following from the white missionary's arrival within the Igbo society. He objects the European views and believes the Igbo people should unite to extradite the western people forcefully. The cultural collision challenged Okonkwo’s identity by changing the way his people view him. Considering before the missionary came in “Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements” (Achebe 1). He is admired, feared, and greatly honored for his abilities and diligent. Although now that the white missionary took control of the villages and take away everything

In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo the protagonist is a great man in his clan. But things change just in a sudden. During the funeral of Ezudu, when everyone is shooting, Okonkwo is also shooting, Okonkwo's gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced Ezudu's grandson. He is only sixteen yeas old. He is a growing young man, which is treasured by his family. Okonkwo has committed the female murder, he has to go to his motherland and return back to his clan after seven years. The reception in his motherland identified the Ibo people. The people in Okonkwo's motherland value psycho emotion health and practical cares.

Different countries have people that hold many different views and beliefs. In Nigeria the Igbo area is located in the southern area of the country. And within this area is Umuofia, which is where the Ogidi tribe lives. These people have beliefs that rest strongly on religion and faith in god. "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe takes a look at the life of an African tribe that has been isolated from the outer more technologically advanced world where science has become a part of religion proving that certain things live sickness are not caused by evil spirits. But the African tribe has no knowledge of this and they live in a society where there traditions, beliefs and there forms of communication differ from are own.

Religion is a cultural system of behaviors and practices, It is what separates human beliefs. In the book, Things Fall Apart, the author Chinua Achebe shows religious conflict between the Ibo community and the British and how their beliefs and rituals changed when the british took over.

The world is full of cultural collisions. Every day people meet other with different worldviews. This concept of cultural collision, is shown perfectly though Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. In the story it is the cultural collision, of the introduction of Western Ideas into the ibo society, that causes Achebe’s characters to grow and change. One character in particular is forced to reevaluate his sense of identity because of the cultural collision. This is the character of Okonkwo. The collision challenges Okonkwo’s sense of self, as a religious leader or an Egwugwu, as a leader of his people, and as a man. It is Okonkwo’s response to these challenges, that shapes the meaning of the book of that as your world changes so must you or you

It’s easy for a family to fall apart,but it isn’t easy putting things back together again. In the Story Things Fall Apart you will see a family that starts off good but falls apart due to religion,culture and mistakes people made. Some people can’t handle changes or isn’t used to them or having to change their characteristics. Okonkwo sense of identity was challenged with the introduction of Western ideas about the Ido culture. Okonkwo started out in the novel as manly and strong.but the cultural collision of the British colonist and Ibo people affect Okonkwo to the point he felt like he had to take his own life.

Failure is inevitable, everything leads to failure due to unruly human errors. Achebe illustrates the ending of an era in the Things Fall Apart, which was influenced by another piece of literature: “The Second Coming”. Although Things Fall Apart and “The Second Coming” both analyze distinct time periods, both pieces of literature use negative tone, diction, and symbols to reveals the theme everything leads to failure.

Africa has a very complex history. Throughout time, Europeans have gone to Africa and colonization efforts rapidly grew. They have tried to push Western beliefs and their religions onto the African people. In his book Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe described this. He wrote his novel based on realistic events to give readers an insight on what life was really like for the African people.

Achebe and Adichie teach us about the importance of notice other culture around us and that their is always more than one side of a story. As I listen to the Adichie and read Achebe, I began to notice how much I don't know. How important Things Fall Apart is not only to teach us about African culture, but to know there side of how colonization began. All in all Things Fall Apart teaching us different cultures in the world, people, and that we should know more about the world we live in.