Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart Essay

“Things fall apart when the center cannot longer hold” is a line from Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming” written in 1919. It inspired Chinua Achebe for the title of his novel Things Fall Apart, first published in 1959. Surprisingly, we can also link this line to the atmosphere in the other novel that will be quoted in this essay, The Interpreter published in 2003 and written by Suki Kim. These two novels deal with stories and characters that are extremely different – one follows the Igbo tribe and…

child and spouse? Throughout the book Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe informs the reader about the hard times the natives people of Nigeria faced when the British were colonizing. Achebe focuses on the Umuofia clan in the Ibo culture. The main protagonist, Okonkwo, faces many challenges and is presented with situations that he is unclear with how to deal with. One of his wives named Ekwefi as an interesting relationship with her daughter Ezinma, and Okonkwo compared to other members of the…

Chinua Achebe, the author of Things Fall Apart, highlights the effects of European imperialism in African society. White missionaries, Europeans, exposed the Ibo people to new ways of life. However, Okonkwo, the African leader, mourned the aggressive, yet subtle change. The imperialists infringed on the Ibo identity and way of life. Achebe characterizes European imperialism and its effects on African society through the lens of religion. European imperialists proclaimed their religion as…

religion and culture in his novel, Things Fall Apart. Using literary elements such as symbolism, personification, and imagery. Throughout the novel, the Igbo culture uses many symbols for items to represent sacred beings in their culture. After analyzing the book over again, it’s prevalent Achebe included symbols relevant to both the theme and the tribal culture; “The drums were still beating, persistent and unchanging. Their sound was no longer a separate thing from the living village. It…

future, although it could also have a negative effect towards them. The connection between the two will have a serious impact on each other’s lives in a way that would either turn into a good or bad relationship throughout their lives. The novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, expresses the influential connection between father and son relationships that may alter the bonds within the characters as the story goes on. Not everyone has a perfect relationship with their parents due to…

Native African culture. This doesn’t just happen in Africa, it happens all over the world. In Things Fall Apart, it depicts how the white missionaries stripped the Africans of their culture and what extremes they took without a care of their religion. Also, it shows how once you take away one's culture you take away their soul.…

In order for others to understand our intended actions, our opinions and reasons must be acknowledged. A story told with only one point of view, a single story, can result in a conflict or possible confusion, as seen in Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe. Inspired to write a book from the point of view of a true African, Achebe follows the Umuofia tribe as the evangelists seeking to convert others to Christianity threaten their much-cherished Igbo culture. Throughout the book, Achebe…

equality, love and a personal relationship with God. No one was unsusceptible to this attraction and many people abandoned their previous faith. Things Fall Apart, a novel by Chinua Achebe depicts these conversions as men, women and children convert to the new faith. One such child who was drawn into the new faith is a child named Nwoye. Nwoye is the son…

Humans are set apart from animals and other organisms because they have the ability to think rationally and to question their existence here on earth. Humans are able to ponder the infinite beyond as well as what their lives strive for. Although there are no direct answers to the question of life, humans are able to get a sense of what this life is all about. In many of the works, the characters are unable to grasp what their purpose is- sometimes straying so far that their choices lead to their…

When two cultures collide and they ignore eachothers values it results in destruction of these cultures and consequences as seen through Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, slave trade in Nigerian history, and the Indian Ocean Trade. In Achebe’s text, two cultures colliding resulting in the destruction of those cultures is . The Igbo clan clashes with the christians and they will not agree on anything causing major conflicts. The first seen example of the refusal to accommodate the Christians…