Set in Africa in the 1890s, Chinua Achebe's ‘Things Fall Apart’ is about the tragedy of Okonkwo during the time Christian missionaries arrived and polluted the culture and traditions of many African tribes. Okonkwo is a self-made man who values culture, tradition, and, above all else, masculinity. Okonkwo’s attachment to the Igbo culture and tradition, and his own extreme emphasis on manliness, is the cause of his fall from grace and eventual death. Within the Obi tribe, Okonkwo is an important man, who has risen from nothing to a man of great wealth and social status. Okonkwo is obsessed with masculinity, and he has a very narrow view of “manliness”. Okonkwo's relationship with his dead father is the root of his violent and ambitious conduct. He wants to rise above his father's legacy of laziness, which he views as weak and therefore feminine. This drive and fierce pride made him a great man, but they are also the source of all of his faults. The Igbo are deeply patriarchal and violence is not uncommon. This male-dominance is inherent in the clan's language; the word for a man who ...
The novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a story that opens the reader's mind to an entirely different way of living in a Nigerian village. Achebe was born in Nigeria in 1930, perhaps this is why he writes a whole book on a Nigerian village and introduces to us the ways of life for the Nigerian people. From the first page of the book to the last, Achebe allows the reader to enter the mind of the main character Okonkwo. Okonkwo is the leader of his village and is very respected for his many achievements. Although Okonkwo means well for his village, the novel invites the reader to see him has a flawed character who eventually suffers from the consequences of bad "masculine" decisions he makes throughout the book.
The concept of a tragic hero is one of the most notable and widespread literary tropes, having been in existence for over some 2000 years. As defined by Aristotle in his Poetics, a tragic hero is someone who undergoes a struggle far more potent than deserved. Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, exhibits a tragic hero through its protagonist, Okonkwo. Achebe achieves this status through his tragic flaw of excessive pride, his ultimate demise caused by said pride, and his ability to evoke fear and pity within the audience.
Okonkwo the son of the useless and unimportant father Unoka strives to become rich and successful in the Ibo, unlike his father who was simple, poor and always was in debt from all of the people around. Okonkwo tries to forget everything that his father’s life meant and creates his own principles. This father’s life ended in a very disgraceful way “ He had a bad chi…or rather to his death for he had no grave.” (18). Therefore Okonkwo takes a role of a productive, wealthy, brave and violent man (who looks successful form the side) and rejects everything emotional and feminine which was most of his fathers life “ …he wore a haggard ad mournful look except hen he was drinking or playing on his flute…”(21).
Nigeria has a rich culture stemming from the many civilizations that inhabited the land. In the novel Thing Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe brings light on to the great Igbo people, a society Nigeria hosted for centuries. The tale follows a man named Okonkwo as he tries to make amends for his father 's failures and a name for himself within his village. This path leads Okonkwo to become reckless and unreasonable. Through this, readers are exposed to the village’s judicial system, revealing that the clan’s laws based off sexism, superstitious nature, and deep religious ties.
Planet Earth harbors seven billion independent human minds, living seven billion independent, equally complex lives. Even more impressive, each mind contains unique perspectives and opinions. With so many different minds interacting, conflict between individuals’ perspectives and opinions becomes inevitable. Unfortunately, no single perspective, held by a single mind or a group of minds, dominates as the correct perspective. In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the meeting of different cultures creates conflict between perspectives, in which both parties assume righteousness but neither is entirely correct. Though Okonkwo may draw a readers’ sympathy for his role as the tragic hero, the author’s sympathy sits with Obierika, who is positioned between the missionaries and Okonkwo as the most humane balance of the two cultures.
Because Okonkwo did not want to follow in his father’s footsteps as a lazy, gentle, and poor man, he decided to create his own legacy. Some may consider this honorable; but as Okonkwo’s character evolves, it is clear that he is crippled by his own desire to escape his father’s shadow. He envisioned his father as weak but his own mindset in turn has weakened him in many areas. This is the narrative in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. The generational traits impact the characterizations of each individual in such a profound way. Okonkwo may have hated the legacy his father left behind but there was no where for him to run away from the bloodline that flowed so heavily through him.
The Bible says that for everything there is a season. That means that things will change as time passes and there is no way to stop the advancement of time. This idea is clearly shown in the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. This novel, set in West Africa in the late 1800s, details the violent events that occur when colonization by the white man begins and the resulting ripple effects start to spread across Nigeria. The West African protagonist is a mighty warrior named Okonkwo who has trouble accepting how his clan will never be the same after the white man’s arrival. A few other characters show strength during the chaos too. Therefore, the three strongest characters in this novel are Okonkwo, Ikemefuna, and Uchendu.
In Things Fall Apart, Achebe changes Nwoye from a boy who struggles to please his father Okonkwo to a deeply converted Christian that defies his Okonkwo’s wishes. Achebe showed this by making Nwoye enter a very sad and vulnerable state made him very susceptible to the culture collision that the missionaries brought. Achebe was trying to show that the weak minded were the first to be changed when a new culture entered a more traditional one.
“The white man had indeed brought a lunatic religion…” (153) thought Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. In the novel, the main character Okonkwo and his son Nwoye experience sudden changes in their village from the arrival of white men. They once began their lives in their native Ibo village of Umoufia. After Okonkwo commits a murder by accident, he is forced to be exiled to Mbanta for seven years. During the years of his exile, Okonkwo hears about white men missionaries appearing in Umuofia, who later come to Mbanta. The missionaries have promoted Christianity in both villages and some of the villagers even converted from Ibo culture to Christian. Finally, after the seven years, Okonkwo and Nwoye return to the new Umuofia, where little Ibo culture remains. Okonkwo and Nwoye react to the changed village differently. They have dissimilar perceptions about the influence of the white men because they had distinct life experiences that shaped their own views on life.
To start with, the advantages of the Igbo social structure included a balanced society, equality, distribution of labor, a surplus of food, separate huts, a collective society, and some form of government. A centralized society was achieved through the Igbo social structure. This structure served the purpose to impose the same religion upon the people to enforce a common belief. By organizing the society, the people could follow the idea of “unity” to prevent any conflicts or disagreements within the community. Along with a unified society, some kind of equal status came as a result of the social structure that has been established within the clan. Although the social hierarchy did not promote equal status between men and women, it did, to some extent, promote equality within the division of labor among the people. It relieved the pressure of stress, which may have been bestowed up...
Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart explores the struggle between old traditions within the Igbo community as well as Christianity and "the second coming" it brings forth. While on the surface, it appears the novel narrows its focus to a single character, Okonkno and his inner battles, one can read deeper into the text and find an array of assorted conflicts in the realm on human vs. human, human vs. nature, human vs. society, and society vs. society. For the purposes of this paper I shall focus on the labyrinth of human vs. human and human vs. society in the framework of the role of women in Igbo society and how men assign and dictate these roles. I will also briefly explain the importance of women in terms of motherhood and wifedom.
Throughout history, there have been many instances of people struggling to identify and cope with change and tradition, and this is no different in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.
The Importance of Things Fall Apart & nbsp; & nbsp; The novel "Things Fall Apart", by Chinua Achebe, was an eye-opening account of the life and eventual extinction of an African tribe called the Ibo. It focuses on one character, Okonkwo, who at a very early age set out on a quest of self-perfection. Coming from a family ruled by a man who was lazy and inconsistent with everything he did, Okonkwo vowed to never accept the fate of his father. Okonkwo and his family have suffered through many hard times in their lives, but usually managed to come out on top. Through terrible crop seasons and bad judgement calls, Okonkwo usually prevailed, until the day came when he was faced with a situation that could not be resolved by his strength and character alone.
The manner in which we speak may vanish tomorrow but our writing may live on for many, many years. Literature is set out to educate many and has become a helpful tool for mankind without it we wouldn’t know most of the worlds history. Chinua Achebe has provided such in a novel called “Things Fall Apart” in which a series of different opinions are presented to a community that is suddenly challenged to give up their tradition. In light of the situations stated in the book, the reader can profoundly understand its true meaning and its historical significance. George Orwell brings forth a novel including the power of guidance, void, and speech called “Animal Farm.” Orwell uses anthropomorphism to depict communication skills and educating
In the novel, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, the main character Okonkwo struggles to prevent his people from changing their tradition. Okonkwo’s people, the Igbo people, define their lives by the traditions and practices of their ancestors. Although Okonkwo stands firm to his traditions, fulfilling them and adhering to them can at times be a challenge for him and his people. Using appeals to pathos, tone, and allusion Achebe not only conveys traditions of the Igbo people, but the struggles of this tradition to them as well.