Things Fall Apart

There cannot be change without someone fighting to keep things the same. In 1890’s Nigeria some members of the Ibo clan embrace this new change, while others, like the protagonist Okonkwo, sternly believe in the old ways of the clan. This is the setting for Chinua Achebe’s greatest novel, Things Fall Apart. One theme of this book is violence. Violence is shown to prove Okonkwo’s strength and dominance of the Ibo clan, but Okonkwo cannot defeat fate. Okonkwo has an excessive fear of being…

In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe a Western influence comes into Umuofia and it made Okonkwo angry because he was a very religious believer and was very true to his culture, roots and religion, “Okonkwo never showed any emotion openly, unless it be the emotion of anger,” (28). The Western influences said the people of Umuofia had their religion wrong when they said there was more than one god like the Earth Goddess or the Water God. The Westerners believed in only one God and he did…

In the novel “Things Fall Apart” we learn about a tribe in Nigeria that our main character, Okonkwo, comes from. We learn that men are so much more valuable than women. Men do manly things and grow men’s crops and provide for his many wives and children. Women are to do house chores and cook dinner and bare children to make men even more valuable. We learn it is acceptable to beat your wives to keep them in their place. We learn how being feminine and womanly is looked down upon.Okonkwo is the…

Throughout the novel, Achebe uses different aspects of nature such as the the ceremony of the week of peace, yams, night trees and evil forest. These things each symbolize and show the good and bad side of natures character. “Yams the king of crops, was a man’s crops.” (page23). In this society, the more yams you grow and harvest, it will symbolize your wealth and your strength. They show others that you have the strength to be able to harvest many yams, meaning you have more wealth in which…

beliefs, which makes determining a civilized society a difficult task. By definition, a civilized society is one that has been brought to a stage of social, cultural, and moral development and is considered to be more advanced. In the novel, Things Fall Apart, Achebe writes the story to portray the Ibo society as a civilized society in many aspects of life including government, religion, and societal roles. To begin, the Ibo society is civilized in many aspects of its culture,…

The book “Things Fall Apart” tells a story of a man, Okonkwo who was very well respected in his clan called the Umuofia clan from an Ibo village in Nigeria. Okonkwo comes from a father called Unoka who was a laughing stock throughout the entire village, and died leaving many debts unpaid. Becoming his father is something that Okonkwo never wants for himself or his twelve year old son. Okonkwo falls from a place of high respect in his village and this book follows his story. It also tells of how…

In Chinua Achebe’s novel, “Things Fall Apart,” the main protagonist, Okonkwo, commits a crime inadvertently. In Umuofia, the death of an elder occurs which is a big deal causing for a great ceremony to occur. During that ceremony, there is a big number of loud drums and cannons going off…

Suicide is never an easy topic to talk about. In Things Fall apart written by Chinua Achebe, suicide came as a surprise toward the end of the novel. Everyone may have theories about why they think he killed himself, but there was never a clear reason why Okonkwo did such a thing. There were many contributing factors events that had led up to his suicide, after he came back from his exile is when everything started to get out of control. Okonkwo’s perception on his own masculinity started to…

In Chinua Achebe’s short novel, Things Fall Apart, set in male-dominated late 19th century Africa, the African community specifically the Umuofia tribe, struggles to uphold their own traditions while the invading Europeans try interject their own religion and customs upon them. The tragic hero of the story, Okonkwo, becomes infuriated with his own people as he witnesses them betray their own morals and culture. He desperately tries to preserve the ethics and traditions of his community while the…

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…