Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart chronicles the life of an individual whose carefully constructed world crumbles as his culture is assimilated into a colonizing society. This character, Okonkwo, is prestigious within his community, and in most respects views himself and is viewed by his neighbors as an honorable man. Yet for all his seeming honor, Okonwko self-destructs when his world begins to change. Although the value system held by Okonkwo's village may differ somewhat from that held by other cultures, his particular experience during colonization is universal.
When Okonkwo defines himself as an honorable man and thinks back upon his life achievements that have made him so, he focuses most strongly upon his ferocity. He has "brought honor to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat" in a wrestling match (Achebe 3). Furthermore, his "impatience with unsuccessful men" causes him to "pounce on people quite often" (4). Although it is sometimes problematic for him, Okonkwo's violent and impulsive nature generally earns him great respect in his society. par tab Okonkwo's second most obvious trait is his "inflexible will" (24). This trait enables him to survive the year of the yam famine and build up his prosperous compound, despite his "grim struggle against poverty and misfortune" (27). Okonkwo becomes very proud, knowing that this success "was not luck." He thus believes that he controls his own fate: "Okonkwo said yes very strongly; so his chi agreed. And not only his chi but his clan too, because it judged a man by the work of his hands" (27). As a self-made man, Okonkwo has learned that he can attain his goals through ferocity, violence, tenacity, and stubbornness. His repeated successes have made ...
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...ten, to preserve their integrity to their self-image and heritage, individuals intensify their ethnic behavior in the face of obliteration. For many such as Okonkwo, this is a suicidal act, if not literally, then at least socially, politically, and economically.
Sources Cited and Consulted:
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Oxford: Heinemann, 1996.
Culross, Melissa. "Chinua Achebe and Things Fall Apart." Postimperial and Postcolonial Literature in English. Internet. http://landow.stg.br/ own.edu/post/achebe/ things.htm l.
Irele, Abiola. “The Tragic Conflict in the Novels of Chinua Achebe”. In ChinuaAchebe’s
Things Fall Apart: A Critical Companion. Delhi: Worldview, 2003.
Kortenar. Neil Ten, “How the Center is Made to Hold in Things Fall Apart”. In Chinua
Achebe’s Things Fall Apart: A Casebook. Ed. By Isidore Okpewho. Oxford; OUP, 2003.
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.
Culture makes us who we are. Each individual has their own culture from their experiences in life and is developed from societal influences. The various cultures around the world influence us in different ways which we experience at least once in our lifetime. There are occasions, especially in history, where cultures clash with one another. For instance, the English colonization in Africa changed their culture. Chinua Achebe, the author of Things Fall Apart, portrayed this change in the Igbo people’s society, especially through the character Okonkwo in the village of Umuofia; the introduction of Western ideas challenged him. In the novel Things Fall Apart, the author Chinua Achebe introduces to us Okonkwo whose character’s response to the
Caliban is grotesque and base. Arguably, his external ugliness reflects a moral hideousness within. Cosmo Corfield, in his scholarly article Why Does Prospero Abjure His “Rough Magic”? explicates this relationship when he associates “Caliban’s bestiality with a propensity to evil.” However, Caliban’s consignment to the realm of evil and vice must be examined more closely. Is Caliban so evil? Is earthiness necessarily linked to immorality? Understanding the character of Caliban is essential to understanding why Prospero is unable to achieve perfection.
People grow and develop at different rates. The factors that heavily influence a person's growth are heredity and environment. The people you meet and the experiences you have are very important in what makes a person who he/she is. Janie develops as a woman with the three marriages she has. In each marriage she learns precious lessons, has increasingly better relationships, and realizes how a person is to live his/her life. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie's marriages to Logan Killicks, Jody Starks, and Tea Cake are the most vital elements in her growth as a woman.
Nnoromele, Patrick C.. “The Plight of a Hero in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.” Chinua Achebe's
Even Miranda, Prospero’s daughter, speaks in a way that categorizes Caliban as an uneducated and uncivilized savage. “I pitied thee, Took pains to make thee speak, taught thee each hour […] When thou didst not, savage, know thine own meaning […]” (1.2.356-359) Miranda doesn’t stop there; she continues labeling Caliban, “But thy vile race, though thou didst learn, had that in’t which good natures could not abide to be with; therefore wast though deservedly confined into this rock […]” (1.2.361-364). Exactly this kind of discourse turns Caliban into a subject. If Caliban had not been alone on the island, then Prospero and Miranda would have categorized a whole group of human beings rather than just one.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered America. The Europeans came to the Americas and took over. Similarly, Prospero came to the island and took over. As with the Europeans, coming to the Americas and treating the Natives badly, Prospero does the same to Sycorax and Caliban. When the Europeans came to the New World they enslaved the Native American population. They made them servants to all their wants and needs. The Europeans thought that it was their obligation to make the natives better. Upon getting to the island, Prospero acts like the Europeans. He takes over the island and enslaves Caliban, who is half human and half fish. Caliban now has to serve Prospero, like the Native Americans served the Europeans. Prospero now treats him like property. Caliban must now follow the commands and orders of Prospero. Europeans treated the Native Americans in exactly the same way.
The white man considered Africans to be primitive savages. They were seen as inferior, second-class citizens. Chinua Achebe was an African novelist who sought to give the African people a voice. Achebe gave a prospective of African culture that had been missing from the literature. The white man primarily composed works of literature, therefore there was a skewed representation of African culture. Achebe conveyed a greater understanding of African culture through his first novel Things Fall Apart. This analysis will examine Okonkwo’s power and lack of freedom through his wealth, property, and actions.
That year the harvest was sad, like a funeral, and many farmers wept as they dug up the miserable and rotting yams. One man tied his cloth to a tree branch and hanged himself. Okonkwo remembered that tragic year with a cold shiver throughout the rest of his life. It always surprised him when he thought of it later that he did not sink under the load of despair. He knew that he was a fierce fighter, but that year had been enough to break the heart of a lion.
Upon an initial reading of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, it is easy to blame the demise of Okonkwo’s life and of the Umofia community on the imperialistic invasions of the white men. After all, Okonkwo seemed to be enjoying relative peace and happiness before then. He did have a few mishaps; one of them resulted in him being exiled for eight years. Nonetheless, he returned to his home town with high spirits and with prospects of increased success. However, everything has changed. The white men have brought with them a new religion and a new government. Okonkwo’s family falls apart. The men in his village lose their courage and valor; they do not offer any resistance to the white men. Consequently, Okonkwo kills himself in disgrace and Umofia succumbs to the white men. However, the white men are not the only people responsible for demise of Umofia. The Igbo culture, particularly their views on gender roles, sows the seed of their own destruction. By glorifying aggressive, manly traits and ignoring the gentle, womanly traits, Umofia brings about its own falling apart.
One of the reasons for Caliban’s defiance towards Prospero is the fact that he believes the island that they are on to be his, but to have been stolen by Prospero. “This island’s mine by Sycorax my mother, / Which thou tak’st from me'; (1.2.331). Caliban feels as though he has been taken advantage of. When Prospero first comes to the island, he is kind to Caliban, and in return, Caliban shows him the secrets of the island.
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.
Caliban is subjugated to being Prospero’s servant and when the job is not prepared to Prospero’s standards, Prospero will torture Caliban with the magic he acquired. For instance, when Caliban took too much time coming out of his dwelling Prospero spoke, “Thou shalt have cramps,/Side stitches that shall pen thy breath up” (1.2.327-28). Caliban endures torture continuously throughout his life because of Prospero. He is punished for every little wrongdoing. A harsh treatment that causes Caliban to resent Prospero and hate him passionately (3.2.86-87). Caliban’s hatred ignites within and causes Caliban to become a villain himself. For example when he tries and rape Miranda in order to make more of himself. Due to the gruesome treatment given by Prospero, Caliban changes into a villainous man just as the person he despises. In short, Prospero reveals his villain character when he treats Caliban cruelly; a treatment unjustly
...e island” (3.2.46-48 Pg. 101). Which this means he hates Prospero for all the things he has ever done to Caliban and wants revenge. Which the revenge that Caliban wants is Prospero dead. In a way these two characters are a lot alike in ways that is indescribable. With both characters wanting power of the throne and both to control the people around them that they both want revenge on each other.
David Carroll writes, of the novel Things Fall Apart, "This incident is not only a comment on Okonkwo's heartlessness. It criticizes implicitly the laws he is too literally implementing..." (Carroll) The incident that David Carroll refers to is the death of Ikemefuna. Ikemefuna was a young boy who was handed over to the village of Umuofia as compensation for the murder of one of that village's citizens. He is handed over to Okonkwo, a great man in the village, to whom he gives every affection. The brief life with Okonkwo and death of this innocent young man, and the life of Okonkwo himself, is a microcosm of life in Umuofia. Inconsistencies, brutalities, and conflict abound in even the highest of Umuofian life. And as Ikemefuna is led off to be murdered by the man he calls father, "the whole tribe and its values is being judged and found wanting" (Carroll).