Reflection Of Family In Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

1433 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of colonization on the african people

In this unit of our class, we went more in depth of the life of the people of Africa. The book we ready was "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe. Then in lecture about one of the last nomad tribes in Africa, the Woodabe tribe. This section was more after the colonialism, and more about how their society and people acts. What I thing was important in this section was how they view a family. Coming from a broken family, I hope that my family will not end up like my parents. Reading the book, watching the clips in class, and the lecture, we see how they view family and family matters. How the men takes multiple wives, how they raise their children, and how the men view themselves in the family. These views are not the main views of Africans today, …show more content…

Even in our society, the father must be tough, and be capable to lead the family as making the money and providing for the family. You see men getting man at their wife because the wife makes more money. The guy then feels as if he is not providing for his family, and not being the strong head of the household that his father was or told him that a man would act. You even see this on television. How a man gets mad that his wife gets a promotion, and then her pap checks is higher than him. The man now is angry or acts mean to his wife just because she is making more money. Also some wives thinks their husband is a shamefully man because she makes more money than him. All these premise of a strong can from our culture. We think this is how the world spins, and we act upon this experience. The same thing happens in this book. Okonkwe thinks a strong man is someone who can control their family. He makes sure no one sees him as weak, and when the oracle tells for him to not kill Ikemefuna. Okonkwe goes ahead and kill Ikemefuna because he thought people would think he is weak because he did not go to see Ikemefuna get killed. He does other things like pulling a gun out on one of his wives, he does not show affection to Ikemefuna, and he beating another one of his wife. He did this because he thought that is how you are a strong man. This is what he perceive as a man, and he acted as so. Beating a wife for not cooking, and cutting leaves of a banana tree is some of his action of being

Show More
Related

  • Cultural Differences In Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Manliness in Things Fall Aprt by Chinua Achebe

    659 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart, it is immediately evident to the reader that Okonkwo, the hero of the story, is obsessed with manliness. His concern manifests itself in almost every chapter. The story begins with an account of his success as a wrestler - a "manly" competition - and ends with his murder of the court messenger, another "manly" act. In every action and every choice he makes, Okonkwo is determined to show that he is masculine. It is powerful irony, then, that the evidence of the novel shows that Okonkwo is actually a latent homosexual.

    Read More

  • The Untouchables in Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe

    1230 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many people see other people as equal or lower than or higher than them. This includes by wealth, knowledge or rights. Few people know about the caste system in India, but many people are able to point out the untouchables. Why? Is it because everyone knows that they are better than the untouchables? Some people feel that the untouchables are strictly only in India, but they don’t realize that even bigger countries have untouchables; they are just called something else. Many tribes in Africa also have untouchables, including the Igbo tribe.

    Read More

  • The Power of Fear in The Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

    590 Words  | 2 Pages

    Unlike his father, Okonkwo is a hard worker with little debt and a driven personality. His internal fear leads to his decision to beat his wife during the week of peace and to take part in the mandatory action of killing his beloved son, Ikemefuna.

    Read More

  • Perspective in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

    934 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Collapse In Fatherhood In Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

    1289 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, we see a breakdown between a father and son relationship

    Read More

  • A Single Story Of African Culture In Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

    1675 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Theme of Family in Achebe’s "Things Fall Apart"

    520 Words  | 2 Pages

    Family is important in every culture, it shapes people and makes them who they are.

    Read More

  • Conflicts of Gender in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

    459 Words  | 1 Pages

    There are constant struggles between gender, identity, commodification, and class. Among the men and women in many African tribes that still exist today, there are divergences, which will always remain intact because of the culture and the way in which they are taught to treat each other. Chinua Achebe wrote the novel, Things Fall Apart, which is a great piece of African literature that deals with the Igbo culture, history, and the taking over of African lands by British colonization. The ongoing gender conflict is a prominent theme in Things Fall Apart presenting the clash between men and women of the African Igbo society. Throughout history, from the beginning of time to today, women have frequently been viewed as inferior, men’s possessions whose sole purpose was to satisfy the men’s needs. Maybe it's because men are physically stronger than women and have always had the ability to control them that way. In Things Fall Apart, the Igbo women were perceived as being weak. They received little or no respect in the Igbo society and were harshly abused. The recurring theme of gender conflicts helps drive the novel Things Fall Apart by showing how important women are to the men, yet they do not receive the treatment they deserve.

    Read More

  • Social Changes in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

    1129 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the book Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, we are able to read about the social changes the white missionaries had on an African tribe. Mr. Achebe describes the way of life before the missionaries arrived and then records some of the changes, which occurred due to the changed belief system introduced by these missionaries.

    Read More

  • Thematic Essay: Things Fall Apart

    1285 Words  | 3 Pages

    Things Fall Apart, Thematic Essay: Humans’ natural instincts are to deny a new aspect and stick to older ones. Nevertheless, old and new aspects are intertwined. Traditions and change are ever present in society, without them society would not prosper. Traditions are the foundations of society. However, just like any other foundation, sooner or later it must be altered or changed, even in the most miniscule way.

    Read More

  • People Fall Apart in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

    1669 Words  | 4 Pages

    People Fall Apart in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Karl Marx believed that all of history could be reduced to two tiny words: class struggle. In any period of time, a dominant class exploits a weaker class. Marx defines a dominant class as one who owns or controls the means of production. The weaker class consists of those who don't. In Marx's day, the age of Almighty Industry, the means of production were factories.

    Read More

  • Change And Tradition In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to David Whittaker, Achebe’s work “proved to be an immensely influential work for African writers, becoming the progenitor of a whole movement of fiction, drama, and poetry, which focused on the revaluation of Africa’s history and cultures, and on representations of the culture conflicts that has their genesis in the colonial era.” This novel became a pivotal point of realization not only for Africa, but also for the world. All at once the world, afraid of what change may bring, pushed the same question to the back their mind: “What if we have it all wrong?” Suddenly, the culture of Africa was influencing the culture of America, Asia, Europe, Australia, etc. Achebe’s novel was a catalyst in the process of nationalist renewal and decolonization of African culture as a whole (Whittaker). A principle in this novel’s thematic course is the inter-generation conflict faced by not only the village as a whole, but also, on a microscopic level, in Okonkwo’s household. As the culture in Umuofia begins to shift, the predecessors of the current generation heavily rely on the cultural norms initiated by their father’s fathers. While tradition should be honored in a society, it should also be modified; this concept is not fully grasped by the older generations of

    Read More

  • Male And Women In Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

    1132 Words  | 3 Pages

    The author Chinua Achebe, in the novel, “Things Fall Apart,” shares the extreme diversity between the female and male characters residing in Umofia. Okonkwo, the male leader of the tribe, carries qualities such as power and manliness, as all men are expected to. As for the females they are commonly referred as being weaker for child bearing and more responsible because they are expected to cook, clean, and take care of their children. Although the traits of the Igbo culture vary in the determination of the sexes, both genders share both positive and negative aspects of their community.

    Read More

More about Reflection Of Family In Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

Open Document