Life Goes On in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

412 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Central theme of achebe' things fall apart

Things Fall Apart and Life Goes On

Achebe often centers on the conflicts of man within himself and with his culture. Things Fall Apart is no exception. Achebe’s story is about a strong man, Okonkwo, whose life is dominated by fear and anger.

The fear of the main character, Okonkwo, is generated first by fear of failure and then by a fear of the unknown. The unknown in this story is the oncoming of the English into Africa. A religion is brought to the villages, and new ways of thinking arise. Overall, the African village Okonkwo knew and grew up in slowly begins to disappear. Okonkwo is not only afraid for himself but for his entire village. He is afraid that his culture will vanish and be forgotten by the younger generations.

Achebe is able to show the reader his intentions at the very beginning of the book by including a quote from W.B. Yeats’ poem "The Second Coming":

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.

Achebe lets the reader know from the beginning that Nigeria's rich cultural heritage is falling apart and that there will be no happy ending. The life of Okonkwo symbolizes the life and richness of the tribe and village. As the story progresses Okonkwo’s life begins to go downhill and so does that of the village. The story ends with the death of Okonkwo and the death of an entire civilization. The colonials have taken over the village; the children no longer believe in the old ways. Things fall apart and no one wants to put them back together. Life goes on with the invasion of the English, but never will it be the same.

Achebe was born and raised in a large village in Nigeria. He was also educated in Nigeria. After a short career in radio, Achebe began to lecture abroad and settled for a while as an English professor at the University of Massachusetts.

Show More
Related

  • Thromas By Zeta Stevens Why Do Earthquakes Occur?

    1145 Words  | 3 Pages

    The earth is split into four layers, inner and outer core, the mantle and crust. The top of the mantle and crust make up what is like the skin of our earth (see source 2). The skin is split up like a puzzle and we call these puzzle pieces’ tectonic plates (see source 1). These plates are constantly moving and the plate boundaries (edges of the plates) move and slide past one another. Sometimes as the plates move the plate boundaries become stuck. Pressure builds up in the stuck area over time and eventually breaks. This is why earthquakes occur due to the sudden movement of the plate sliding and breaking creating a fault line to go off. The fault line is the line on which the

    Read More

  • Okonkwo's Self-Destructive Masculinity in Things Fall Apart

    2752 Words  | 6 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Tragedy in Chinua Achebe´s Things Fall Apart

    590 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Tectonics Theory Essay

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    Understanding the plate tectonics theory is very important, especially when investigating natural disasters like earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. It is also gives scientists the ability to understand how mountains were formed between two tectonic plates. There are three types of interactions between plate boundaries: convergent, divergent and transform. Looking back at the history of these three different interactions, earthquakes, like the one in Haiti, volcanic eruptions, like at Mount St. Helens, and the creation of mountain belts, like the Mid-Atlantic Oceanic ridge, gives information on future consequences of tectonic movement, and what can happen when the plates interact with each other.

    Read More

  • Plate Tectonics

    1326 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since the beginning of human kind there has been a cloud of wonder of how our planet was formed. Scientist interested in this field through out the years have developed many different theories to how our planet came about. Before the Twentieth Century, scientists and geologists thought that mountain structures were due to the massive tightening of the earth caused by the gradual cooling of molten rocks. In 1900, American scientist Joseph Le Conte, published an article in the Appleton's Popular Scientific Monthly. He described that the problem in understanding mountain building was establishing the cause of sideways pressure. It was not until 1910, that an American Geologist named F.B.Taylor, proposed the idea of a continental drift. Other scientists dismissed Taylor's idea, because there was just not enough proof. However, Taylor's idea was then backed up by a German scientist named Alfred Wegener. He proposed that the continents surrounding the Atlantic Ocean, Africa and South America fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. His broad range of studies enabled him to incorporate his theory of Plate Tectonics. Wegener, later in 1915 while in the German military published his idea that interpreted how his continental drift theory worked. He proposed that a huge landmass called Pangea, meaning ("all land") existed 200 million years ago. He furthered explained that this super continent began to drift apart very slowly throughout millions of years into what it looks like now. Wegener went on several expeditions through out his life to the continents of South America and Africa.

    Read More

  • Allusions To Things Fall Apart

    261 Words  | 1 Pages

    Things fall apart. It is life things eventually fall apart. Achebe named his book about a man learning from his failures and his punishments becoming a better man because his life is falling apart. Achebe named his book Things Fall Apart which is an allusion to the poem “Second Coming” which is about an end of the world scenario. He used it as an allusion to make a connection between Okonkwo’s life “ending” from his point of view and the second coming end of world scenario of the Christians.

    Read More

  • Essay On North American Plate

    1327 Words  | 3 Pages

    First you might need to know definition of tectonics. It is a theory in geology. The lithosphere of the Earth is divided into a small number of plates which float on and travel independently over the mantle and much of the Earth’s seismic activity occurs at the boundaries of these plates. That is the official definition of Plate tectonics. secondly, this plate covers many parts of continents. plate boundaries don’t go according to Continents boundaries, they make their own boundaries. The North American plat...

    Read More

  • Plato

    1513 Words  | 4 Pages

    the year after the Athenian statesman Pericles died (“Plato” Discus). Plato grew up in an

    Read More

  • Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the book “Things Fall Apart”, evidence of a social structure was apparent within the Igbo community. This rigid social structure served as a purpose to balance the life of the people within the society, as well as promoting the downfall of the clan. The social structure was important in keeping a centralized society and preventing any sign of corruption within their clan. The social structure had advantages in keeping a balanced and equal society, supporting a division of labor, providing a surplus of food, individual huts, a communal society, and the development of some kind of government. In contrast, this social structure led others to reject to cooperate with the new religion and aided the lack of unity among the people. It also promoted a more patriarchal society, the inferior rank of women, and the lack of strong bonds between family members.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    724 Words  | 2 Pages

    The main character, Okonkwo, is a wealthy and respected warrior of the Umuofia clan. Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, died as a poor man with a reputation of being an emotional coward. Okonkwo is embarrassed of his father’s reputation, therefore he adopts opposite ideals. Okonkwo becomes everything his father was not; strong, productive, and a provider. He achieves great social and financial success by embracing these ideals. Throughout the village, Okonkwo is seen as powerful. Although Okonkwo is powerful, he is imprisoned by the social pressure of the village to portray

    Read More

  • Okonkwo’s Resistance to Change in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    1470 Words  | 3 Pages

    The character of Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart was driven by fear, a fear of change and losing his self-worth. He needed the village of Umuofia, his home, to remain untouched by time and progress because its system and structure were the measures by which he assigned worth and meaning in his own life. Okonkwo required this external order because of his childhood and a strained relationship with his father, which was also the root of his fears and subsequent drive for success. When the structure of Umuofia changed, as happens in society, Okonkwo was unable to adapt his methods of self-evaluation and ways of functioning in the world; the life he was determined to live could not survive a new environment and collapsed around him.

    Read More

  • Colonization In Things Fall Apart

    625 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the novel of “Things Fall Apart” Okonkwo’s luck has not been the best. He killed a boy and accidentally shot another boy resulting in his banishment out of the tribe for seven years. While that event was unfolding, Okonkwo’s tribe was being colonized by British soldiers. The over-arching theme of the novel is what happens to the values that define Okonkwo's cultural community, when the traditions he fought so hard to sustain collapse in the ...

    Read More

  • Plate Tectonics Theory

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    A convergent plate boundary is where two plates are moving toward each other. If the two plates are of equal density (two continental plates or two oceanic

    Read More

  • Essay on the Downfall of Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    816 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart, uses the changes in African tribal culture brought about by European colonization to illustrate the evolution of the character Okonkwo. As Okonkwo leads his life, his experiences, personality and thought are revealed to the reader. The obstacles he faces in life are made numerous as time progresses. Okonkwo's most significant challenge originates within himself. He also encounters problems not only when in opposition to the white culture, but in his own culture, as he becomes frustrated with tribal ideals that conflict with his own. The last adversary he encounters is of the physical world, brought upon himself by his emotional and cultural problems. The manner through which Okonkwo addresses his adversaries in Things Fall Apart creates the mechanism that leads to his eventual destruction.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the author poses many perspectives for literary criticism and review. This work emphasizes many different cultural aspects that were considered controversial at the time of publication in both African and American culture. This novel’s focus on feminine roles, religion, and cultural norms give readers a glimpse of life in the village of Umuofia while allowing them to think critically about the thematic topics posed.

    Read More

More about Life Goes On in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Open Document