Essays on Things Fall Apart

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 ...

The body of works from Africa that comes from Africans themselves is very valuable and special phenomenon in the world that is still dominated by literature of white European male writers. China Achebe famously claimed that the image of Africa in literature is indecent and not accurate and Africans need to tell their own story with their own voice. Things Fall Apart does not tell beautiful or romanticized story about the peaceful people that were crudely colonized by Western civilization. He seems to claim to tell the truth about the culture and kind of people that lived in Nigeria ...

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 ...

17th of April 2016

Things Fall Apart is a novel about the Ibo tribe, their unhurried way of life, tied to the change of seasons and the harvest. The tribe with very close ties of kinship. The unity of the mind is the factor that connects all villagers saving from the conflict. Fear of the gods, worship of ancestors, superstition, sometimes cruel and ridiculous in our opinion, rites and rituals – all this has kept the integrity of the tribe for many centuries. This is a society where every individual had his own designated role: men were the hunters, warriors and the most important ...

Marriage customs, like many other customs regarding social institutions have evolved over centuries. Every society has its own intricacies when it comes to joining of man and woman in matrimony. There are cultures that scholars and observers consider civilized and others that appear sophisticated. Over many years, religious and civil law practices influence changes in marriage traditions but there are customs that have largely remained rigid. For instance, marriage customs within African tribes are clan affairs and involve shared responsibilities among families and clan members. In Chinua Achebe’s Things fall apart, the Umuofia tribe within the Igbo community ...

06th of April 2016

Achebe in his novel Things Fall Apart reminds the readers of pictures of pre-colonial Africa. He claims that before the arrival of the colonists there they had their own rituals, their own religion, orders, and laws. Despite the seeming brutality of some customs, people were not so barbaric. Achebe is not trying to pander to the clichéd consciousness of Europeans, who were, and still are, convinced that Africa, lived as a primitive savage community, virtually without any organization. Achebe has written an honest, truthful humane novel about real people, their life. Of utmost interest to us are the ...

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 ...

Introduction

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart takes us through the life of a typical Nigerian life and family. This is all about inclination to traditional believes, family values, relationships and the daily struggles to make a living. Western civilization and religion has also been addressed with the villagers and missionaries facing the challenge of abandoning their beliefs to embrace Christianity. Tradition has always been part of many African nations that consider it a unifying factor. Despite some of the beliefs and practices that are considered inhuman and selfish, some aspects of the tradition play an important role in unifying the factor. Most ...

America is broad in various contexts. As a matter of fact, America can be considered a melting point of all the world cultural, historical and political influence. America has to mince all these different yet diverse cultures that present themselves every year into this country that has become a worldwide dream destination for many. That said, one of the culture that has become dominant in American way of life related to the peoples’ physical appearance especially, the men. Granted, Masculinity has become a prominent topic of discussion among people in American culture especially the youth, masculinity has been viewed from a specific lens. ...

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Political repression is a theme that transverses across the two novels including Chinua’s Things Fall Apart and Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. Though the political repression is caused by different players in the two accounts, the reaction of the main characters in the two novels to the political oppression is both similar and distinct in several ways. The similarities in the response of the two main characters; Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart and Marjane in Persepolis can be attributed to the resemblance in the political regimes affecting them. On the other hand, the contrast in the reaction ...

The book Things Fall Apart tries to elaborate the events that took place following the colonization of Nigeria by the British. The author tries to state the impact that the colonization had on Nigeria and the communities that are found in Nigeria. Among the books main themes is ethnicity. This is due to the implications that were witnessed following the colonization that took place. The characters in this novel are within the same family structure and from the same cultural community. The book tries to develop a clear story regarding their community, cultural practices and ethnicity before the coming of ...

Immigration and Ethnicity in Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”

Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” is Achebe's response to the limitations and inaccuracy of the Nigerian customs and way of life that comes in many literacy pieces of the colonial era. Achebe does not present a pleasant analysis of the pre-colonial Africa, but in its place, he presents the Igbo society as one that has flaws and virtues. The tile of the novel comes from “The Second Coming” by W. B. Yeats. The issue of immigration and ethnicity comes amidst the arrival of the European colonizers to the country; and shows the impact that the factors have on the Nigerian ...

The novels: “Things Fall Apart,” “The Street: A Novel,” and “Christ in Concrete” shows the poor treatment of women in the society. The characters are true as the social issues in the novels are similar to the social issues that exist in the modern world. Achebe shows that men are cruel to women in many ways as Okonkwo treats his wives poorly. Donato shows that men makes crude jokes about the women in their lives, and Petry shows the lecherous Jones’ advance on Lutie. In essence, women show their strength against the harsh realities that they face in different ...

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, ...

- Social and Political Power The concept of House on Mango Street is developed e of feminism. The book is plotted with the depiction of a young girl being raped by the boys. The social concern of the surroundings makes the writer condemn the other girl for the incident. For the males, the action and violence was such an accepted reality that it does not en stirred the conscious of writer for criticism. The critics consider it an effort of the writer to satirize the social apprehensions of the time without even condemning the same. [Hips are] good ...

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 ...

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy”. - Martin Luther King J.r. It is not difficult for a man to decide what he wants his life to be, what’s difficult is figuring out the things that he is willing to give up in order to live the life of the person he chose to be. A son may choose to be to be the person his father was once was, for a father is a hero to a son seeking to ...

“Things Fall Apart,” by Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian author, is an award winning book that explores what happens when, as the title suggest, things fall apart. Much of the novel is about family ties and being trapped within the rules and restrictions of ones own culture. The story centers on the protagonist, Okonkwo, who is an esteemed warrior in his tribe the Umuofias. He is shamed though because of living in the shadow of his father Unoka, who was considered a coward, had a bad reputation in the village and racked up numerous debts. In some ways, it could be compared to ...

“Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe- An Analysis of the Role of Human Sacrifice

Introduction Events connected to religious practices framing the culture of the people Achebe describes in “Things Fall Apart” depend on long traditional practices and the role of human sacrifice. The agrarian culture described in the story link to religious practices impart the respect of the practitioners toward the need for communicating with the powers over nature, peoples’ behavior, and life practices among the communal aspects of the people Achebe describes. Analysis of this story looks at the traditional religious practices as part of the culture of the people in the story.

Human Sacrifice in Umuofia

The Umuofia like their fellow clansmen, as a ...

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 ...

Question 3:

Things Fall Apart is filled with all kinds of conflicts. Choose the one you feel is most important to Achebe’s theme, discuss that conflict in detail, and show why it is so crucial to our understanding of the book.

Things Fall Apart deals with the tale of a culture at the edge of change. It portrays the reality and the prospects pertaining to change that affect the various characters. The contentiousness of whether the change should be allowed to prevail over tradition revolves around personal status. In the novel, Okonkwo is reluctant of the new religious and political orders. ...

“What are these/So wither’d and so wild in their attire,/That look not like the inhabitants o’ the earth,/And yet are on’t? Live you? or are you aught/That man may question?/You seem to understand me,/by each at once her chappy finger laying/Upon her skinny lips: you should be women,/And yet your beards forbid me to interpret/That you are so” (Shakespeare, Act I, scene III). Both in Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Achebe’s Things Fall Apart the main characters’ lives seem to be controlled by fate: both Macbeth and Okonkwo play out their lives in ...

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 ...

Introduction

The book “Things fall apart” speaks of the collapse or the disintegration of the Igbo culture. The setting is in Nigeria, in the 1890’s. It shows the tense interaction between the Igbo and the Christians and the clash of both cultures. As the Christians preach and try to win converts, they encounter a high degree of resistance as the people cling to their many gods, magic and definitions of taboo behavior.

The Conflict between Christianity and Igbo Culture

The Europeans arrival in Okwonko’s village creates havoc. First of all the Christians believe in one God. He is three in one as He exists in 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 ...