Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

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The book, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, is about a clan in Nigeria called Umuofia. The protagonist, Okonkwo, is a well known leader in the clan. He did not have the start in life, that most of the other people had. This was because Unoka, his father, was lazy and a failure, which led to Okonkwo hating his father. Okonkwo’s fear of becoming like his father led to his life being driven by fate, instead of by free will. The main theme in the book is that whenever a man tries to be greater than everyone else, he fails miserably in the end. “Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements” (Achebe 1). This is showing that Okonkwo tried very hard to not be like his father. When Okonkwo was young, he was already gaining fame. He was ashamed of his father and he was trying not to fail. In his childhood he was already trying to succeed. In the clan it was said that someone’s fame was based only on their personal achievements and not by their father’s. This was good for Okonkwo, because if his fame was based on his father’s achievements, he would not be the leader he was in the clan. …show more content…

And he told them about this new God, the creator of all the world and all the men and women. He told them they worshipped false gods, gods of wood and stone” (Achebe 145). This quote is talking about when the Europeans came, and started colonizing in Umuofia. This ties in with fate, because it was destined that they were going to colonize. Okonkwo didn’t want to adapt to the new changes, he wanted be a leader, and gain fame by conquering the new settlers. Okonkwo tried to do his best to preserve Umuofia, but he failed in doing so. This corresponds with the theme because Okonkwo tried to achieve greatness, but ends up

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