...Europeans. In most of Africa, there were no countries, only clans and tribes, which made the imperialization much easier as well. These imperialist nations, such as Great Britain, France, Italy, and Germany, showed African nations many new ideals and tools that spread like a cultural virus. One very well-known story of this part of history is a book written by Chinua Achebe, titled Things Fall Apart. The book tells a fantastic story of a tribe in Nigeria which becomes a victim of the European imperialists. Achebe does a remarkable job of giving the reader the vivid change from the African tribe before and after the Europeans arrived. Things Fall Apart centers around a Nigerian tribe leader named Okonkwo. Known for his strength, courage, and most of all, pride, Okonkwo is looked up to by most the people in his tribe. Okonkwo doesn’t handle the European invasion as well as others due to his large sense of pride, which ultimately leads to his downfall and death. Christian missionaries were one of the main forms of imperialization used by Europeans. The two missionaries in Things Fall Apart were Mr. Brown and Mr. Smith. It is common in African communities that there are outcasts existing. Outcasts could be anyone that has a disability, a criminal, or anyone that has been exiled. These missionaries would accept anyone that is an outcast and take them under their wing, showing them very appealing tools and technology. Also, the missionaries would give these outcasts an opportunity...
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...Salome Sutter. English 2309-700. DR Savic savic. 06/09/2014 Like Father Not Like Son. The Saying Like Father Like Son Is Not Always True. In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, we see different relationships between parents and their children. Women seem not to have so much value in leadership role since they can’t earn a title. They are married off to able men to bear children for the clan. We see the boy child being raised to take over after his father. Achebe has shown in great length the concept of father and son relationship to a deeper level. He has shown how a boy will always look up to his father for both positive and negative aspects. The grown adults have a choice to figure a path in their leadership. We mainly learn of Okonkwo the main character that hated everything about his father and chose to live his life the opposite. He put his whole energy into becoming his opposite. Unfortunately his oldest son, Nwoye who looked like his father Unoka was the opposite of him. Okonkwo is a great man in the village of Umuofia since he was 18 years old. He threw the cat in a wrestling fight. “As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat. Amalinze was the great wrestler who for seven years was unbeaten, from Umuofia to Mbaino.” (Achebe, Chapter 1 para 1) We are told that he continued to earn respect among his clansmen because no one had defeated the cat in seven years. Okonkwo worked so hard to be the opposite of his...
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... for his father was lazy and improvident. He was unwilling to help while his loving mother had died when Okonkwo was young. In the book Things’ Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo is a man determined to be strong, powerful, influential, courageous, hard-working, and able to provide for his family; everything his father was not, and somewhat of what his mother was like. The role of women in Okonkwo’s life seemed to be an unimportant role, but in reality, it is the key factor in running his life. Women’s role in Okonkwo’s life is huge, for his mother’s influence was able to get him a home to stay. His wives role in child bearing allows him to have children. His wives caring for the family run the household. Although Okonkwo has a rough exterior, inside he is a man determined to never be what his father was like. In his village of Umofia, Okonkwo is banished for seven years after accidentally shooting a boy, so customs stated that he pack up and leave, along with his family. Okonkwo, with nowhere else to go, went to his mother’s old village. The book states “It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman, and a man who committed it must flee from the land…Okonkwo was well received by his mother’s kinsman…” This means it is illegal, (a crime), to kill anyone in the village, and if a person did, they must leave in order for things to be set right again. Also, it means Okonkwo was recognized to be his mother’s son, so he could stay in his old village. If it were not...
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...In the novel, “Things Fall Apart”, Chinua Achebe first shows us the structure of the Igbo society and importance of men’s role in the clan. Igbo people are very organized and have great mindset on the structure of things when it comes to Religion and order of the society. These little things set the scene and show a cohesive society but can also lead to things falling apart. Okonkwo, being a successful man with many titles thought little of his father, Unoka, who had claimed no titles and was thought to be an ‘agbala’ which meant woman or man with no titles. Throughout the novel, we constantly see that Okonkwo’s need to not resemble his father festers and he has a desire to instill it in his oldest son, Nwoye. However, this was to no avail as we see that later on in the novel, Nwoye is attracted to Christianity when the missionaries arrive because he never agreed with his father’s views as he always had views of his own and of the Igbo religion. Upon hearing the news of Nwoye’s conversion, Okonkwo felt disheartened and decided to threaten his other sons in hopes of them not being like Nwoye and his ‘failure father’ , Unoka, who have disregarded the aspect of manhood. Religion is an important part of the dark continent which was depicted throughout the novel in different aspects. The little things that held the society together, in this case religion, also contributed to the Igbo society’s downfall. For example, in the case of Ikemefuna’s death, the Oracle demanded that the...
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...Latria Stridiron Dr. Hendricks HIST.350.020 September 27, 2012 Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe a Nigerian native wrote Things Fall Apart a groundbreaking novel as a response to European writings about Africa such as Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness and Joyce Cary Mister Johnson. Indignant at the way Africans were portrayed in those novels, Achebe looked for a way to show the world the richness of African culture, and in so doing, give his people a voice in the global society. Achebe announced that one of his purposes was to present a complex, dynamic society to a Western audience who perceived African society as primitive, simple, and backward. It was also a response to the Western beliefs that the Africans were uncivilized and barbaric. Achebe got most of his view from his own culture through the writing of Europeans. At first he related to the European writings, but as time went on, he felt they were poor caricatures and stereotypes of the actual people, and he tried to show this through his writing. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe illustrates this vision by showing us what happened in the Igbo society of Nigeria at the time of its colonization by the British. Because of internal weaknesses within the native structure and the divided nature of Igbo society, the community of Umuofia in this novel is unable to withstand the tidal wave of foreign religion, commerce, technology, and government. Unless Africans could tell their side of their story, Achebe...
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...Persephany Magdaleno Mr. Lopez July 23, 2014 AP Lit Things Fall Apart "The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart"(pg.176). Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, a historical fictional novel, was written to present a complex, dynamic society to a western audience who perceived African society as primitive, simple, and reversed. I strongly recommend this novel because of its differentiated perspectives of two intertwining stories for example: Okonkwo, a respected and powerful figure in the Ibo village, Umuofia, was also warrior whose major weakness in the novel is the inability to accept change. This ends up destroying him in the finale of the book. Chinua Achebe's other story described the influences of white missionaries on African tribes. Chinua Achebe also addresses the clash of cultures in the second part, especially within their religions, but implies that there is no right or wrong in their differences between their cultures. Fear is an emphasized theme throughout the novel because fear is what drives Okonkwo terror by the wrath of god's, guilt, and his community disapproval upon them. This theme is also looked as symbolization to Okonkwo's dedication to be a successful man because the fear was so fierce that it controlled...
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...this; most of the world, have separated religion from state (government). However in, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, their world is lived by the same idea for many years, until their culture is threatened. The character Okonkwo, from Things Fall Apart, is a proud, fearful, ambitious, and ill-tempered man. He is the leader in his family, and he is a great one at that. His father left him with and at nothing; he is a terrible example for Okonkwo. Okonkwo, unconsciously, changes his fate, and nonetheless becomes the opposite of his father. All this was put to trial when he was exiled for seven years for committing a female murder. All that he was, his essence was put to trial; him being leader of his family, had to leave his family, everything. If this wasn’t bad enough, while he was gone, white men started migrating to his land, and that’s when everything started changing. As the white men settled in quietly with their religion, after some time, they stayed and governed harshly over Umuofia. What changed first was Umuofia’s traditional system, which was masculinity. Titles were no longer important. As tradition changed, a new belief system came into the picture, Christianity. The white men introduced the Christian church to Umuofia, thus dividing the community. Society begins to steadily change with this new religion, and henceforth comes a new government. The way they dealt with things now was more “stable,” or “better.” After the seven years were up, Okonkwo finally is...
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...with plenty of fame and fortune, but because of their status in society, it ultimately leads to their own downfall. People often wonder what the point of a tragedy if the protagonist is just going to die anyways,yet people still read them. Novels like The Great Gatsby, Romeo and Juliet, and Titanic are all very popular tragedies that are best sellers, common in English class, and have even been made into movies. Some might argue that tragedies are written to preserve a memory in honor of those lost, however, others might say it’s to show readers the effect of a problem in order to prevent it from happening again in the future. Chinua Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart as a way to prevent colonization from happening to any other tribe because colonization destroys a society instead of building one like it’s supposed to. The very first thing the white missionaries do is barge in and “shoot everybody except the sick who were stuck at home” (Achebe 139). The white missionaries didn’t even ask if they could live with them, let alone amongst them. They needed to make room for themselves so they wiped out an entire tribe, “ ‘Abeme is no more’ ” (Achebe 137). The white missionaries sure didn’t make a very good impression of who they were. By deciminating an entire tribe and leaving only a few survivors, most likely to spread around the terrors of the white men and how the natives should fear them and listen to the missionaries. They are not being peaceful with them like they promised to. The...
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...Colonization and Cultural Change in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe There is a major importance of customs and traditions in the African nations. The customs and traditions decide the fate of the men, women, and children of each separate tribe, as well as how the men are viewed from neighboring tribes. Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart achieves the paradoxical effect of enabling African tribal life to be accessible to western society, while simultaneously excluding it. The incursion of the colonizing force is changing or threatening to change almost every aspect of their society: religion, family structure, gender roles, relations, and trade. In this novel Achebe uses the term Locusts to symbolize the arrival of white settlers who will feast on and exploit the resources of the Igbo. Achebe aims to show that Africa is not the uncivilized, simple country that it is portrayed as by other cultures. His work aims to show the reader to understand the tribe and assist the reader to think about the reasoning behind the beliefs that may be viewed as odd or illogical. For instance; that a child should be murdered or the spirits of the dead must be appeased, if not it can have grave consequences for some tribal members. Or the tribal concept of 'bloating' they simply take people suffering with it to the evil forest and leave them for dead, to them this perfectly logical. Paul Brians (Washington State University, 2002) states that "its most striking feature is to create...
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...Things fall apart 1) Discuss the role of fate, or “chi,” in the novel. How do you think Achebe feels about fate versus a person’s control over his or her own destiny? Through the novel “Things fall apart”, written by Chinua Achebe, the author demonstrate so many meaningful, African traditions and religion. Throughout the story, which took place in the Nigerian village of Umuofia, the concept of “Chi” personal god that determines fate/destiny was discussed and is important to our understanding of the main character, Okonkwo. Moreover, Okonkwo was a man who had plans for greatness but his chi said otherwise and one can explain Okonkwo’s dreadful fate as the result of a problematic chi. Further, by showing how fate overpowered Okonkwo’s destiny, Achebe portrays that fate is way more powerful than destiny and no matter how hard a person try to make their own destiny, fate takes control. As mentioned before, Achebe shows the significant of Chi through the main Character. Okonkwo worked so hard to changes his fate and become a leader in his clans but his fate changed his life. Although he was recognized for his many achievements and was respected by the village because at a young age he threw the legendary Amalinze the cat for the first time and was a wealthy farmer unlike his father, but his problematic chi changed his destiny. Okonkwo proved to be a good man and wanted a good destiny but his chi spoke louder. In chapter 12 he accidentally shot Ezeudu’s sixteen-year-old...
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...Things Fall Apart is a novel written by Chinua Achebe. It is a fictional story that portrays the tribal life of the West African community. All the scenes revolve around the life of the main character Okonkwo who is a member of the tribe of Umofia. The story is set in the pre-colonial Igbo society and Colonial Igbo society. This book is into three parts: the pre-exiled Okonkwo, exiled Okonkwo, and returned Okonkwo. In all these parts, we recognize the values and virtues of the African life. The life of Okonkwo is comparatively the same Rip Van Winkle written by Washington Irving. In this story, Rip Van Winkle lived in the countryside, was exiled at some time, and came back to find that his country has changed to the extent of being not recognized. “You reap what you saw,” might seem to be a trite, because its presence in many languages. However, it does not cease to apply in the life of the pre-exiled Okonkwo. Okonkwo, whose father was lazy, seemed to be condemned to poverty but his inveterate propensity to work harder and hustle made him rich and influential in the community of Umofia. In this part, Okonkwo is a resilient person considering the difficulties that he faced mainly due to the empty start that his father offered. Additionally, Okonkwo was a famous wrestler in the entirety nine tribes of the land of Igbo. As a result, he has been involved in all the warfare issues of the land of Umofia. He took a young boy Ikemefuna as retribution to avoid strife between the tribes...
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...Eliminating the “Single Story” in Things Fall Apart Negative stereotypes of the African people “mainly come from western literature”(Adichie) which does not show the African people as human beings with complex lives but instead as an “incomprehensible people, fighting senseless wars, dying of poverty, unable to speak for themselves, and waiting to be saved by the kind white foreigner”(Adichie). Stories that only depict one point of view of a person or people develops a “single story” which creates misperceptions like the negative stereotypes of the African people. Adichie advocates that one must tell the story of a people from multiple perspectives to get the true story. By telling the story of the British colonization of Africa from the perspective of the colonized, which ultimately shows their complexities and similarities to Western culture, Achebe eliminates the “single story” of the African people in Things Fall Apart. Religion embodies one of the many complexities of the human race. Societies of all kinds, including the Ibo society, use religion to help guide them through hardships and provide morals and ethics. Achebe wants to show to Western readers that the Ibo religion is not any less enlightened than their Christian beliefs by showing the similarities to Christian religion, therefore refuting the “single story” of the African people. Similarly to how Christians consult their priests in Christianity, the Ibo people consult their ancestors called the egwugwu for spiritual...
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...Things Fall Apart- Status Things Fall Apart Topic Tracking: Status Chapter 1 Status 1: Okonkwo became an important part of his village early in his life when he defeated Amaline the Cat in a wrestling match. His victory made him a celebrity among the nine villages of Umuofia because Amaline had been undefeated for seven years. At this point, Okonkwo began on the path to high social status among his village, which was his goal throughout his life. Status 2: Okonkwo hated his father because he was a lazy debtor. Unoka could never afford to purchase a title for himself or to have more than one wife, and so he was looked down upon by his neighbors and his own son because his primary joy was in music and merry-making rather than work, wealth, and warfare. Status 3: The elders of Okonkwo's village held him in high esteem. Because of his place in society, they entrusted him with the life of a boy sacrificed to them by the people of a neighboring village as a peace offer. Chapter 2 Status 4: Because of his great wealth, courage, and social esteem, Okonkwo was chosen by his village to act as an ambassador of war and meet with another village to work out the terms for settlement when a woman from Okonkwo's village was killed by people from the neighboring village. While Okonkwo was in the village of the offenders he was treated with great respect because of his social status. Status 5: When Okonkwo learned that the word for a man without a title in Ibo is the same word that means...
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...“Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe offers several ideas as to what motivates people to do the things they do. Greed, anger, and love are just a few of the driving forces which people experience. One motivation, which will be examined in this paper, is that of fear. Fear is a powerful motivator that can either help or hinder. Fear inspires several of the characters in the book to take action in regard to their own particular situations and experiences. Either they conquer their fears and move on, use that fear to overcome a particular situation, or they continue to live in fear allowing it to control them. Nwoye has a fear of his father, Ekwefi has a fear of losing her daughter, and finally Okonkwo has a fear of becoming like his father. Each of these characters experiences some sort of fear and allows it to drive their actions. Nwoye is the oldest son of Okonkwo, who sees him as lazy and weak. At the beginning of the book, Nwoye is 12 years old and is harshly judged by Okonkwo because he cannot work as long or as hard. This results in nagging and beatings by his father to in an attempt to correct what Onkonkwo feels are negative personality traits. Then Ikemefuna joins the household. Ikemefuna is a boy given to Onkonkwo by a neighboring village. Ikemefuna becomes popular among all of Okonkwos children, but becomes especially close to Nwoye. Ikemefuna acts as an older brother to Nwoye, who seems to mature under the tutelage of Ikenefuna. This relationship gives Nwoye confidence...
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...Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe gives a vivid portrayal of the African society before colonialism, during colonialism and after colonialism. It is centered on a tragic hero, Okonkwo, whose aim for success and fear of weakness drives his entire life and eventually leads to his fall. Achebe uses Umoufia, a land surrounded with strong traditions and culture as the case study to depict the effects of culture clash on a land where “Things Fall Apart; the center cannot hold” (Achebe, 2009). The title of this book is symbolic to the turnout of events in the story and foreshadows the inability of Umoufia to resist the pressures of change. In the novel, we see a clash between cultures and change that leads to the fall of the Igbo society, a clan that used to be strong and powerful before the white people came. The Igbo people face a dilemma on whether to accept the change, keep their way of life or better still balance both worlds in one. The way Achebe presents the arrival of the colonists and their imposition of change on the Igbo Society raises some thought to me on the true intention of colonialism i.e. did they come to spread Christianity or to acquire the land? The rapid unfold of events in the novel makes me harness the latter view; they took the stronghold of the Igbo society i.e. religion, turned it into a weakness, in the name of change, to enable them exploit the land. One thing that held the society together was their religion/tradition and once the colonists introduced...
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