Thing

However, liminality is not only confined to an individual experience, although this can also the case. Rather, liminality may also be extrapolated in order to understand the transitional changes in the political and societal landscapes as showcased by Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and the National…

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…

Masculinity vs. Femininity in Things Fall Apart If viewed on the surface the story line of Things Fall Apart is a tragedy, but when viewed in a wider perspective it is a story of deeper conflict. The main issue is that the British have come to establish a mission and receive converts. Less evident is the conflict this intrusion inserts between the Ibo and British. The underlying issue is masculinity versus femininity. By this I mean to say that the Ibo are an agrarian people who are…

Chinua Achebe is one of Africa 's most well-known and influential contemporary writers. His first novel, Things Fall Apart, is an early description about the European colonization of Africa told from the point of view of the colonized people. Published in 1958, the novel narrates the life of the warrior and village hero Okonkwo. Like the shifting seasons of the earth, which bring new beginnings, Achebe manipulates characters throughout his novel in order to demonstrate to readers a recurring…

Okonkwo’s life was dominated by fear. He feared to become a failure like his father. He feared that his oldest son would become a failure like his father. Because of this fear, he wanted to be an important man. He had three wives, enough yam fields and was one of the leaders of his clan. Unlucky, he accidently killed someone of his clan and was banned for seven years. In this seven years Umuofia changed a lot. Whites from the West had come to the clan to spread the Christian religion. After some…

One day, a stranger that speaks in a foreign tongue wears different clothing, and has a religion based on only one god, walks into town. One must decide whether to accept and make peace with the foreigner or to drive him out of town. In the book Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe presents this situation, as a group of white men bring in western ideas into Ibo society, causing a cultural collision. The cultural collision has positive and negative aspects. For instance, it brings education and…

A leader can be defined as someone who takes initiative or as someone who can be followed by others. Every leader rules and holds himself differently and they all have different causes for the way that they lead.In Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart,” Okonkwo is shown as a person who people follow, even though he constantly makes wrong decisions. His choices are led by the fear of being thought of as similar to his father and the fear of being known as weak. Okonkwo’s biggest fear was ending up like…

In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, government is used by the British to control the Ibo in times of conflict between the two groups. The British and Ibo are both affected by government and try to use it when the other culture does something offensive to them, as they would not punish themselves for the wrongdoings to an outsider. Achebe uses the government to effectively show how two cultures clash when put together, and without talking and trying to understand each other like what Mr. Brown…

Chinua Achebe produces different labels of women and their position in society in Nigeria in his thought-provoking novel Things Fall Apart. Achebe presents two types of women; one being the property of their husband and the other being mighty, a spiritual being controlling a balance between clashing persons and forces. Okonkwo is the main character in Things Fall Apart, and he has different views of the women in his life. When Unoka, Okonkwo’s father, was still alive, he was a cheater and…

In the novel “Things fall apart” by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo was a brave, respected, intimidating, and wealthy man. He had a severe look, with a wide nose and bushy eyebrows, and “seemed to walk on springs”(4). Although Okonkwo was highly respected by the villagers they still thought he was unsympathetic. Okonkwo believed that anyone who was not succeeding was doing. So due to the lack of trying he did not believe those people deserved very much respect because of all the hard work he had to put…