In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, greatness is defined by worth- or how much one accomplishes in a lifetime. Okonkwo, the main character, diligently works for everything he earns. His passion to be successful comes from his fear of turning out like his father, Unoka, who died with “no title at all and was heavily in debt” (8). Okonkwo fears the thought of becoming nothing. He keeps this fear with him and uses it as a strength to push himself through every hardship and reach the status his father never attained. In the beginning, “Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men usually had” (16). He starts from scratch and defeats the unbeaten wrestler for seven years, becomes one of the greatest farmers in Umuofia, and marries
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Achebe chooses to bring in the white men and Christianity only in the last third of the novel because he wants to show the readers how African life is before the colonization by white men and how much African life alters when white men colonize Umuofia. When Okonkwo and his friend, Obierika, talk about the white men, Obierika says, “The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. How he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart” (176). The African clans have traditional customs, rituals, and ceremonies that Achebe writes about in the first two-thirds of Things Fall Apart. He lets it be known these matters in Umuofia are competent before the white men come, and that their subsequent arrival disrupts and slowly destroys African culture and customs. He depicts the differences between the then and the now of …show more content…
Achebe’s novel “corrects” such European depictions and also offers an Afrocentric perspective because it is written through the perspective of African Americans rather than white people. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Joyce Carey’s Mister Johnson are both European novels- meaning both books were probably seen in the eyes of Europeans. There are two sides to every story, and African American people never had their story told. Not only does Things Fall Apart depict their culture, but also their side to the story and their feelings about it. When Okonkwo and Obierika discuss the matters between the church and the clan, Obierika says, “The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart” (176). It can only be seen from the African’s point of view that the takeover of the church is leading Umuofia towards its downfall. Achebe shows the audience how the African American people have been truly affected by the
Achebe chooses to bring in the white men and Christianity only in the last third of the novel because he wants to show the readers how African life is before the colonization by white men and how much African life alters when white men colonize Umuofia. When Okonkwo and his friend, Obierika, talk about the white men, Obierika says, “The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. How he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart” (176). The African clans have traditional customs, rituals, and ceremonies that Achebe writes about in the first two-thirds of Things Fall Apart. He lets it be known these matters in Umuofia are competent before the white men come, and that their subsequent arrival disrupts and slowly destroys African culture and customs. He depicts the differences between the then and the now of …show more content…
Achebe’s novel “corrects” such European depictions and also offers an Afrocentric perspective because it is written through the perspective of African Americans rather than white people. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Joyce Carey’s Mister Johnson are both European novels- meaning both books were probably seen in the eyes of Europeans. There are two sides to every story, and African American people never had their story told. Not only does Things Fall Apart depict their culture, but also their side to the story and their feelings about it. When Okonkwo and Obierika discuss the matters between the church and the clan, Obierika says, “The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart” (176). It can only be seen from the African’s point of view that the takeover of the church is leading Umuofia towards its downfall. Achebe shows the audience how the African American people have been truly affected by the