Themes In Things Fall Apart

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a compelling story about Okonkwo, a wealthy and well-respected warrior of the Umuofia clan. He is haunted by the cowardly decisions taken by his father Unoka and when he dies, many of his village debts are left unsettled. Okonkwo’s relationship with his father shapes his strong and ambitious demeanor both characteristics coming from wanting to overcome his father’s legacy, which he views as weak and feminine. Another important aspect to understand is the concept of “Chi”, which plays a huge role in explaining Okonkwo as an unfortunately disastrous hero. Also as Things Fall Apart is a novel about a long-standing culture on the threshold of change, Okonkwo’s unwillingness to be apart of these changes brings

Chinua Achebe mentions in Things Fall Apart that a man who has not acquired any prestige indicating titles is an “agbala” or a “women”. Okonkwo’s violent character stemming from his relationship with his father causes him to be very masculine, in fact even too masculine for his clan. Okonkwo’s masculinity causes an excess of aggression throughout the novel and makes him feel like the only emotion that is appropriate for him to express is anger. Due to this he frequently beats his wives and even threatens to kill them. This brings up the theme of gender relations and how women are viewed in the Igbo society, and why it is so important to Okonkwo to appear strong and not feminine at all times. Obierika shows in the novel that you can not be feminine, which

He resists the new political and religious orders because on the surface it seems that he feels that aren’t manly enough, but with a more in depth look we can see that this would also heavily effect his societal status negatively in the Umuofia clan. These vast cultural changes come directly with the theme of religion and the change from Igbo to Christianity bestowed upon them by the whites. After being introduced with the system of evaluating ones self many of the Umuofia clan’s outcasts shift to embrace Christianity. This shift from Igbo to Christianity gave the less privileged and looked down upon in the Igbo society to a more comfortable and elevated status in the Christian society which attracted a very high appeal. Between Okonkwo and the converts showed the current dilemma of either embracing the change or resisting it for as long as they could until it eventually became overwhelming. The heavy influence brought by the Europeans nearly made traditional techniques of farming, harvesting, building, and cooking abysmal due to the whites bringing their own new and much more improved techniques. Lastly with the theme of religion comes “Chi” which is discussed throughout the novel, which is a person’s individual god, which is decided by the person’s good will as well as a person’s lack of good will. Okonkwo’s appalling fate at the