Essays on Chinua Achebe

Colonization is a process in which imperial power systems dominate a region and its components. It features, among other things, cultural domination, political subjugation, religious assimilation and economic exploitations. The colonists used these measures as tools of winning control of the helpless people. Colonization has a close link to massive exploitation and assimilations of new cultures and it further involves actual or threat of use of force. The colonizers were formidable icons and commanded loyalty through aggression. In light of colonialism, established cultures disintegrated. On the case of Britain emperialism,Tarique noted that, “as one of its legacieshas been ...

Africa has traditionally been a continent of mixed fortunes, where real-life stories of hope and despair abound. African traditions, values and customs have been slowly influenced by colonization and eventual globalization that has turned the world into a global village. The novel, Things fall apart, is a reflection of the extent to which Africans were tied to their beliefs and customs, as a violation of those customs was regarded as being disrespectful to the gods. Resistance to the new values and beliefs as brought by the missionaries are resisted since the communities regard them as inclined on disrupting the ...

Chinua Achebe manages, in a highly entertaining and educative way, to present the theme of collectivism in the Nigeria before the merciless yet highly effective occupation of the British in Nigeria. The Ibo society that forms the setting of the book is a microcosm of not just Nigeria but also the rest of the Eastern countries. Chinua Achebe tells the story of the people of Igbo land of Eastern Nigeria before and immediately after their contact with the Western culture. The story revolves around the life of Okwonkwo, a tragic hero, depicting his birth, how he rises from a ...

Things Fall Apart is a book authored by Chinua Achebe whereas The Heart of Darkness is a novel written by Joseph Conrad. Chinua Achebe’s book is about the story of a man who was doing his best to prevent the white men from taking over his clan and traditions. On the other hand, Joseph Conrad’s book is about a white man’s trip to the Congo River or his journey to Africa. Even though the two books seem very different from each other, they are so parallel to each other from the setting, the characterization, the themes, ...

Things Fall Apart was written by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe and was published in 1958. The title foreshadows the tragedy in the novel. Achebe borrows the title from W B Yeats’ poem The Second Coming: ‘Things fall apart and the center cannot hold’. The phrase things fall apart is used to show the images of more general chaos that follows in the novel. The second phrase is a kind of declaration that “the centre cannot hold,” It is relevant to Achebe’s novel as the traditional structure of the society is challenged by the coming of missionaries and the white ...

The major themes of in the novel, “Things Fall Apart” by Achebe includes the tussle between tradition and change, the varied ways of interpreting masculinity and language or dialect as a symbol of cultural disparity have been discussed in this essay. The themes have been exposed mainly through the main character in the novel called Okonkwo. The novel presents the traditional ways of life of the clan of Igbo at a time when they were faced with the dilemma of embracing chance that was brought by the European colonialists and missionaries. The theme of varying interpretation of masculinity starts with ...

Chinua Achebe, in the famous novel, Things Fall Apart, goes on to delve deep into the culture of two different communities through the story of the life of the protagonist, Okonkwo, who is a heroic character of his village in Nigeria. The protagonist is an acclaimed man who has three wives and many children. He is someone who has shown his valor and warlike skills for which he is known among all. The character has a tragic flaw, nonetheless, that leads to his ultimate downfall. He is obsessed not to reveal any sign of emotion or weakness to people. However, ...

Things fall Apart is novel written by a Nigerian Author Chinua Achebe. Chinua Achebe paints a picture of pre-colonial Africa to the people who had no direct information on traditional African societies. This novel highlights the clash between the Nigerian traditional culture and colonialism. In the novel, there are a number of themes and background but the major themes in the novel are struggle between change and traditions whereby there is the Igbo culture and civilization and the expansion of the Europeans into Africa as from the 1880s. Chinua Achebe through his book Things Fall Apart portrays the clash between the ...

Book Review: Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart

The novel concerned in this book review is a novel by Chinua Achebe entitled Things Fall Apart. The novel’s main character is a man named Okonkwo; at the beginning of the novel, the protagonist is portrayed as a strong man, capable of doing good things for his village and his people (Achebe). However, the protagonist is living in his father’s shadow, as his father often borrowed money from those in the village with the complete inability to pay it back. In his attempt to seem strong, Okonkwo participates in the killing of a young boy who views him as a father figure; after the ...

(Insert Instructor) (Insert Course) (Insert Date) Achebe, Chinua. No Longer at Ease. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 1994. Written by renowned African Writer Achebe Chinua, No Longer at Ease carries a message on the effects of westernization on Africans. This he does by showing the effects of education on the already existing African traditions that Obi Okonkwo, the main character, learnt before going to England for further education. We feel the impact of his trip when he returns to Nigeria but fails to meet the expectations of his people. Achebe, a Nigerian, uses very simple English ...

Multicultural literature centers on diverse unknown cultures. Much multicultural-based literature reveals traditions, values, lifestyles and beliefs. Many of these traditional or cultural beliefs conflict with modern beliefs as shown in Chitra Banarjee Divakaruni’s literature, “Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter” and Chinua Achebe’s “Dead Men’s Path”. These stories show or illustrate the conflicting ideas between old cultural beliefs and modern thinking and whether the possibility of change is inevitable. It is prudent to note that all cultures have their own practices and traditions that define them. The traditions are passed and learnt continually from generation to generation. ...

Introduction

Dead Men’s Path by Chinua Achebe is a story of a young and modern headmaster, Michael Obi who has been recently promoted as the headmaster of a small village school in Africa. He has excelled in the education in colonialism and is hence entrusted to rescue a backward school. The story deals with culture clash that is vividly represented in the contrast thought process of the main protagonist, Obi and the villagers. The story is set in the year 1949 in Nigeria and depicts the clash between traditional values and rituals and world views. This is especially true as Nigeria was a British ...

In the wake of the height of colonialism and imperialism on the world stage, in which it was socially acceptable for more powerful social and economic powers to control less powerful nations, post-colonialism as an academic discipline has risen. Here, the issues surrounding colonialism and their effects on modern society are investigated in depth, emphasizing the human consequences of these cultural legacies. Through the help of theorists such as Chinua Achebe, Barbara Christian, and Henry Louis Gates, post-colonial criticism seeks to investigate exactly why certain subcultures (usually pertaining to race and gender) have certain connotations attached to them, and ...

Introduction

Oral literature in many societies has been a vehicle for preserving culture and memories. Traditionally, from the lips of an adroit narrator to the ears of keen listeners and eventually to their hearts, oral literature has played a major role in the traditional African set-up. Africa has acquired a unique place in world literature due to outstanding use of storytelling technique in their written literature. Africans have valued great storytellers and stories since time immemorial. Most of Africa literature is deeply rooted in oral traditions. Although ancient writings also exist in African literature, storytelling and oral literature takes a special place (Courlander ...

Abstract

This paper is a review of the book “Things Fall Apart”, which are two overlapping stories surrounding Onkonkwo a strong man of Ibo village in Nigeria. In the first story the novel features Onkonkwo as a man who has fallen from the grace of his tribal world where he was brought up. This gives the reader an overview of the extent of conflict between an individual and the society. In the second fable, explores destruction of Onkonkwo’s culture through encroachment by the European colonies. The story illuminates the true nature of African society and how different remote villages responded to this.

Summary

Chinua ...

Book Review

An insider’s view of an African Culture that Changed “Things fall apart” by Chinua Acheba is not just the story of the death of a powerful warrior from a clan, but that of the disintegration of the tribal system of values. It shows how colonization caused the destruction of a way of life which had sustained a number of clans to co exist and prosper, having evolved its own set of laws on various aspects of life such as war, marriage, distribution of authority, crime and punishment. A number of words from Ibo, a tribal language give this novel in simple prose a ...

Introduction

“Single stories create stereotypes”, insists Adichie Chimamanda. A single is story is a case where one similar story is retold severally concerning an unfamiliar place or character. The main dangers associated with the single stories are the creation of half-truths, stereotypical perspectives, and biased thoughts about a place, a person, or an issue. Single stories are responsible for the stereotypes created on issues, for instance, single stories about continents such as Australia and Africa make the Americans believe that the places experience backwardness and animals respectively. “The balance of stories” as Chinua Achebe refers to it, is the direct opposite of the ...

In his book Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe attempts to set the world upright for Africans in many ways. To begin with, he uses Okonkwo, the protagonist, to show that change is inevitable. This is because; Okonkwo is wealthy, very hardworking and respected in the village unlike his late father who was lazy and disrespected. He wants to prove to the villagers that he is totally different from his father. Therefore, Achebe shows that Africans have embraced change by not accepting the western people to rule over them. Secondly, after a white man destroys Abame village, the villagers kill him ...

Religious Studies Exam

Chinua Achebe’s Thing Fall Apart (Chapter 8) is written during a period when white settlers have come into the Nigeria society. They come with the intention to colonise the country and the message of Christianity from the missionaries. The community is introduced to the religion of Christianity. Some of the villagers accept to change their religion from the traditional African / Nigerian religion practiced in the community to Christianity. The main character in the book is Okonkwo who became well known for his wrestling skills and is now an elder of the community. He does not accept the ...

Dante’s Inferno presents the reader with a series of ‘circles’ that depict different layers of hell – each designed for a different sort of sinner. These circles are designed to hold and punish particular types of people for eternity. In this essay, I will choose three literary characters and discuss which circle of Dante’s hell is pertinent to them. The characters I have chosen are Okonkwo from Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, who I believe belongs in the first layer of Dante’s hell – ‘limbo’ – because he does not accept Christ as his personal saviour and, whilst he is ...