Chinua Achebe Essay

The novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a story about a strong but also weak man, Okonkwo, who’s world was turned upside down with the coming of Western religion. He experienced a tragic fall after the Western missionaries arrived. The theory of Western tragedy is that a great man falls from prosperity to disaster, and the concept of the Aristotelian model is that tragedy is an imitation of an action through pity and fear effecting the release of these emotions. The plot of Things Fall…

“When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.” (Ralph Ellison) Many people struggle to find their way in their lives. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe writes about how Nwoye finds his way in life by converting to Christianity. On his journey to finding his way, he goes through some identity changes. Achebe writes about Nwoye’s identity shift when he converts religions. Because of this, he becomes an independent and strong man. Due to the introduction of Western ideas, Nwoye relinquishes his…

For this term’s occasional paper, we are tasked to read a story written by Chinua Achebe entitled “Marriage is a Private Affair” which is basically about a couple named Nnaemeka and Nene that concerns about the return of Nnaemeka to the countryside where he grew up. Nnaemeka wants to marry Nene. Nene is a young woman that Nnaemeka met in the city. But Okeke, Nnaemeka's father strongly disagreed to Nnaemeka's decision when he said that he wanted to marry Nene because she is from another tribe.…

The book, “Things Fall Apart”, by Chinua Achebe gets its name from the poem, “The Second Coming”, by W. B. Yeats. These two written works have many things in common. They share a common theme and back it up with several literary elements. However, “The Second Coming” by W.B Yeats isn’t the only poem similar to the book, “Things Fall Apart”, by Chinua Achebe. “Things Fall Apart” is also similar to another poem called “Welcome Change”, by Gina Whitacre. All three of these pieces of literature…

While the adversity in “An Astrologer’s Day” is met with in very subtle way as seen in his encounters with Guru Nayak, Chinua Achebe’s “Civil Peace” confronts adversity quite openly throughout the story as the reader is drawn into the unfortunate circumstances of the Nigerian civil war and its effects on the Nigerians. In “Astrologer’s Day” the Astrologer meets adversity in a very casual way, as seen when he meets with Guru he acts calm in the face of a threat to his very own life (Narayan 68).…

Chinua Achebe’s View on a Patriarchal Society Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart shows feminism from the male perspective. In the Igbo society, women typically take on the role of a housewife, which involves, cooking, cleaning, and anything that will benefit the man in the house. This was the standard way of life for a while in many places throughout the world, including in America. While Chinua Achebe illustrates the secondary role for women in a patriarchal society, nevertheless he…

district superintendent thinks about a title to name the book he was writing about his journey; the title of his book is The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger (Achebe Things 179). Essentially, the African people are viewed as second class human beings that are in need of taming by the Europeans.…

Author use pathos, logos, characterization, and personal experiences to advance the shape their points of view on African colonialism. In the speech “Effects of Colonialism on Africa’s Past and Present”, Dr.Motsoko Pheko believes that the colonization of Africa destroyed the continent. He harshly accuses the European colonist of the damage they have caused. Pheko uses Pathos to advance this view.For example, Pheko states “There was no Africa left for Africans except Ethopia, encircled by paupers…

Chinua Achebe did not initially set out to write a novel that emphasized the triumphs of African culture. Nor did Achebe embark on a campaign of denigrating slander towards European attitudes. Achebe’s contentious novel Things Fall Apart situates itself post-colonially and, having been written in 1958, the novel came at a time of racially charged civil rights movements. Chinua Achebe remarked upon the injustice of Eurocentric African literature prior to writing his infamous novel. For example,…

Chinua Achebe was considered one of the greatest African writers of modern fictional literature during his life. He had been called “the father of modern African literature” by Nadine Gordimer and had been credited with “inaugurating the modern African novel.” His works have been critically acclaimed for years, but to truly understand his literature, one must understand his life story. He or she must also look at his background, professional life and education, and the strange stories and…