Keval Patel
ENGL 290
Dr. Harveen S. Mann Critical Research Paper
The Power Of Themes: Things Fall Apart
For an abundance of authors, the driving force that aids them in creation of a novel is the theme or number of themes implemented throughout the novel. Often times the author doesn’t consciously identify the theme they’re trying to present. Usually a theme is a concept, principle or belief that is significant to an author. Not only does the theme create the backbone of the story, but it also guides the author by controlling the events that happen in a story, what emotions are dispersed, what are the actions of characters, and what emotions are presented within each environment to engage the readers in many
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Before the arrival of the Europeans, Achebe did a excellent job portraying how the life of Igbo was before they were forced to oppose their own culture. To support this theme, Achebe included detailed descriptions of social rituals within each family, the justice system, religious practices and consequences, preparation and indulgence of food, the marriage process and the distributing of power within the men. Achebe shows how every man has an opportunity to prove himself worthy to achieve a title on the highest level, based merely on his own efforts. One may argue that the novel was written with the main focus on the study of Okonkwo’s character and how he deteriorates, but without the theme that define the Igbo culture itself, we would never know the universe qualities of the society that shaped Okonkwo’s life. The lives of the Igbo people was no different to the actual lives of the Ibos people back in the early days of Africa. Just like in Things Fall Apart, in actual African tribes there was never a ruler. “Very interesting thing about these villages is that there is no single ruler or king that controls the population. Decisions are made by including almost everyone in the village” (AfricaGuide). Using the theme, Achebe educated readers on by mirroring real African life in her …show more content…
Achebe shows us a culture that is on the verge of change. Within the story we find out how the reality of change is brought upon several characters, and what their actions follow. Just like how African’s resisted the white’s over taking their country in reality, Achebe implements the same idea with the use of several characters. Okonkwo, for example, is completely opposed to the new political and religious upbringing that has come upon his clan. He feels that a real man does not change his views and beliefs for another mans views and beliefs. He see’s it as a sign of weakness. As we see throughout the novel, Okonkwo’s fear of losing his title and status, drives him further away from the idea of changing and adapting to the new religion. Achebe shows us how there will always be those that fight against the change, but in the end the stronger religion will over take and turn the others. Unfortunately for him, Okonkwo finding out his clan is converting is heart aching and he finds complete weakness in his clan. Achebe ties both themes of change and masculinity very well, and both themes support each other in every way. In reality, many Africans resisted the colonizers trying to destroy their religion, but the colonization wasn’t as severe as Achebe presented in her novel. “Groups strongly resisted the coming of European
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.
Theme is the underlying power beneath a story; the “force” that makes the whole experience worthwhile. Theme is “an idea or message that the writer wishes to convey” (Holt 874). A theme can be either stated or implied. A stated theme is a theme “that the other expresses directly in his work (protic.net); an implied theme is a theme “that is not directly stated in the work” (protic.net). As mentioned before, both of these stories have an implied theme, which now is revealed to mean that the author of the story insinuated it. Themes exist in all stories (verbal or written) and can be long, short, true or false. “Earth people will beat out any other intelligent life-form in any and all competitions” is a theme, but “good always beats evil” is one too. “Once upon a time . . .” stories have themes too, except they are more one-dimensional. For example,...
In Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, the main character, Okonkwo, is faced with the destruction of his culture through the changes of African Colonization. Okonkwo is the strongest member of his clan. At a young, he fought his way up the societal ladder to become something from nothing. As time passes, the Western cultures’ ideas force Okonkwo to the limits of his cultural boundaries. Okonkwo realizes that in a new society ruled by Western influence that the old ways of his clan, violence and hate, are not going to regain control over the people of Umuofia. With Okonkwo’s past of extreme violence, his fight for the old traditions of the Igbo culture cannot withstand the cultural collision between the Western missionary’s ideas and the Igbo’s ideas which inevitably leads to his undoing.
With the white men from Europe bringing new traditions and customs, the Igbo culture is damaged. Some people went against their own beliefs and converted to the white man’s religion. The end of the novel justifies this being the main idea when Okonkwo sees his tribe as people who are to afraid to fight for their ancestor’s beliefs. Knowing that the Europeans would continue to invade their land, he chose not to see his culture slowly drift away and took his life. Things did fall apart in the culture and in Okonkwo’s life. The author, Achebe, uses his novel as a way of conveying historical fact through a fictional story. He uses fiction to show his views and beliefs about the European explorers and the religion that they brought. In the novel, Achebe shows the white men’s ignorance to the customs and beliefs of the native people. He also uses Okonkwo’s character to show the lack of change in the native’s lifestyle and to show the contrast that lies between the two cultures. The author also put a story in the book when the missionary and an elder of the tribe are discussing religion. This can be shown as evidence that the author believes that the Christians and the natives could have learned things about their own religions by sharing their faith and facts amongst each
Theme is the main idea or the underlying meaning of a literary work. When an author uses a theme they try to reveal some truth about life and also use it as a unifying element to shed some light or bring attention to the story. The theme can sometimes be discovered when one of characters has a revelation about themselves, their relationship with others or the universe. A well written story will have many complex insights on life but its central insight is what gives the story its unity by having many of its elements relate to one another throughout the
Chinua Achebe?s Things Fall Apart is a narrative story that follows the life of an African man called Okonkwo. The setting of the book is in eastern Nigeria, on the eve of British colonialism in Africa. The novel illustrates Okonkwo?s struggles, triumphs, and his eventual downfall, all of which basically coincide with the Igbo?s society?s struggle with the Christian religion and British government. In this essay I will give a biographical account of Okonwo, which will serve to help understand that social, political, and economic institutions of the Igbos.
William James, a famous American philosopher, once stated, “The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives”. This quotation effectively illustrates how change in one’s attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs can alter the environment in which one lives. This concept is clearly demonstrated throughout the novel Things Fall Apart, authored by Chinua Achebe, by establishing a connection through the development of its characters and the change in traditional African tribal villages seen in the Nineteenth Century. It will be established how various characters demonstrated by the author throughout the novel exemplify how change in one’s attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs can alter the environment in which one lives addressed by William James’s quote above. First, by analyzing Achebe’s development of Okonkwo’s character through his initial character description and the emergence of outsiders, it is evident that he is portrayed as an old fashioned character that is less responsive to change. Secondly, through examining Nwoye’s character, Okonkwo’s son, it becomes apparent that the youth in the novel are more open-minded, easily persuadable and more adaptive to societal changes. Lastly, uncovering the meaning behind the arrival of European missionaries, it becomes apparent that Achebe defines this group as being a “disease”, poisoning the society in which Okonkwo lives. The author look’s at individuals as being critical and influential figures in shaping the environment to which they belong, beginning with Okonkwo.
In Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, the traditional Ibo tribe is a very effective and lasting culture. They are the first to introduce many systems and traditions that we still use in society today. One of the major things the Ibo tribe introduces is the judial system, respect during conversation, hospitality, strength and masculinity. In Things Fall Apart, the author wants us to understand the Ibo tribe and feel sympathy for them, including Okonkwo.
Okonkwo’s lack of father figure leads him to the perspective of fear of failure and weakness this is what he is driven by because in his life he doesn’t have a role model that he can look up to in order to overcome that fear or that adaption to the new society. Okonkwo’s biggest obstacles throughout this story is fear, lack of self worthiness, and culture values.
Things Fall Apart, Thematic Essay: Humans’ natural instincts are to deny a new aspect and stick to older ones. Nevertheless, old and new aspects are intertwined. Traditions and change are ever present in society, without them society would not prosper. Traditions are the foundations of society. However, just like any other foundation, sooner or later it must be altered or changed, even in the most miniscule way.
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.
Consequently, the native traditions gradually disappeared and in time the whole local social structure within which the indigenous people had lived successfully for centuries was destroyed. Achebe spends the first half of the novel depicting the Ibo culture, by itself, in both a sophisticated and primitive light describing and discussing its grandeur, showing its strengths and weaknesses, etiquettes and incivilities, and even the beginning of cultural breakdown before the introduction of the missionaries. The collapse of the old culture is evident soon after the missionaries arrived, and here Achebe utilises two of the primary missionary figures, Mr. Brown and Mr. Smith, to once again depicts both sides of the Ibo culture between them, with Mr. Brown depicting the sophisticated and Mr. Smith depicting the primitive aspects. The main focus in this novel is on one man, Okonkwo, the protagonist who symbolises the many Nigerians, or Africans who were struggling against the white missionaries, who brought their religion and policies and imposed them on Okonkwo’s and the other surrounding tribes. Achebe also shows how great the effect is when something seemingly un-invasive, such as a church, is set up in a Nigerian or African culture.
Throughout Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, struggle between change and tradition is one of the most relevant issues. The Igbo villagers, Okonkwo, and his son Nwoye all experience this problem in many different ways. The villagers have their religion defied, Okonkwo reaches his breaking point and Nwoye finally finds what he believes in. People have struggled to identify and cope with change and tradition throughout history, and will continue to struggle with this issue in the
The two cultures have definitely shown their differences among each other. They believe in two totally different cultures, beliefs, customs, religion, and etc. “He had lost the chance to lead his warlike clan against the new religion, which, he was told, had gained ground.” (Achebe, 171) Okonkwo had lost his chance to lead his warlike village to fight the missionaries while he was in exile and because of that, the new religion has gained ground. The new religion has influenced many and but also many have stuck to the original religion. The two cultures obviously have two different types of people because when he said that his village was “warlike”, that is a hint that the other culture is not warlike because he 's staring the difference between the two. The both have many many differences and beliefs, but that just shows that you cannot force a whole new culture into a whole different culture that is nothing like yours. Chinua Achebe’s purpose for writing the novel was to inform people outside of Africa what happened because people that weren 't even from Africa were writing about Africa. Chinua Achebe’s purpose of writing this novel was successful. “Until the lion has a voice, stories of safaris will always glorify the hunter.” That basically means is that until someone from Africa speaks up about the problem, all the stories will amuse and excite
According to David Whittaker, Achebe’s work “proved to be an immensely influential work for African writers, becoming the progenitor of a whole movement of fiction, drama, and poetry, which focused on the revaluation of Africa’s history and cultures, and on representations of the culture conflicts that has their genesis in the colonial era.” This novel became a pivotal point of realization not only for Africa, but also for the world. All at once the world, afraid of what change may bring, pushed the same question to the back their mind: “What if we have it all wrong?” Suddenly, the culture of Africa was influencing the culture of America, Asia, Europe, Australia, etc. Achebe’s novel was a catalyst in the process of nationalist renewal and decolonization of African culture as a whole (Whittaker). A principle in this novel’s thematic course is the inter-generation conflict faced by not only the village as a whole, but also, on a microscopic level, in Okonkwo’s household. As the culture in Umuofia begins to shift, the predecessors of the current generation heavily rely on the cultural norms initiated by their father’s fathers. While tradition should be honored in a society, it should also be modified; this concept is not fully grasped by the older generations of