Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe
Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe was about the tragic fall of the protagonist, Okonkwo, and the Igbo culture. Igbo culture comprises archaic practices as well as new concepts added into the Igbo culture either by cultural evolution or by outside influence. These customs and traditions include the Igbo people's visual art, music and dance forms, as well as their attire, cuisine and language dialects. Because of their various subgroups, the variety of their culture is heightened further. Things fall apart is probably the most authentic narrative ever written about life in Nigeria at the turn of the twentieth century and because of that the novel has been adapted for productions on the stage, on the radio, and on television.
The author Chinua Achebe has a certain purpose in writing this novel, and that is to present a complex, dynamic society to a Western audience who perceived African society as primitive, simple, and backward. Advanced’ is usually associated with Western world/nations, which is ultimately tied to industrialisation and the accompaniment of other variables. So this is why Africa may be viewed as ‘backward’ because ultimately its not living up to a socio-politico-economical yardstick of ‘Western nations’. Unless Africans could tell their side of their story, Achebe believed that the African experience would forever be "mistold”. As per Igbo culture in nigeria, African culture was almost the same with them, as they portrayed the willingness to adapt to the ever changing modern world rather than staying rooted to their static culture, same with the igbo culture performed in the story things fall apart, in which they embraced the change happened in their culture and in their village.
The story goes with this. Okonkwo is a respected and influential leader within the Igbo community of Umuofia in eastern Nigeria. Okonkwo was able to overcome his father’s shameful legacy, he became responsible, popular and respected among the village. The story further shows the things fell apart within his village because of the replacement of their culture by the Christian religion. One of the Christian leader which is Mr. brown was nice to the villagers in Umofia that he is willing to embrace the Igbo culture and not to force everyone to change their religion and beliefs. Okonkwo just hanged himself as he can’t accept the fact that his village had already changed and he has nothing to do with that.
The plot of the story is that the of tradition versus change. The changes that take place among the Ibo people after the arrival of Christian missionaries (and during Okonkwo's exile) are profound. Many people not previously held in high esteem by the Igbo are converting to Christianity and gaining prestige as a result of their actions. When Okonkwo returns from his exile, he finds that the religion has destroyed much of the coherence of Ibo society. There are a number of conflicts in the story, one of the main ones is the desire that Okonkwo feels to overcome or defeat the legacy of his lazy father Unoka. Unoka was a lazy man who liked only to play music and drink palm wine, he died with a great deal of debt and no titles and no respect from the tribe. Okonkwo was ashamed of him for as long as he could remember and fought against this throughout his entire life. To overcome the stigma of being Unoka's son he worked incredibly hard to build his fortune, became a great warrior and wrestler, and refused to show any sign of weakness or emotion as he was terribly afraid to show anything like his father's personality.
This in turn led to another conflict which had to do with Okonkwo's temper and the ways that it got him into trouble because he couldn't control it. He was unable to sit back and had to participate in the killing of Ikemefuna, he fired a gun at one of his wives and even beat another wife during peace week, all of which resulted in serious consequences.
Some of the literary devices that can be seen in the story are as follows, first is the Irony, it is when what happens or what is said is the opposite of what you would have expected or are thinking. Okonkwo is a proud and important man, so you might not expect him to commit suicide. His death is especially ironic when you consider what he regularly said after the terrible harvest year: ''Since I survived that year,' he always said, 'I shall survive anything.' He put it down to his inflexible will.'
After saying he could survive anything, you would obviously not expect him to commit suicide. The other one is Foreshadowing In which, when an event or action hints at a future event or action. In Okonkwo's case, the foreshadowing occurs when he is exiled to his motherland for accidentally killing a fellow clansman. He does not deal with this change well, and falls into a depression. His family helps bring him out of it and set him back on track, but the fact that it happens is significant. It illustrates that Okonkwo doesn't deal well with change, and that depression is one of the effects that a major change has on him.
This event and Okonkwo's actions foreshadow his later death. It shows us that, despite what he says about surviving anything he can't deal with change, and he becomes depressed. And the last one is Foreshadowing is when an event or action hints at a future event or action. In Okonkwo's case, the foreshadowing occurs when he is exiled to his motherland for accidentally killing a fellow clansman. He does not deal with this change well, and falls into a depression. His family helps bring him out of it and set him back on track, but the fact that it happens is significant. It illustrates that Okonkwo doesn't deal well with change, and that depression is one of the effects that a major change has on him.
This event and Okonkwo's actions foreshadow his later death. It shows us that, despite what he says about surviving anything he can't deal with change, and he becomes depressed.
To enumerate the major characters in the story, they are Okonkwo, the son of the effinimate and lazy Unoka, strives to make his way in a world that seems value to manliness. Nwoye, Okonkwo’s son, struggles in the shadow of his powerful, successful, and demanding father. Ezinma, Okonkwo’s favourite daughter and the only child of Ekwefi, is bold in the way that she approaches and even sometimes contradicts his father. The last one is Mr. Brown, represents Achebe’s attempt to craft a well-rounded portrait of a colonial presence by tempering bad personalities with good one. These are the major characters who completes the story.
This story implies that there’s no such thing as permanent, everything changes. This also implies that, if you do things with hardwork and dedication, you will achieve what you were wanting for, just like what Okonkwo did.
Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe was about the tragic fall of the protagonist, Okonkwo, and the Igbo culture. Igbo culture comprises archaic practices as well as new concepts added into the Igbo culture either by cultural evolution or by outside influence. These customs and traditions include the Igbo people's visual art, music and dance forms, as well as their attire, cuisine and language dialects. Because of their various subgroups, the variety of their culture is heightened further. Things fall apart is probably the most authentic narrative ever written about life in Nigeria at the turn of the twentieth century and because of that the novel has been adapted for productions on the stage, on the radio, and on television.
The author Chinua Achebe has a certain purpose in writing this novel, and that is to present a complex, dynamic society to a Western audience who perceived African society as primitive, simple, and backward. Advanced’ is usually associated with Western world/nations, which is ultimately tied to industrialisation and the accompaniment of other variables. So this is why Africa may be viewed as ‘backward’ because ultimately its not living up to a socio-politico-economical yardstick of ‘Western nations’. Unless Africans could tell their side of their story, Achebe believed that the African experience would forever be "mistold”. As per Igbo culture in nigeria, African culture was almost the same with them, as they portrayed the willingness to adapt to the ever changing modern world rather than staying rooted to their static culture, same with the igbo culture performed in the story things fall apart, in which they embraced the change happened in their culture and in their village.
The story goes with this. Okonkwo is a respected and influential leader within the Igbo community of Umuofia in eastern Nigeria. Okonkwo was able to overcome his father’s shameful legacy, he became responsible, popular and respected among the village. The story further shows the things fell apart within his village because of the replacement of their culture by the Christian religion. One of the Christian leader which is Mr. brown was nice to the villagers in Umofia that he is willing to embrace the Igbo culture and not to force everyone to change their religion and beliefs. Okonkwo just hanged himself as he can’t accept the fact that his village had already changed and he has nothing to do with that.
The plot of the story is that the of tradition versus change. The changes that take place among the Ibo people after the arrival of Christian missionaries (and during Okonkwo's exile) are profound. Many people not previously held in high esteem by the Igbo are converting to Christianity and gaining prestige as a result of their actions. When Okonkwo returns from his exile, he finds that the religion has destroyed much of the coherence of Ibo society. There are a number of conflicts in the story, one of the main ones is the desire that Okonkwo feels to overcome or defeat the legacy of his lazy father Unoka. Unoka was a lazy man who liked only to play music and drink palm wine, he died with a great deal of debt and no titles and no respect from the tribe. Okonkwo was ashamed of him for as long as he could remember and fought against this throughout his entire life. To overcome the stigma of being Unoka's son he worked incredibly hard to build his fortune, became a great warrior and wrestler, and refused to show any sign of weakness or emotion as he was terribly afraid to show anything like his father's personality.
This in turn led to another conflict which had to do with Okonkwo's temper and the ways that it got him into trouble because he couldn't control it. He was unable to sit back and had to participate in the killing of Ikemefuna, he fired a gun at one of his wives and even beat another wife during peace week, all of which resulted in serious consequences.
Some of the literary devices that can be seen in the story are as follows, first is the Irony, it is when what happens or what is said is the opposite of what you would have expected or are thinking. Okonkwo is a proud and important man, so you might not expect him to commit suicide. His death is especially ironic when you consider what he regularly said after the terrible harvest year: ''Since I survived that year,' he always said, 'I shall survive anything.' He put it down to his inflexible will.'
After saying he could survive anything, you would obviously not expect him to commit suicide. The other one is Foreshadowing In which, when an event or action hints at a future event or action. In Okonkwo's case, the foreshadowing occurs when he is exiled to his motherland for accidentally killing a fellow clansman. He does not deal with this change well, and falls into a depression. His family helps bring him out of it and set him back on track, but the fact that it happens is significant. It illustrates that Okonkwo doesn't deal well with change, and that depression is one of the effects that a major change has on him.
This event and Okonkwo's actions foreshadow his later death. It shows us that, despite what he says about surviving anything he can't deal with change, and he becomes depressed. And the last one is Foreshadowing is when an event or action hints at a future event or action. In Okonkwo's case, the foreshadowing occurs when he is exiled to his motherland for accidentally killing a fellow clansman. He does not deal with this change well, and falls into a depression. His family helps bring him out of it and set him back on track, but the fact that it happens is significant. It illustrates that Okonkwo doesn't deal well with change, and that depression is one of the effects that a major change has on him.
This event and Okonkwo's actions foreshadow his later death. It shows us that, despite what he says about surviving anything he can't deal with change, and he becomes depressed.
To enumerate the major characters in the story, they are Okonkwo, the son of the effinimate and lazy Unoka, strives to make his way in a world that seems value to manliness. Nwoye, Okonkwo’s son, struggles in the shadow of his powerful, successful, and demanding father. Ezinma, Okonkwo’s favourite daughter and the only child of Ekwefi, is bold in the way that she approaches and even sometimes contradicts his father. The last one is Mr. Brown, represents Achebe’s attempt to craft a well-rounded portrait of a colonial presence by tempering bad personalities with good one. These are the major characters who completes the story.
This story implies that there’s no such thing as permanent, everything changes. This also implies that, if you do things with hardwork and dedication, you will achieve what you were wanting for, just like what Okonkwo did.