Things Fall Apart tells the story of an African tribe, specifically following the story of Okonkwo, a man that desperately tries to portray himself as masculine in order to become successful and not be compared to his allegedly effeminate father. Throughout the novel, many developments occur, one of them being the attempt at colonization by a group of Christians. Immediately, there is tension, since customs between the two groups of people greatly differ, in addition to the attempts of the Christians to have inhabitants of the tribe abandon their supposedly “primitive” lifestyle for a “better” one.
The aforementioned lack of understanding regarding culture likely leads to any accounts of it-- specifically those made by the Christians-- that
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The short story given greatly showcases a bias towards colonization, along with examples differences in culture and traditions. These differences result in a lack of acceptance and unknown need for them to be changed to better suit the man that holds more power, although this power is obtained through force. Specifically, there is an instance in which Sanders wants to meet with the king, to which his request is ignored. Sato-Koto, the king’s messenger, explains that this is due to the fact that “‘it is not fitting that a great king should so humble himself.’” In other words, since Sanders is a stranger, the king (with all his power) shouldn’t go out of his way to greet him, even if he may be different. But, Sanders sees this as an act of rebellion after demanding the messenger redeliver Sanders’ request, only to have it still be denied. From there, he goes to the king himself and decides to teach him obedience, ignoring any possibility of an explanation of the king’s actions. Similar conclusions are made by the District Commissioner in Things Fall Apart, although different in the sense that he understands there are customs but disregards any possible clarification. Instead, he sees them as necessary to complete to preserve his self-image, as seen when he notes that “a District Commissioner must never attend such undignified details as cutting a
When I read Things Fall Apart, I had a clear mind of what a life could be like Okonkwo’s. For the rest of the reading, a question was contacting me in different places of the novel. Okonkwo was an angry man in front of his Nigerian tribe and changed when Christian missionaries came to the Ibo village; also, I responded to the book, and my personal applications to a different culture were related to a missionary trip that was a powerful one back in 1956 in Ecuador.
Set in Africa in the 1890s, Chinua Achebe's ‘Things Fall Apart’ is about the tragedy of Okonkwo during the time Christian missionaries arrived and polluted the culture and traditions of many African tribes. Okonkwo is a self-made man who values culture, tradition, and, above all else, masculinity. Okonkwo’s attachment to the Igbo culture and tradition, and his own extreme emphasis on manliness, is the cause of his fall from grace and eventual death.
Things Fall Apart was a fantastic book. It was educational as well as entertaining. The author, Chinua Achebe did a great job of describing the complex society and culture of the Ibo tribe. Being that Achebe’s roots originate from the Ibo, he shares accurate history and traditions that help shape the book and its perspective on how the European invasions greatly affected pre-colonial Africa.
The Christian faith shown in Things Fall Apart represents the downfall of many different cultures in Africa due to the takeover by the European. The situation that is shown in the novel can even be related to society today with the event that transpired in North Korea. The new leader, Kim Jong Un, purged the old regime from power and replaced with the new people that he elected. The main protagonist in the Novel, Okonkwo is similar to Jang Song Taek, Kim’s uncle, because both men represent the old ways. In addition, both were forced to by another power that ultimately toppled them and they were the last resistance that stood in the way of their opponent. It shows that without unity and respect for a culture, another force can take over and destroy a society.
Imagine if you would, to be in another culture, and someone who is unwanted, unwelcome has come into it and has caused it to crumble. You and your family are plunged into failure and your life is falling apart. These people, the missionaries, arrived from England to colonize Africa during the colonial period. There were many problems faced by the native people, most of whom were not about to drop all of their beliefs to adopt a foreigners customs. Such beliefs existed in the protagonist, Okonkwo, and are the roots of the challenges faced by Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart, in which the author, Chinua Achebe, writes of the challenges to Okonkwo's sense of identity. Western ideas have clashed with his sense of family, his ideas of gender, and position of leadership within the clan, which influences and forms the meaning of the book.
Written in an authentic African perspective, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe portrays the real feelings and emotions that the African people had toward the arrival of Christianity and white men. Though the beliefs of Christianity may seem normal to the white people, it was very confusing to those of African descent, and the novel highlighted the confusion that the Ibo had towards the Christian beliefs. It depicts the strangeness of the new religion and white people to the villagers of Umuofia. In Chapter 21, Akunna, a great man of the village, talked to Mr. Brown, the white missionary, about the differences and similarities of their own religions, which ultimately revealed the difficulty of each person understanding the other's point of view. Achebe wrote this novel to provide the world with what the Africans thought about the attempted conversion of their own
In the novel “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, the protagonist Okonkwo struggles between tribal tradition, his internal conflicts with his own beliefs, and the arrival of European missionaries to Africa. Okonkwo’s own perspective is limited to a heavily masculine praising mindset, driving him to be rash and violent at times, but his own tribe has a variety of traditions and personalities. Immediately, Okonkwo sees these missionaries as a threat to his place in society, their beliefs are frowned upon by most of the tribes and people of power. Missionaries see African tribes as animalistic and primitive. Okonkwo’s perspective was valid considering all the damage missionaries would eventually cause in the long run. A loss of culture and the
In Things Fall Apart, Achebe is able to express this embarkation with his division of the novel into two parts. The first part introduces Okonkwo along with his family’s beliefs and their origins, religions, etc. However, in the second part with the arrival of the Christian missionaries, the seeds of colonialism take root within the Ibo tribe and Okonkwo’s family, particularly in his son Nwoye. At the beginning, the missionaries are calm and peaceful. However, as time goes on they start to undergo their mission and start to denounce the Ibo’s gods as “false gods, gods of wood and stone.” At first, many are appalled and find their preaching laughable, but as they continue to thrive, people such as Nwoye begin to reach out. Because Nwoye is unable to forgive Okonkwo for his betrayal in killing his adopted brother, he converts to Christianity in an attempt to get back at his father for his crime. In addition, the missionaries’ hymn about brothers living in “darkness and fear,...
Things Fall Apart, Thematic Essay: Humans’ natural instincts are to deny a new aspect and stick to older ones. Nevertheless, old and new aspects are intertwined. Traditions and change are ever present in society, without them society would not prosper. Traditions are the foundations of society. However, just like any other foundation, sooner or later it must be altered or changed, even in the most miniscule way.
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe tells the story of how one unified Umuofian community falls due to its own inner conflicts, as well as to the arrival of Christian missionaries. Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart to change the brutish image of Africa, for the Western world. The use of changing perspectives greatly aided Achebe in accurately portraying Africa as colorful, diverse and complex. For Westerners, viewing Africans as more than tribal and barbaric was a new concept, of which Achebe helped usher in. The story is told through the eyes of many Umuofians, which gives the reader a personal sense for the individuals within the tribe. When all the individual pieces of the story are brought together, the sifting perspectives creates a vast overview of the community, while also deepening the readers since for the tribe by allowing personal details to show through. Achebe captures the complexity of the Umuofia community by changing the perspective from which the story is being told frequently.
For an abundance of authors, the driving force that aids them in creation of a novel is the theme or number of themes implemented throughout the novel. Often times the author doesn’t consciously identify the theme they’re trying to present. Usually a theme is a concept, principle or belief that is significant to an author. Not only does the theme create the backbone of the story, but it also guides the author by controlling the events that happen in a story, what emotions are dispersed, what are the actions of characters, and what emotions are presented within each environment to engage the readers in many
Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart is a powerful novel about the social changes that occurred when the white man first arrived on the African continent. The novel is based on a conception of humans as self-reflexive beings and a definition of culture as a set of control mechanisms. Things Fall Apart is the story of Okonkwo, an elder, in the Igbo tribe. He is a fairly successful man who earned the respect of the tribal elders. The story of Okonkwo’s fall from a respected member of the tribe to an outcast who dies in disgrace graphically dramatizes the struggle between the altruistic values of Christianity and the lust for power that motivated European colonialism in Africa and undermined the indigenous culture of a nation.
Q1. Describe Okonkwo, the protagonist of Things Fall Apart. Consider him as an Igbo hero character: How does he achieve greatness and defined by his culture? How does he differ from Western heroes you are familiar with? What are Okwonko’s strengths and weaknesses?
Conflict and Tradition in Things Fall Apart & nbsp;   ; The book Things Fall Apart successfully expressed how Chinua Achebe had succeeded in writing a different story. It pointed out the conflict of oneself, the traditional beliefs, and the religious matters of the Africans. Throughout the novel, Chinua Achebe used simple but dignified words and unlike other books, he also included some flashbacks and folktales to make the novel more interesting and comprehensible. Things Fall Apart was about a man named Okonkwo, who was always struggling with his inner fear although he was known for being a strong, powerful, and fearless warrior.
Western thought perceives African culture and religion as customs and superstitions rather than just an alternative form of culture and religion. Calling them superstitions is not merely using alternative vocabulary, but is a conscious degradation of the practices. In Things Fall Apart, the religious practices of Okonkwo 's tribe are taken very seriously and the white man 's religion is described as crazy and their god as merely a fetish. However, the villagers do not fail to notice that "the white man 's fetish had unbelievable power" when the men who built a church within the evil forest failed to die as they should have (149). Rather than dismissing the European religion because of its difference, the locals noted its power even though they did not understand how it worked. After conflict with the new church, the village "decided to ostracize the Christians" (159). The new converts were pushed outside of the community because they had become involved with the strange, foreign superstitions and customs. Through the tribe 's relation with the new church, Achebe reversed the roles that African and European religion had played in previously existing