Who Is Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart?

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The book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe brings to light the treatment of native Africans during the 1800s by missionaries that claimed to liberate and modernize the culture that had stood in Africa for hundreds of years. The book begins by explaining the traditions and rituals of the native people then it goes on to explain the changes in culture that occur because of European influence on the region.
Things Fall Apart tells the story of a man named Okonkwo and his experiences during this time period. Okonkwo is described as an angry man with insecurities based on the fear of being weak like his father. In his culture he feels that it is necessary to raise his sons to be strong, manly, and successful. Okonkwo’s eldest son Nwoye grows up with his mother as this is the custom of the Ibo people. At mid age Nwoye is introduced to a brother-like figure named Ikemefuna. …show more content…

In the new village, Okonkwo, Nwoye and others learn of Christianity for the first time. Though Okonkwo immediately discounts the religion, Nwoye is interested in the ideas that the missionaries are proposing. Still confused how his culture could approve of the murder of Ikemefuna, Nwoye thinks that this new system of beliefs may be for him. The text states “there was a young lad who had been captivated. His name was Nwoye…” (Achebe 147). Feeling like Ibo culture had failed to match his beliefs Nwoye was curious if the ideas of one “God, creator of all the world and all the men and women” (Achebe 145) were for him.
The book uses the simile “The words of [the missionaries] were like the drops of frozen rain melting on a dry palate of the panting earth” (Achebe 147) to express that the Ibo culture has left Nwoye parched for quite a while. The new western culture is represented by the refreshing drops of frozen rain that quench his thirst for

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    His family was banished for their tribe and was sent way to Okonkwo’s mother lands tribe for a crime Okonkwo did not mean to commit but banished regardless. The missionaries show up and they begin to win some of the Ibo people with their new all-powerful God. Eventualy some missionaries show up to the tribe that they now reside in and tell the story of the father the son and the Holy Spirit. These stories did not captivate him but the hymns of peace and the acceptance of everyone into their church Is what amazed him. We see this at the end of chapter () that Nwoye has this idea “ “ pg.

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  • Nwoye Identity

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    Ex. Nwoye’s sense of identity made him think of becoming his true self. Nwoye started out in the novel as a normal ibo boy obeying his family and doing everything in the ibo culture, but the cultural collision of the British colonists and Ibo people affected him to the point of where he wanted to be just like them, abandoning his native customs. The reasons for his change in their sense of identity included him not wanting to be anything like his father. He saw how their religion was better than the ibo one, and he doesn’t fit in at home.The western people ideas and customs influenced Nwoye to become himself and let him feel free to do what he wants.

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    Unfortunately, everything is not perfect. His son, Nwoye, seems not to be showing the characteristics of a real man. He prefers to stay with his mother, listening to women's stories, than to listen to his father's tales of battle and victory. Later, when missionaries come to the tribe, Nwoye is attracted to their Christian religion because of its unqualified acceptance of everyone, much like a mother's unqualified love. Of this, Okonkwo r...

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    there was a young lad who had been captivated his name was Nwoye Okonkwo’s first son.” This means that the first time Nwoye heard about the new religion something intrigued him and had gasped his full attention more than his born culture. Also the idea that Nwoye was not interested in the only 1 God idea but the poetry and hymns of the new religion. The words these missionaries spoke began to make Nwoye's mind race with questions and ideas like the death of Ikemefuna, and the twins buried in the evil forest and his all around

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  • Cultural Change Explored in Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe

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  • How Does Nwoye Change In Things Fall Apart

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  • The Power Struggle in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart

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  • Things Fall Apart Book Report- 11 Pages Long. I Got An A

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