Things Fall Apart

984 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How does achebe establish essential key elements in things fall apart

Things Fall Apart is by the widely acclaimed African author Chinua Achebe. The story told is a tragic one of a person by the name of Okonkwo who's own stubborn views about what it is to be a man leads to his own demise. Okonkwo is often compared by people to the tragic hero like those in Greek tragedies. This is probably the primary way in which the text is interpreted but I feel Achebe is trying to make another point as well through the story. Achebe received inspiration to write the novel from a poem written by an Englishman by the name of William Butler Yeats. The title of the poem is The Second Coming. The poem talks about anarchy that is upon the world during the present time and how things will change with the 'second coming." During this 'second coming'; the chaos that is prevalent will end finally after two thousand years. Achebe uses this poems basic idea by creating the story of Okonkwo who lives in a chaotic and barbaric world. To outsiders who are observing Okonkwo's people, they may certainly seem uncivilized in many ways. Achebe symbolizes the end of this anarchy in Okonkwo's society by the introduction of Christian missionaries who pacify the Ibo people and ultimately cause the death of Okonkwo. I believe Okonkwo is the last and final source of chaos that is finally muted to bring civility to the people. The Ibo people live a very peaceful but ignorant life. At first glance their lifestyle may seem to be normal but when examining the depths of it we can clearly see why it would seem to be chaotic. When I use the term chaos or anarchy I don't mean it in the literal sense but in comparison to the modern world or in particular England. Anarchy or chaos in my usage is meant to be the lack of morals and/or certain values, which we as westerners would agree to be good. There are many things that the Ibo people were accustomed to that we would find horrific and savage. One of their customs was to throw away babies that were borne as identical twins because they were thought of as being bad. Another custom was to mutilate the dead corpse of a baby that was thought to be evil in order to prevent it from being borne again. Another thing that is chaotic about their culture was the fact that their laws and justice system were very perverted.

Show More
Related

  • Bias Influences the Audience in Chinua Achebe and Ridley Scott's Writing

    1968 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Ibo tribes are interesting and have had a good history outside the fact that they were taken over by the British. The Ibo people were very religious and believed in many gods. They also believed in a thing called chi. "At the most one could say that his chi or personal god was good."(29). The Ibo people believe your chi was like your spirit and could determine whether you had good or bad fortune. Some people may see chi as luck or karma. The Ibo people also viewed masculinity very highly. The men would wrestle each other for respect within the tribe and the males were considered superior to the females in the fact that the males were stronger and tougher. Males in the tribes may also take more than one wife. This is known as bigamy. "There is no civil ordinance law against anyone who takes more than one wife (bigamy) as long as the person can maintain them." This was looked down upon once Christianity came into their culture from the British missionaries. The Ibo have good hospitality and manners. When visitors arrive they present them with a Kola nut to eat and palm wine to drink. An overall view of these people would say that they are good natured people. They had their own language, religion, and ideas on how things worked in life.

    Read More

  • Tragedy in Chinua Achebe´s Things Fall Apart

    590 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart - Internal Conflict Leading to the Downfall in the Ibo Culture

    768 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the flaws inside the Ibo culture that eventually leads to their downfall is the social system. The weaker people join the church as a way to gain acceptance. The osu, or outcasts who lived in the Ibo culture want to feel accepted and as a result, follow the Christians. “The two outcasts shaved off their hair, and soon they were the strongest adherents of the new faith” (157). These two outcasts never have the feeling of being a part of the clan. The church welcomes them. The osu cannot cut their hair, marry, or receive a title in the clan. They are “cast out like lepers” (157). The church welcomes the osu and treats them like human beings. This is where the Ibo social system is at fault. An ideal job is to be a farmer and since not everyone can afford seeds and a barn...

    Read More

  • Allusions To Things Fall Apart

    261 Words  | 1 Pages

    The main reason of naming his book after the poem second coming because of the similarities between the second coming of the christians and the how Okonkwo’s life is falling apart. In both the Achebe's book and the poem are they contain “Mere anarchy is

    Read More

  • Things Fall Apart

    1974 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Things Fall Apart

    1211 Words  | 3 Pages

    In life people are very rarely, if ever, purely good or evil. In novels authors tend not to create characters with an obvious moral standing not only to make their novel more applicable to the reader, but also to make the characters more complex and dynamic. Chinua Achebe uses this technique to develop the characters in his novel, Things Fall Apart. The main character, and protagonist in the novel, Okonkwo, is very morally dynamic showing some sensitivity to his family and friends, but in an attempting to rebel against his father, Okonkwo also exhibits the tendency to lash out violently.

    Read More

  • Cultural Change Explored in Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe

    1874 Words  | 4 Pages

    William James, a famous American philosopher, once stated, “The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives”. This quotation effectively illustrates how change in one’s attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs can alter the environment in which one lives. This concept is clearly demonstrated throughout the novel Things Fall Apart, authored by Chinua Achebe, by establishing a connection through the development of its characters and the change in traditional African tribal villages seen in the Nineteenth Century. It will be established how various characters demonstrated by the author throughout the novel exemplify how change in one’s attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs can alter the environment in which one lives addressed by William James’s quote above. First, by analyzing Achebe’s development of Okonkwo’s character through his initial character description and the emergence of outsiders, it is evident that he is portrayed as an old fashioned character that is less responsive to change. Secondly, through examining Nwoye’s character, Okonkwo’s son, it becomes apparent that the youth in the novel are more open-minded, easily persuadable and more adaptive to societal changes. Lastly, uncovering the meaning behind the arrival of European missionaries, it becomes apparent that Achebe defines this group as being a “disease”, poisoning the society in which Okonkwo lives. The author look’s at individuals as being critical and influential figures in shaping the environment to which they belong, beginning with Okonkwo.

    Read More

  • Things Fall Apart

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart the life of a man named Okonkwo and the tribe of Umuofia is depicted in three chapters which each represent a significant era in the tribe. In the first chapter, Achebe describes the life of the native African tribe before the coming of the white man. This chapter enables the reader to understand and respect the life of the Igbo. The second chapter describes the beginnings of colonialism and introduction of the white man. Suddenly, the Igbo way is questioned. The natives lives are turned upside down as they search for a way to understand the new religion and laws of the Europeans. The third chapter describes the effect of colonialism on the Igbo tribe. This section explores the many ways which the Igbo people try to adapt to the new society. From the suicide of Okonkwo to the abandonment by other tribe members, it becomes apparent how difficult it was for the African’s to adjust to the change. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness tells of an English man named Marlow and his journey into the Congo and interest in a colonist named Kurtz. Marlow is the narrator of the novel. He describes the natives and the Europeans from a somewhat objective view. He finds colonialism questionable, but also cannot relate to the Africans. Kurtz is the antagonist who exploits the Africans to make money by selling ivory and subsequently goes insane. Both novels depict the colonization of Africa, but each has a markedly different perspective on the African’s lives which were irreparably altered when Europeans came to conquer their land and convert them to Christianity.

    Read More

  • Okonkwo's Self-Destructive Masculinity in Things Fall Apart

    2752 Words  | 6 Pages

    The novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a story that opens the reader's mind to an entirely different way of living in a Nigerian village. Achebe was born in Nigeria in 1930, perhaps this is why he writes a whole book on a Nigerian village and introduces to us the ways of life for the Nigerian people. From the first page of the book to the last, Achebe allows the reader to enter the mind of the main character Okonkwo. Okonkwo is the leader of his village and is very respected for his many achievements. Although Okonkwo means well for his village, the novel invites the reader to see him has a flawed character who eventually suffers from the consequences of bad "masculine" decisions he makes throughout the book.

    Read More

  • Things Fall Apart Adapt To Change Essay

    622 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chinua Achebe’s book, Things Fall Apart, is a story about a society on the verge of a cultural change. The main character, Okonkwo, is driven throughout the story by fear and a drive for success. He relied on the village of Umuofia to stay the same because he used the structured culture to feel safe and appreciated. He lives in a constant state of fear because he wants to find his own meaning in life. When the structure of Umuofia began to change, Okonkwo found himself incapable of adapting like the rest of the villagers. He was determined to live a life that could not survive the changing world, and his dreams crumbled down. Throughout the novel, Achebe demonstrates that the lack of being able to adapt to change will leave you lost in society.

    Read More

  • Things Fall Apart Failure

    564 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the life of all people conflicts have occurred, but on the day of judgement over these problems people are not judged by the conflict that occurred, but by how the handled it. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a famous novel because it uses a complex story with complex characters, much like the real world. This book displays failure as much as it does success, and most of the failure and success is caused by a character's reaction to the conflict that they face. This leads to the observation that in Things Fall Apart, and in the real world when faced with a problem people tend to succeed by solving it and change the world around them, are changed by the problem for better or worse, or people are taken down by the conflict and do not recover leading to failure.

    Read More

  • Things Fall Apart

    1571 Words  | 4 Pages

    The new culture and religion seemed to be the perfect solution, because it provided more activities to do in life, such as education. Thus, change for this category was very tempting. It released them from the grip of their ancestral traditional lifestyle. As I have mentioned earlier in this paper, Things Fall Apart is a depiction of the process of change in the Ibo tribe. It captures the domination of the colonizing culture over the native African culture.

    Read More

  • Things Fall Apart

    1022 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Ibo society begins to disappear because the schools are teaching children the European language and customs. The children are no longer learning about their culture from their parents and the future generations will never know about the Ibo

    Read More

  • Essay on the Downfall of Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    816 Words  | 2 Pages

    Okonkwo takes his life as he sees himself a lone warrior in a society of weaklings. This isolation is truly imposed by his decision of how to handle the conflicts which he encounters. His unitary channeling of emotions, cultural inflexibility, and tendency to seek physical confrontation are compiled into a single notion. The idealized vision of a warrior by which Okonkwo lives is the instrument that leads to the climax of Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart: Okonkwo's demise.

    Read More

  • Why Achebe chose the title Things Fall Apart

    563 Words  | 2 Pages

    By the sound of the title, Things Fall Apart, one can conclude that the ending will literally fall apart. In this book about a respected leader, in the Umuofia tribe of the Igbo people, named Okonkwo, attempts to be his father’s opposite. Through many events that occurred, such as murdering his adopted son and getting exiled to his mother’s home, Mbanta, Okonkwo slowly leads to his downfall of killing himself. The traditional African values, traditions and culture tumble to the edge because of Western culture, traditions, and religion and relates to the Poem “The Second Coming” because this poem describes the downfall of the old and traditional ways of culture just like with Okonkwo. At the end, Okonkwo hangs himself because his clan would not go to war against the white men. This was a tragic ending, but is his downfall the only reason and motivator to name the book “Things Fall Apart”? Where did Achebe get his inspiration for naming his book? The author chose the title Things Fall Apart because of the poem written by William Butler Yeat, called “The Second Coming.” The second com...

    Read More

More about Things Fall Apart

Open Document