Change In Things Fall Apart

“Life is change” nothing stays the same forever, the world is constantly changing and the way you adapt to it determines the life you live. Things Fall Apart shows the constant struggle of keeping an Igbo tribe in Nigeria true to its original roots while facing the challenges of new leadership. Achebe centers the novel on Okonkwo the leader of the Igbo tribe, his three wives and children and their fight to stay in power. The Igbo have strict beliefs and adapting to different views alters the relationship of the people. In Things Fall Apart the author Chinua Achebe establishes the theme that people move on at different times with plot, and characterization.

The world around you continues to change no matter what you do. When Okonkwo was in

Instead of accepting the fact that a new religion was separating his clan and family, Okonkwo decided to fight for his beliefs and not listen to anything the missionaries had to say. Despite the fact that Okonkwo went against everything the missionaries were doing, if he were to have stayed in Umuofia when the missionaries first arrived Okonkwo could have been more open and understanding towards their beliefs and reasoning. When Okonkwo returned after seven years he was forced to be resigned to the fact that change had occurred, instead of learning and working with the Christians. “He mourned for the clan, which he saw breaking up and falling apart, and he mourned for the warlike men of Umunfia, who had so unaccountably become soft like women” (Achebe, 140). If Okonkwo were to have been there from the beginning he would have the same thoughts and feeling of those who were always there. Not everyone in the clan believed what the Christians were saying but they respected their choices and

Although Akunna did not want to convert to Christianity he wanted to learn about the new religion becoming a part of his clan. Akunna realized early on that there was no way of getting rid of the missionaries that he had to work with them not against them. Akunna and Mr. Brown one of the white missionaries taught each other about their beliefs without any chaos. Mr. Brown gained the respect of the clan making it easier to teach the Igbo. “One of the great men in the village had given one of his sons to be taught the white man’s knowledge in Mr. Browns School” (Achebe, 137). Okonkwo and Akunna both believed in the same religion, but reacted to ideas of a new and very different religion differently.

Change is not always a bad thing it’s the way you handle it that can make it bad. In Things Fall Apart the plot shows the constant struggle of having to adapt to someone else’s way of life while having to work for the life you want. During the novel the personalities of the characters change as they advance through the hard times. Things fall apart is a great reminder that life does not always work the way you want it to, that you have to learn to let go and keep