Nigeria

Characterization of Nwoye Inhabited by the Ibo for countless generations, the village Umuofia is brought down to its knees in a generation of British colonization. As the British colonized areas in and around Umuofia they brought with them Umuofia's death certificate; religion. This new religion, Christianity, attracts many locals who are intrigued by the fundamental ideals which include equality, love and a personal relationship with God. No one was unsusceptible to this attraction and many…

Cultural surroundings have a great affect on characters, and even shape their moral traits. In Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe the main character Okonkwo is deep set in his Ibo cultural beliefs, which has a large effect on his moral traits; this can be seen in his actions towards his family, his kinsmen, and the white christian missionaries. Thus illuminating the theme of cultural surroundings affect one’s moral traits. Okonkwo’s harsh actions towards his family helps to show how his…

The author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie speaks about people having their ideas about people formed around a single story, and shows this in her story “The Thing Around your Neck”. A short story about a young immigrant coming to America after hearing only one story of Americans. In the very beginning she makes it clear that she has a very specific idea of what Americans will be, “You thought everybody in America had a car and a gun…” (Adichie 115). She has had the idea of all Americans being wealthy…

Throughout the course of Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus, we follow the completely different lives of Kambili and Amaka. Kambili grows up in an extremely wealthy and powerful family, but she is abused by her father. Then there is Amaka, who grows up under the wing of her empowering and loving mother, but her family is extremely poor. Amaka’s mother, Aunty Ifeoma, insists that Kambili and her brother visit her in Nsukka when she realizes the severity of Kambili’s abuse. When the two cousins…

In the novel "Things Fall Apart", Achebe expresses how the new colonizing community effectively suppressed the indigenous tribes in Africa through merciless and uncompromising methods. The oppression of the Ibo tribes did not consist of an immediate takeover, but was instead implemented through a subtle reworking of Ibo values. The colonizers began by introducing a counterculture and refusing to acknowledge Ibo beliefs. While initially creating a façade of peaceful missionary work, the…

In the novel “Things Fall Apart” the Igbo traditions are highly questionable as they prioritizes specific things and makes certain groups, especially those of a different gender, seem less powerful. One positive role the Igbo traditions enforces is of rewarding the hard and dedicated workers a higher and respected title. I think that one way the villagers were influenced by this tradition was that it focuses on one's achievements rather than family background. “Age was respected amongst the…

Okonkwo, Unoka, Obierika, Nwoye, and Enzima are five characters that are brought to life by Chinua Achebe, the author of Things Fall Apart, that show us more than just a story. They show us what it is like to live as part of the tribe and their daily activities. Through their daily activities in the story, Achebe shows us the similarities and differences in certain characters, creating character foils using a set of two characters. In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s foils, Unoka and…

Chinua Achebe in his novel Things Fall Apart proves time and time again that, despite what some may think, the tribal people of Africa are indeed civilized. Throughout the novel, Achebe uses explicit examples to hint at the fact that the people are civilized. The reader is shown this through many examples, such as the clans justice system and their response when the missionaries come to their clan, that there is more sophistication to the Umuofian people than previously thought. When the…

Why are traditions so important to a culture? Do the traditions of any society do more harm than good or vice versa? Things Fall Apart is a fiction novel written by Chinua Achebe in 1965. He writes about Okonkwo a wealthy and respected warrior who sees his biological son Nwoye just like his failure of a father Unoka. He soon takes in Ikemefuna a 15-year-old boy and sees in the son who will not disappoint him. When a time comes that Ikemefuna must die because of the oracles Okonkwo makes the boy…

In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, Achebe’s main character, Okonkwo, is the most affected by the changes the Christians brought. He starts the novel as a strong, tenacious, and influential man but he becomes a dissipated man who would rather kill himself and commit an “offense against the earth” than to watch the white people ruin his Ibo culture (Achebe 207). Before the Christians came, Okonkwo is a very successful leader of the Ibo society. He does everything in his power to not be…