The Thing

the opposite of his lazy father, Unoka. Okonkwo is revealed to have a great work ethic and a short temper. Agbala, the goddess of the earth, Nwoye, Okonkwo’s son, and Ikemefuna, Okonkwo’s ill-fated tribute son are all introduced in the beginning of Things Fall Apart. The Week of Peace is celebrated every year in Umuofia. The harming of a tribe member by another is forbidden during the Week of Peace. Okonkwo disobeys this rule by beating his wife which brings about the wrath of Chielo, the…

Southeastern Nigeria, and his book took place in the same area. Achebe grew up leading himself into great and better things. His novel follows an Ibo man in an Ibo village through the collision of two different worlds. Throughout the book, Things Fall Apart, Achebe shows Okonkwo as a tragic leader with his flaws and how he tries to make himself better when really the result of those two things together are exactly the opposite of what he wanted. Through the Greek tragic template, Achebe…

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…

In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe the role of women is mostly portrayed as a negative one because in the novel the women do not get treated the same way as men, the women get beat, and the women in the book are seen as property and not as human beings, which is what they are. The women in things fall apart play a major role in the novel because without the women the men would never be anything because in order to be a fascinating leader you need to have many wives, (although that…

How can an author use a fictional character to make a cultural statement? Chinua Achebe in his novel Things Fall Apart answers this question by telling a story of British colonization through an African point of view. In this work of historical fiction, Okonkwo wants the people of Umuofia to fight against the British, but instead many of the people of Umuofia follow the new ideas the British bring such as Christianity. Then Okonkwo loses hope that his people, so then Okonkwo commits suicide by…

Alyssa Kondash Things fall apart 11/15/15 Things fall apart, is the story of an Ibo village called Umuofia, it takes place around the late 1800’s in Africa. The story was written with eastern views in mind, some of our western views are considered shameful to them. Okonkwo, the main character was one of the most well known and respected men in the village of Umuofia known for his strength and valor. Also being well known for having many titles, the more titles you have the more successful and…

Exploring Emotions through Illustrations “Where the Wild Things Are”, by Maurice Sendak is a very popular children’s literature book that was published in 1963. It is an illustration book that not only targets children, but adults as well. In Sendak’s, Where the Wild Things Are, the main Character is a young boy named Max. Max is seen being mischievous wearing a wolf costume, storming around the house, until his mother sends him to his room and denies him supper. Max begins to feel angry. He…

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…

What To Do When ‘Things Fall Apart’ Just as the title of the novel suggests Okonkwo's downfall is caused by his inability to follow the morals of his culture and to adapt to colonization. Things Fall Apart , a historical fiction novel by Chinua Achebe, takes place in Nigeria around the turn of the 19th century which is extremely important; it means Okonkwo’s life is in both, the pre- and post-European era. This allows Achebe to give Okonkwo a more complex, old fashioned, and unique…

In his insightful critique, “The Plight of a Hero in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart,” Patrick Nnoromele reevaluates the demise of protagonist Okonkwo, widely perceived as a repercussion of his tragic flaw: the abiding fear of resembling his effeminate and disreputable father. However, Nnoromele alternatively suggests that Okonkwo’s suicide was not the manifestation of weakness and defeat, but rather a gallant act according to the Igbo ideals. To justify this claim, the critic characterizes a hero in…