Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe

1011 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analysis of Chinua Achebe's things fall apart

“Tragedy arouses not only pity but also fear…” Things Fall Apart doesn’t tell you what “has” happened it shows you what is going to happen. In Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe is dramatizing what may happen and what was happening. The District commissioner suggested a book title at the end of the book. I think the book title’s main purpose was to suggest what may happen.”…The Pacification of the Lower Niger Tribes.”

A tragedy has a protagonist, the protagonist is someone who is renowned or prosperous, and has a change of fortune from good to bad or vice versa. The driving force or protagonist in Things Fall Apart is undoubtedly Okonkwo. Okonkwo was a prominent clansman of Umuofia. He had three wives and eight children. Okonkwo had many changes of fortune during Things Fall Apart. He got his start by sharecropping for Nwakibie. Sharecropping is a system of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crop produced on the land. From there he acquired his own farm. When he thought he could never fall, Okonkwo had a cruel twist in fate. His gun exploded and killed Ezeudu’s son. Okonkwo was then banished for seven years, and from there everything started to fall apart.

Things Fall Apart and Okonkwo both evoke many emotions; fear, pity, anguish, compassion, and hope. There is a great deal of compassion when his own son went against, him and there is hope that the Ibo culture will stay in tact even though you know the outcome of the white man coming in contact with the Ibo culture.

According to Aristotle, tragedies use many metaphors. Things Fall Apart has metaphors which are accompanied by many Ibo culture proverbs. “…Okonkwo was as slippery as a fish in water.”(1). In Things Fall ...

... middle of paper ...

...er reach that level of success he wanted.”…Clearly his personal god or chi was not made for great things. A man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi” (121) His elders said”if a man said yes his chi affirmed”. Okonkwo said yes but despite his elders own affirmation his chi said no. His life was a constant buildup then a tumbling down. He got away from his father’s mistakes and built a prosperous compound and family. This success fell down, and he was exiled for seven years. He built up his farm again in his mother’s village of Mbanta. This success was overshadowed by the coming of the white man and Nwoye changing his name to Isaac and what that symbolized. Everything” really” fell apart when Okonkwo finally killed himself.

“The lizard would like to stand erect, but his tail will not permit him.”-(Ibo Proverb)

Works Cited
"Things fall Apart" Chinua Achebe

Show More
Related

  • Cultural Differences In Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    It challenged his identity by losing his high title in the clan due to the change in the village as well as new customs. He responded to the clash of cultures by attempting to encourage others to fight in his mission to get rid of the Western influences in the Ibo community. Because he failed to do so, he lost hope and refused to accept the new culture which caused him to hang himself. The conflict between Okonkwo and his clan’s decision to change their way of living was portrayed through characterization and plot development. Achebe gives the people of Africa a voice with Okonkwo’s character who stayed true to his roots. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe reveals to us Okonkwo’s response as the cultural collision of the English and Ibo challenged his sense of

    Read More

  • Things Fall Apart

    1974 Words  | 4 Pages

    Okonkwo is often described as being similar to characters in Greek tragedies. Okonkwo knew that the end of his clan was coming, and that they would do nothing to prevent it from happening. He took his life out of desperation. He had struggled his whole life to become a respected member of his community, and suddenly his world is turned upside down and changed forever because of an accident. Okonkwo sees that he is fighting a losing battle, so he quits. Suicide was one of the biggest offenses that could be committed against the earth, and Okonkwo?s own clansmen could not bury him. Okonkwo?s death symbolizes the end of patriarchy in Umuofia. The last page of the book is from the point of view of the white Commissioner, who notes that he wants to include a paragraph on Okonkwo?s life in his book entitled The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of Lower Niger. Okonkwo?s struggles, triumphs and defeats are all reduced to a paragraph, much like his culture and society will be reduced.

    Read More

  • Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    975 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is a tragic hero. Aristotle’s Poetics defines a Tragic Hero as a good man of high status who displays a tragic flaw (“hamartia”) and experiences a dramatic reversal (“peripeteia”), as well as an intense moment of recognition (“anagnorisis”). Okonkwo is a leader and hardworking member of the Igbo community of Umuofia whose tragic flaw is his great fear of weakness and failure. Okonkwo’s fall from grace in the Igbo community and eventual suicide, makes Okonkwo a tragic hero by Aristotle’s definition.

    Read More

  • The Stubborness of Okonkwo

    389 Words  | 1 Pages

    Okonkwo, a fierce warrior, remains unchanged in his unrelenting quest to solely sustain the culture of his tribe in the time of religious war in Achebe's book, Things Fall Apart. He endures traumatic experiences of conflict from other tribes, dramatic confrontations from within his own family, and betrayal by his own tribe.

    Read More

  • Influence Of Culture In Things Fall Apart

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    Overall, Okonkwo is a crucial part to the story Things Fall Apart, for he represents African culture, and helps demonstrate how colonization can change everything. Through this book we see how colonization changed history, and how it is important for groups, tribes, societies to stay together in times of invasion, in order to protect their own customs and traditions; and how crucial a sense of unity would've been for the Umuofian tribe. Okonkwo was the sense of unity of the tribe, doing everything he could could to protect it. His collection of honorable titles, his love for his tribes culture, his drive and passion, and even his booming pride all contribute to his district character, a true hero in my eyes.

    Read More

  • Things Fall Apart Adapt To Change Essay

    622 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ari Brace Mr. Liepa Honors Global Literature 4 May 2014 Adapting to Change Chinua Achebe’s book, Things Fall Apart, is a story about a society on the verge of a cultural change. The main character, Okonkwo, is driven throughout the story by fear and a drive for success. He relied on the village of Umuofia to stay the same because he used the structured culture to feel safe and appreciated. He lives in a constant state of fear because he wants to find his own meaning in life.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis of Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart

    526 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is portrayed as a respected and determined individual whose fatal flaw eventually works against him. Throughout the novel the readers are shown that Okonkwo has many of these Characteristics because he is obsessed with the idea of becoming just like his father. This becomes his flaw in the novel that puts him into exile and makes it hard for him to adjust to the changes that were made with in his village.

    Read More

  • The Greek Tragedy Concept in 'Things Fall Apart'

    762 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart shows an odd similarity between the cultures of Ancient Greece and the Lower Niger. Despite the fact that two societies can exist during different periods of time and have conflicting cultural values, their stories and behavior can have surprising overlaps. Things Fall Apart is structured like a Greek Tragedy in its use of a chorus and in the presence of a tragic hero whose actions ultimately lead to his downfall.

    Read More

  • Perspective in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

    934 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Things Fall Apart: Questions and Answers

    2705 Words  | 6 Pages

    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?

    Read More

  • Conflicts of Gender in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

    459 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Things Fall Apart, the reader follows the troubles of the main character Okonkwo, a tragic hero whose flaw includes the fact that "his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness" (2865). For Okonkwo, his father Unoka was the essence of failure and weakness.

    Read More

  • Change And Tradition In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout history, there have been many instances of people struggling to identify and cope with change and tradition, and this is no different in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.

    Read More

  • Essay on the Downfall of Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    816 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart, uses the changes in African tribal culture brought about by European colonization to illustrate the evolution of the character Okonkwo. As Okonkwo leads his life, his experiences, personality and thought are revealed to the reader. The obstacles he faces in life are made numerous as time progresses. Okonkwo's most significant challenge originates within himself. He also encounters problems not only when in opposition to the white culture, but in his own culture, as he becomes frustrated with tribal ideals that conflict with his own. The last adversary he encounters is of the physical world, brought upon himself by his emotional and cultural problems. The manner through which Okonkwo addresses his adversaries in Things Fall Apart creates the mechanism that leads to his eventual destruction.

    Read More

  • Essay on Brutalities of African Society in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    1012 Words  | 3 Pages

    Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York, New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1994.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the author poses many perspectives for literary criticism and review. This work emphasizes many different cultural aspects that were considered controversial at the time of publication in both African and American culture. This novel’s focus on feminine roles, religion, and cultural norms give readers a glimpse of life in the village of Umuofia while allowing them to think critically about the thematic topics posed.

    Read More

More about Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe

Open Document