An Analysis Of William Butler Yeats Things Fall Apart

n his poem “The Second Coming,” William Butler Yeats writes that as things fall apart “the center cannot hold.” There are many ways that this line relates to society in both Things Fall Apart and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. Umuofia and Junior have both had to deal with their world falling apart. Junior has had to accommodate to changes when he switched to an all white school, and Umuofia had to do the same when the Christian Missionaries came in. This line of poetry relates to both books in many different ways.

In the book Things Fall Apart, Umuofia’s society is held together by religion. When the Christian missionaries came in trying to convert them all to Christianity, things started to fall apart. “Umuofia had indeed

changed during the seven years Okonkwo had been in exile. The church had come and led many astray.” p.174. Without having religion as Umuofia’s bond, society has fallen into chaos and now it is too late.

They have converted too many of the Igbos and just as Obierika said, “‘Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one.’” p.176 Obierika is saying how they have succeeded in converting many of the Igbos, and now the clan is no longer in one piece. In “The Second Coming,” when William Butler Yeats writes that as things fall apart “the center cannot hold,” he is talking about the state that society was in after World War l, when the “center” of the people’s beliefs were forgotten in this time of evil. This relates to the other texts in many different ways. For example, religion/way of life is what holds the community together in both of the books, and what causes them to fall apart. This poem relates to Things Fall Apart because the center of their society was their religion, and the Christian missionaries have broken that bond apart. Many of the people have lost the center

of what they believe in and converted to Christianity. “‘Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.’” p.176 Also, in both this book and the poem, something terrible is occurring. The missionaries are manipulating the people into changing religions, which is causing society to fall apart. “And so he built a school and a little hospital in Umuofia. He went from family to family begging people to send their children to his school. But at first they only sent their slaves or sometimes their lazy children. Mr. Brown begged and argued and prophesied. He said that the leaders of the land in the future would be men and women who had learned to read and write. If Umuofia failed to send her children to the school, strangers would come from other places to rule them.” p.181 Mr. Brown bribed the people into converting, and this was not a very good thing.
In the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, Junior decides to switch to an all white school in hopes of a better education and a better life, since everyone on the rez has already given up.

During this time, many of the white population were racist, so the Indians hated them. When the reservation heard the news of Junior switching to Reardan (the all white school), they immediately turned on him, including his best friend. “I knew that my best friend had become my worst enemy.” p. 53 Junior doesn’t have anyone supporting him, not even his best friend. He is slowly starting to fall apart, just because nobody on the rez believes in him. At his new school, no one believes in him until he proves himself. Junior is split between two different worlds; on the rez, he is an outcast, and in school he is just Arnold. He is the thing that falls apart in the book, split between two different things. As the book goes on, terrible things keep throwing themselves at Arnold, which makes it hard for him to hold it together. For example, when his sister died, he was laughing! In both of these texts, something has gone wrong, which has caused something to fall apart. The poem “The Second Coming” relates to this book because when Junior is at his new school, he loses touch with his beliefs and customs on the reservation. He is an outcast now, and nobody believes in him. Though, in his other universe, school, he has hope. Junior is living in two different worlds. “Traveling

between Reardan and Wellpinit, between the little white town and the reservation, I always felt like a stranger. I was half Indian in one place and half white in the other. It was like being Indian was my job, but it was only a part time job. And it didn’t pay well at all.” p.118 He is losing the center of his beliefs; all his life he lived in a world without hope, but now with the new knowledge he is getting he can do something in his life. This book also relates to the poem because when things are falling apart something unpleasant is occurring. In the poem, “The Second Coming,” the event is World War I that is causing the center to no longer be able to hold. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, Arnold’s reservation has no hope left, which has created a cycle in which the children don’t have hope either. Now, the rez is just a sad, hopeless place. “All these kids have given up,” he said. “All your friends. All the bullies. And their mothers and fathers have given up, too. And their grandparents gave up and their grandparents before them. And me and every other teacher here. We’re all defeated’” p.42 This is the event that has forced Junior to lost touch with his beliefs on the rez.
In both of these books, one culture is dominant over the other; whether it’s white over Indian or white over Igbo. There is one common denominator with these books, and that is the white culture. There is still a problem with this today, and that is racism. These books can teach many modern day people that one culture isn’t greater than the other. We are all human, and not as different from each other as people might think. Many of my friends are a different religion than I am, but I never think of myself as better than them. These books can teach everyone a lesson about racism.