Chinua Achebe Influences

Chinua Achebe was a one of the towering figures in literature. He was the father of modern African literature who had opened up the eyes of the public to the life of African culture. Growing up in the Igbo society in Nigeria, Achebe was influenced by the many aspects of his culture, his family, and the people that surrounded him. The many aspects of his life growing up in African culture influenced Chinua Achebe in his literary works by being a great believer of peace and equality. Chinua Achebe was born on November 15, 1930, in Ogidi, Nigeria. He and his family belonged to the Igbo tribe and was one of six children. Early in his childhood, a representative of the British government that controlled Nigeria had convinced his parents to abandon their traditional religion and follow Christianity. His parents then named him Albert, after Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria of Great Britain. Chinua attended the Church Missionary Society’s school where the primary language for the first two years was Igbo. He started learning English around age eight. Learning English at a later age brought out great …show more content…
In Things Fall Apart, Chinua talks about an African culture that is being forced to respond to the changes of the European colonization. Okonkwo is a warrior of the Igbo tribe who holds a high position in society. He struggles to adapt to the environment of white men imposing a new culture on their culture. As British men and Christianity progress in Igbo communities, the men became more and more fed up; a lot of Igbo leaders began to abandon their many ways and were too afraid to rise up against the white man (Brucker). This submissiveness was recognized as a weakness of the tribe and led Okonkwo to kill a court messenger representing the District Commissioner. After the murder of the court messenger, it did not take long to find out that Okonkwo had hanged himself in a