Chaos in Things Fall Apart and The Second Coming
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats have been considered literary classics. Although there may be a gap between the times of publication, the themes and connotations are strikingly similar. In both works, there is a progression of chaos in time caused by change and eventually leads to an end.
Inner conflict plays an important role in both works. In Things Fall Apart, the main character, Okonkwo, battles with conflict within himself. As a child, he witnessed the constant failure of his father and vowed to be completely opposite of him and successful in everything he does. This drives him to the point where he despises everything and anyone lazy, unsuccessful, or resembling his father in any way. His anger is taken out on others and his family is often victims of abuse. Although he feels this strict rule and coldness is what will keep him in control, it proves a failure when his eldest son Nwoye eventually becomes fed up and leaves home to convert to Christianity. In The Second Coming, Yeats tells of a chaotic world in which the inner conflicts eventually leads to chaos. The chaotic world suffers its consequence through the destruction of its foundation, where even more chaos and destruction is loosed in time destroying what little is left.
"Turning and turning in the widening gyre, the falcon can not hear the falconer." This is the most important line of the poem since it centers on the novel and poem as a whole. It shows that without understanding and unity, the foundation can not hold and will eventually become too weak to stand. The Christians did not choose to understand the Ibo culture and vi...
... middle of paper ...
...l was not titled Things Fall Apart by coincidence. Chinua Achebe named it that for a reason. It showed the effects of colonial insertion on the Ibo culture. He shows how this infiltration causes imbalance in a once strong society and culture. Yeats wrote his poem to respond to the communism that threatened to destroy Europe. But it all coincided with the coming of Christ, the infiltration of Christianity, and the infiltration of communism in Europe. In the end all internal conflicts clashed and ruined the foundation, which eventually toppled.
Work Cited
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. 1958. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, Expanded Edition, Vol. 1. Ed. Maynard Mack. London: Norton, 1995.
Yeats, William, Butler. "The Second Coming." The Longman Anthology British Literature. Ed. David Damrosch. Longman. New York. 2000. 2329.
The Savage is not happy with the life that the “civilized” people live. To him it seems like a big illusion. The people are conditioned to not have emotions, but humans cannot really be humans without emotions. Humans are different from all the other creatures in this world because they do indeed have emotions. The advanced human brain has allowed people to have emotions- which affect their lives daily. “The emotions aren't always immediately subject to reason, but they are always immediately subject to action” (William James) The Savage had several chances to “have” Lenina any time he wanted but he didn’t want that.
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.
Not much is known about Shel Silverstein’s personal life because he very rarely gave interviews or spoke in public. Shel Silverstein was born on September 25, 1932 in Chicago, Illinois. He served in the US Forces in Korea and Japan in the early 1950s. While in the military he was an artist for the military newspaper, Stars and Stripes. After he arrived home, he became a photographer, writer, and cartoonist for Playboy magazine. He was also a song writer. He wrote hit songs for Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn and Bobby Bare. In 2002, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. He also produced a few films and wrote screenplays. Though never honored for his technical aspects of his poems, he is considered one of America’s greatest poets.
Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein, illustrates the Romantic idea of the sublime naturalworld as an emotional experience for the characters of the novel. Within the text, Shelleyutilizes an allusion to the John Milton’s biblical story, Paradise Lost, to make a parallel betweenthe characters. Within the passage, the monster compares himself, as well as his creator, Victor,to the characters Adam and Satan. He comes to realize that he is more similar to Satan;ultimately, leading him to his reign of terror and the revenge he wishes to impose on Victor. Themonster realizes that he is similar to Adam in Paradise Lost in that they both do not want to bealone. The monster also realizes that there is good in the world that is deeply contrasted with
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. First Anchor Books Edition. New York, NY: Random House, Inc., 1959. Print.
The title of the book Things Fall Apart is based off of a poem called The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats. This poem was written shortly after World War I. Yeats believed that society had completely broken down and soon, the end of the world would come. The poem is about the end of the world as described in the Bible. By using this as his title, the author, Chinua Achebe, points out the similarities between the time of chaos in Europe after World War I and the upheaval the Ibo experienced when they were invaded (What's).
Nnoromele, Patrick C.. “The Plight of a Hero in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.” Chinua Achebe's
On the other hand, he never takes a gander at the general appearance of his creation until the creature is enlivened. At the present time he sees the repulsive creature he has made, Victor is dismayed. Victor 's response is finished when he doesn 't assume liability for the creature that he has made. He values physical appearance more than inside excellence, so he tries to disregard the creature and proceed onward with his life. Shelley, nonetheless, needs to create an impression about society when all is said in done, so she lets the reader get inside the beast’s head in a section. In this section the reader sees the beast battle to discover who he is, in this way creating sensitivity for him. The reader can now look inside appearance and see the error that Victor is making. The main path for Shelley to finish this articulation about society is for the beast to be dismisses by the family he tries to get to know. The friendship the beast needs, he is denied, and left to escape for the mountains. Shelley 's capacity to put the reader into the beast 's head and her depiction of Victor 's conclusion of "excellence", put forth her expression on society become animated. Never judge a man, and so on by its outside appearance, it is just within that
In the poem “The City of the End of Things” by Archibald Lampman he paints an image of a dystopian and mechanical future. The theme of this poem is a prediction of the natural world 's destruction and of the current industrialized future. Humans cannot live without nature, thus with the destruction of the natural world comes the downfall of humanity. Lampman wrote “Its roofs and iron towers have grown / None knoweth how high within the night”(9-10), which provokes a picture of a city that is ever growing, seemingly overnight. In the poem there is an ABAB rhyme scheme along with use of alliteration, onomatopoeia, and imagery. By using all of these techniques it helps the reader to better understand the message which is being relayed in the poem. Some of the subjects of this poem include, urbanization, dystopia, nature dying and the fall of
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York, New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1994.
The breakdown of African society has been steadily increasing through the last century and still continues to fall apart today as western civilization looks to extend it’s way of life. There is striking similarities between the book “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe and the poem “The Second Coming” written by William Butler Yeats, that is concerning the demise in some respect of the African culture. The two pieces of literature shows from the African peoples point of view of the disintegration of their culture and beliefs, with the assimilation of Christianity and their belief in a singular god.
Iyasere, Solomon O. “Narrative Techniques in Things Fall Apart. � Understanding Things Fall Apart: Selected Essays and Criticism. Ed. Solomon O. Iyasere. New York: The Whitson Publishing Company, 1998.
...tefulness. And all of the qualities represented by and portrayed by the characters in the novel are what make the story so strong and relatable to the reader. It gives one insight on how the character of an individual and their nature affects their emotions and actions, and how that in turn affects others around them. Evidently, Charles Dickens cleverly incorporates different symbols into his novel, “Great Expectations.” They are essential in the plot as well as conveying those pieces of human nature and how everyone has these aspects in them. How one acts based on those aspects is what determines them as a person and also how they are perceived from an outside standpoint. So the symbols used in Charles Dickens’s novel have a very important effect on the novel as a whole and the reader as well, and make for a very interesting and thought-provoking piece overall. …
Okhamafe, Imafedia. "Geneological Determinism in Achebe's Things Fall Apart." Modern Critical Interpretation: Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2002. 125-44. Print.
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.