Things Fall Apart Essays

“Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (Achebe 13). In Chinua Achebe’s, Things Fall Apart, the character of Okonkwo is driven by fear. By the time Okonkwo becomes a young man, he is proud, well-known, and respected. When the introduction of Western ideas occurs, Okonkwo is unable to adapt his ways of functioning in the world and loses the respect he has from many Ibo people. First off, Okonkwo is the

Segu and Things Fall Apart, the role of women is a major part of each novel. Their roles are alike in some ways but at the same time they have some slight differences. In Achebe’s text, women do not seem to be of much importance in their day to day life, but they are crucial to the spiritual wellness of their culture. In Conde’s text though, the women are much more respected by the people in their tribe. The level of reverence for women differs greatly in each novel. In Things Fall Apart, women

In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe analyzes African American culture by the appearance of the white man in terms of the destruction of the bonds between individuals and society. Written in the 1950’s, In Africa it revolved around the Ibo culture, in which there were masses of beliefs and many things men had to do to demonstrate to others that they were self-worth of being called a “ successful man”. Women have many responsibilities in the Ibo society such as children, cooking, cleaning, and farming

Culture is a big part of identity, as is gender, but ultimately, family defines a person’s identity. Though one piece is a cautionary tale about imperialism, the other seemingly a war story, deeper themes are woven throughout. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo holds onto his cultural beliefs about gender roles, family bonds, and struggle with reputation and self identity. In “Deuce Out” by Katey Schultz, the protagonist, known as Steph, also struggles with family dynamic and gender roles

perceptions of Africa as lacking governance and laws. Also with their arrival in Africa, the Europeans perceived African societies as lacking a legal system, and therefore, aimed at introducing their legal system to them. This is evident in Things Fall Apart when the District Commissioner uses treachery to arrest the six Umuofia elders. The District commissioner says, “We have brought a peaceful administration to you and your people so that you may be happy…. We have a court of law where we judge

Relationships The parent-child relationship plays a large role in various literary works. The novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, both explore the dynamic of many parent-child relationships. Death of a Salesman regarded the troubling relationship that Willy Loman, an unsuccessful Salesman, had with his two children Biff and Happy. Similarly, in Things Fall Apart it described the life of a man named Okonkwo who had much controversy when it came to his

The belief in African inferiority has existed since at least the 16th century. The 17th and 18th centuries saw European scientists going to great lengths to find scientific proof of the inferiority of Africans, even the theory that Africans were the descendants of apes who raped white women was accepted during the 17th century. Europeans used their belief that Africans were primitive, cultureless subhuman beings to justify the enslavement of what UNESCO estimates to be between 25 and 30 million Africans

peace within itself” by Nelson Mandela. The novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is about the downfall of a strong clan and a strong man. The story narrates the life of Okonkwo and how he is seen as a successful man and was respected in his clan. The men in the Ibo culture are characterized a certain way to demonstrate how they contribute to their downfall and how they are affected, so the reader can understand how everything in Umuofia fell apart due to colonization. The men in Umuofia are represented

Before Things Fall Apart was published, most novels about Africa had been written by Europeans, and they largely portrayed Africans as savages who needed to be enlightened by Europeans. For example, Joseph Conrad's classic tale Heart of Darkness (1899), one of the most celebrated novels of the early twentieth century, presents Africa as a wild, "dark," and uncivilized continent. In Mister Johnson (1939), which in 1952 Time called "the best novel ever written about Africa" ("Cheerful" para. 15), Irishman

Yams are the starchy tubers of some plant species in the Dioscorea genus, that form the basis of the agricultural life in Nigeria, both at the time of Things Fall Apart, and to some extent in the present day. Yams are a strong signal of your status in the Ibo village in Things Fall Apart. Okonkwo lists them firstly as the two signifiers of the success of Okoye, his neighbor, “he was not a failure like Unoka. He had a large barn full of yams and he had three wives,” along with Okoye’s wives (6). They