The classic African literary tale Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, is a brilliant account of historical African culture and the destruction colonialism can cause upon such cultures. As the reader follows the narrative and complexity of the characters through the novel, a sense of pride, trust, and faith in history emerges. Yet, with the introduction of colonialism the characters must learn to embrace and adapt to a new culture and set of beliefs or face termination from society. The novel explores the troubles of African cultures and their adaptation to colonialism. As the novel progresses, one can also observe the influence of religion throughout history and how it has changed the face of many societies. Although many readers would describe the collision of culture and colonialism in Africa as inevitable; a closer examination of this novel would suggest that the need(s) of human nature to expand their values and beliefs upon others causes ancient cultures to evolve or fade out of existence.
Things Fall Apart was set in the time period of the 1890’s, when colonialism was beginning in Africa and the effect would be felt for many years throughout the African nation. Chinua Achebe was born and raised in the 1930’s in Nigeria and was the son of a father and a mother who converted to Christianity. Achebe was raised during a period of tension in Africa, caused by the height of colonialism and western culture influence upon African societies (Liukkonen, 2008). Achebe was a firsthand witness, to the troubles and tribulations associated with religion and colonialism upon ancient customs. These customs, rites, and troubles were expressed beautifully in the novel Things Fall Apart; as were the destruction by western man ...
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...d we have also witnessed cultures press upon each other their own values in an attempt to control others. History plays an important role in human culture, upon reading Things Fall Apart we can witness human natures incestuous need to press upon others their own beliefs, values, and customs. We can also witness through Okonkow, that a failure to adapt to a changing society, can cause even the strongest and proudest of men to fall apart when it appears to them that everything around them is falling apart to. Things Fall Apart is a tireless tale of human’s nature’s ultimate struggle with evolution. As we move forward year after year the world we live in continues to evolve around us. As these new evolutions are introduced through religion and colonialism, societies are faced with the ultimate choice to evolve or fade out of existence, letting things fall apart.
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.
Set in Africa in the 1890s, Chinua Achebe's ‘Things Fall Apart’ is about the tragedy of Okonkwo during the time Christian missionaries arrived and polluted the culture and traditions of many African tribes. Okonkwo is a self-made man who values culture, tradition, and, above all else, masculinity. Okonkwo’s attachment to the Igbo culture and tradition, and his own extreme emphasis on manliness, is the cause of his fall from grace and eventual death.
By utilizing an unbiased stance in his novel, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe promotes cultural relativity without forcibly steering his audience to a particular mindset. He presents the flaws of the Ibo tribe the same way he presents the assets—without either condescension or pride; he presents the cruelties of the colonizers the same way he presents their open mindedness—without either resentment or sympathy. Because of this balance, readers are able to view the characters as multifaceted human beings instead of simply heroes and victims. Achebe writes with such subtle impartiality that American audiences do not feel guilty for the cruel actions of the colonizers or disgusted by the shocking traditions of the tribesmen. The readers stop differentiating the characters as either “tribesmen” or “colonizers”. They see them simply as people, much like themselves. With this mindset, the audience starts to reflect upon their own cultural weaknesses. Conversely, the colonizers forcefully declare their religion onto the tribesmen instead of neutrally presenting their beliefs. Achebe prevails over his anger to present his opinion without forcefulness and with open-minded consideration. Yes, the colonizers succeed in converting many tribesmen into Christians; however, their success is subjective because they destroy African culture in the process. Ultimately, Achebe is successful in delivering his political views, but he does so by encouraging open-mindedness and cultural relativity instead of forcing his individual ideals upon his readers.
Culture makes us who we are. Each individual has their own culture from their experiences in life and is developed from societal influences. The various cultures around the world influence us in different ways which we experience at least once in our lifetime. There are occasions, especially in history, where cultures clash with one another. For instance, the English colonization in Africa changed their culture. Chinua Achebe, the author of Things Fall Apart, portrayed this change in the Igbo people’s society, especially through the character Okonkwo in the village of Umuofia; the introduction of Western ideas challenged him. In the novel Things Fall Apart, the author Chinua Achebe introduces to us Okonkwo whose character’s response to the
The fictional novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is about Okonkwo and his Ibo tribe, Umuofia, known now as Nigeria. This novel describes the beginning of the colonial transformation of traditional society seen in a political, economical and in a socio-cultural form. Furthermore, in this fictional story, the colonization process can be represented as it was used during the scramble for Africa, which took place in the late 19th and early 20th century (Akram-Lodhi, Colonization); back in that time colonization was justified. However, modern analysis have had demonstrate that the scramble for Africa was a colonial and imperialistic practice, these views helped to facilitate the end of colonization that began around 1950 (Hobsbawm 217). Although,
Chinua Achebe?s Things Fall Apart is a narrative story that follows the life of an African man called Okonkwo. The setting of the book is in eastern Nigeria, on the eve of British colonialism in Africa. The novel illustrates Okonkwo?s struggles, triumphs, and his eventual downfall, all of which basically coincide with the Igbo?s society?s struggle with the Christian religion and British government. In this essay I will give a biographical account of Okonwo, which will serve to help understand that social, political, and economic institutions of the Igbos.
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.
Written in an authentic African perspective, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe portrays the real feelings and emotions that the African people had toward the arrival of Christianity and white men. Though the beliefs of Christianity may seem normal to the white people, it was very confusing to those of African descent, and the novel highlighted the confusion that the Ibo had towards the Christian beliefs. It depicts the strangeness of the new religion and white people to the villagers of Umuofia. In Chapter 21, Akunna, a great man of the village, talked to Mr. Brown, the white missionary, about the differences and similarities of their own religions, which ultimately revealed the difficulty of each person understanding the other's point of view. Achebe wrote this novel to provide the world with what the Africans thought about the attempted conversion of their own
As wise John Berger once said,“Never again shall a single story be told as though it were the only one”. A “single story” is the story of a culture that we learn from stereotypes and conspiracies developed throughout time in our society. In “Things Fall Apart”, Chinua Achebe defies the single story of African culture while still tying their native language in to show the importance between a physical differentiation of culture, and the similarities with morals and values they have in common. Through gender roles and proverbs used in the language of this book, we have a cultural insight of Nigeria through a new set of eyes given to us by Achebe that detures us from the single stories that we were taught to by our society.
In conclusion, the representations of race within Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart highlight the larger issue of the humanistic qualities and undertones of individualism within the Igbo and British cultures, and the Negro and Caucasian races respectively. These are addressed via the scholarly work of Carey Snyder, assisting the reader by pointing to the intricacies of the Achebe’s perspective and its effect on the ethnographical value of the novel.
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.
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.
Unlike others tales of the colonialism, Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart tells the perspective of the natives in their slow defeat from the white man. Okonkwo, the hardworking main protagonist, finds relief in following the old Igbo traditions, but with the arrival of the Christian missionaries, Okonkwo’s clan, Umuofia, slowly adopts the new religion destroying Okonkwo’s dream of living the tradition Igbo lifestyle. With the growth of the church, outcasts and men who opposed the traditional lifestyle converted to the religion, but Okonkwo and the men surrounding him learns to resentment the religion for changing their way of life. While many of the Igbos despise the new religion, a closer look reveals that the traditional Igbo ideals of
In 1958 Chinua Achebe published his first and most widely acclaimed novel, Things Fall Apart. This work-commonly acknowledged as the single most well known African novel in the world-depicts an image of Africa that humanizes both the continent and the people. Achebe once said, "Reading Heart of Darkness . . . I realized that I was one of those savages jumping up and down on the beach. Once that kind of enlightenment comes to you, you realize that someone has to write a different story" (Gikandi 8-9); Achebe openly admits that he wrote Things Fall Apart because of the horrible characterization of Africans in many European works, especially Heart of Darkness. In many ways, Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart can be seen as an Afrocentric rebuttal to the Eurocentric depi...
Achebe writes Things Fall Apart to revise the history that has been misplaced. He writes to the European and Western culture. This fact is evident because the book is written in English and it shows us the side of the African culture we wouldn’t normally see. Achebe is constantly ...