Things Fall Apart Essay

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Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart is a story of the struggle to adapt to societal views whether on a small or wide scale. This novel follows the story of a man by the name Okonkwo, a character from the Umuofia villages of Africa in the 1890’s. Okonkwo was from a very spiritual tribe that set their expectations high for their leaders. Unlike his father who was under massive debt and was believed to be too feminine, Okonkwo is looked up to in his village as a strong and reliable source. This success however was not just handed to him. Okonkwo was a yam farmer and through hard work and dedication built two barns full of this desired vegetable. His main goal in life was to show that he was truly filled with masculinity.

When a prisoner was brought into Okankwo’s village to pay off the debt of a murder, Okankwo took him under his wing. Unlike his son Nwoye who was timid and fragile this boy Ikemefuna was strong and made Okankwo proud. The leader of this tribe however saw the kid as a disruption to their Gods and Believed he must be killed. With much grief lying on his heart Okankwo killed Ikemefuna. Most of the
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In the end of the novel the entire tribe of the Ibo was truly no more. All starting with a Dad who could not handle money so his family fell apart. That lead to a man who if not a strong and reliable source would lash out in ways he would have to pay for. A tribe who’s leaders promoted the behavior in which it was all okay to kill newborn babies in the woods but exile someone for an accidental death. A world that goes into a new place and uproots the culture that was once there. Especially a group of people that can just let that happen to themselves. Achebes Falling Apart was about a community that was doomed for recreation and adaptation. One did not want to be like the next. This book is a story that shows the weakness in a given culture and the ability for it to be

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