Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart Book Report

Chinua Achebe was an educator, author, broadcaster and producer born in 1930 in the Igbo town of Ogidi, located in the eastern region of Nigeria. He received his education in literature from the University of Ibadan where he graduated in 1953. After his graduation, Achebe dabbled in radio production where he worked with the Nigerian Broadcasting Service. All together Achebe published five novels and various literary, opinion, and poetic pieces throughout his lifetime.

His 1958 breakout novel, Things Fall Apart, made him known to the mainstream as the man who gave Africa a voice. The novel gave the outside world an insight into how an African civilization actually functions opposed to the literature written about Africa at the time which was heavily based on primitive stereotypes. Things Fall Apart is a response to Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness. Achebe wanted to show that Africa had a history that was thriving pre-colonialism. Achebe lived at the height of British colonization a time where the resources of countries such as Nigeria where being exploited by the Europeans. Under European rule, the colonies had to pay their own way and outrageous taxation such as head and hut taxes were implemented during this time. In 1960, Nigeria gained its independence from British rule but underwent a two year civil war afterwards. During the time the novel was written there was already a presence of an elitist society and this only led to nepotism and corruption among Nigerian politicians

Things Fall Apart, tells the story of a hard-working and powerful Igbo man named Okonkwo. The story is a classic rise from rags to riches, through hard work and determination. Okonkwo was the son of a drunken debtor who he swore he would never be like. With early success as a wrestler, a fearless warrior and later a successful yam farmer, Okonkwo was able to support three wives and various children. Even with all his success Okonkwo was still an angry man single-mindedly driven by his fear of being a failure like his father. He was aggressive towards his wives as well towards his children. Throughout the novel, Okonkwo does several unspeakable acts to reassert his masculinity and strength. During the Week of Peace, Okonkwo broke the most important rule by beating his youngest wife, which was a crime against the Earth. He also kills adoptive son Ikemefuna, despite recommendations not to. The turning point of the novel is when he accidentally shoots and kills the son of Ezeudu at his funeral, his second crime against the Earth. After being exiled in Mbanta, Okonkwo returns home to Umuofia only to see the breakdown in the traditional Igbo culture and rise of Christianity. Even his own son, Nwoye, rejected Umuofian customs and converted to Christianity resulting in Okonkwo disowning him. Realizing Umuofia will not go to war against the white men, Okonkwo kills the chief messenger and seals his own faith by hanging himself, committing his third crime against the Earth.

I believe that Things Fall Apart is an interstitial postcolonial text written with affirmative intentions and contains affirmative aspects. As we discussed in class, the novel is taught in many Africana courses because it was one of the first texts to accurately portray traditional Africa free of the primitive stereotypes. The entire first half of the novel is affirmative in the way that the Umuofian society is a well-run society. Even though there are flaws in the way things are handled in Umuofia, there is unity and cultural identity that is present throughout the text. This is seen not only in the immense cultural pride that Okonkwo has, but also in the rest of the society. They are willingly to sacrifice one life to save the lives of the masses. A prime example of this is the killing of Ikemefuna who was brought to Umuofia and raised there for three years only to be murdered or sacrificed by the same man he called father. This was because his one non-Umuofian life was not worth risking the lives of the villagers in any way. Even though there are affirmative aspects, the text is overall interstitial. Throughout the novel, particularly in the second half, the reader is made aware of both the good and the bad of traditions in the Igbo culture. The killing of the twins is portrayed as barbaric by Nwoye who was raised in the culture. However, the tradition of the Week of Peace is one that is highly respected by everyone in the community. Themes: In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe utilizes the character of Okonkwo to illustrate the importance of staying loyal to traditional values. The Igbo culture is heavily invested on relying on traditions in order to solve problems or explain the unknown. Okonkwo was raised to believe in his culture as he is an affirmative character, there Okonkwo’s undying loyalty and trust in his culture is shown when he does not go after Chielo after she comes and abducts Ezinma. Ezinma’s mother not only cries for her daughter’s return but she also goes searching for her. Okonkwo loves Ezinma dearly as she was his favorite child but he does not go searching for her because he trusts that nothing is going to happen to her. He even questions his wife as to why she is sobbing as if their daughter was kidnapped.

Things Fall Apart also highlights the dynamic between father and son as an important part in shaping how a man becomes a man. Okonkwo did not have a great relationship with his father as he viewed him as lazy, weak, and feminine. He began to despise his father for these very traits and vowed to not be like him in any way. So he works endlessly to gain success and looks down on anyone who does not do the same. He was a fearless warrior, an undefeated wrestler, and a very well off yam farmer. Okonkwo and his eldest son Nwoye have a similar relationship. Nwoye views his father as overly aggressive and unyielding and he fears him for these qualities, while Okonkwo despises his son because he is seemingly weak in his eyes. The roles are reversed and Nwoye takes actions to not becoming like his father, he joins the church of Christ as a new start.

Okonkwo is an antagonistic single-minded man driven by his fear of failure. From the beginning of the novel his fears of becoming a drunken debtor like his father are apparent but hidden behind a cloud of overcompensation. His aggressiveness towards his wives, children and pretty much anyone else is his way of reasserting his masculinity to not fit in the feminine-like category in which his father fell. In chapter three we witness the meeting between Unoka and the priestess at the time Chielo. Chielo tells Unoka that the reason behind his terrible success at yam farming is due to him taking the easy way out. She then tells him to “go home and work like a man.”This encounter seems to have shaped the way that Okonkwo viewed manhood and masculinity and became the basis of his fear of failing as a man like his father had. He is shown as an affirmative character who wants the “golden years” of Umuofian society to return. The reader can assess that Okonkwo is a character that is not necessarily fond of change. This is where his single-mindedness comes into play. He is unwilling to open up to the ideas of the advent of Christianity. Okonkwo is even more reluctant to accept the fact that his eldest son, Nwoye, is a converted Christian.

Nwoye is an impressionable and wide-eyed boy who is simply looking for his place to belong. When he is first introduced in the novel he is portrayed as this weak and mild mannered boy who Okonkwo wishes was big and masculine, like himself. Nwoye is constantly criticized and beat by his father which puts an obvious strain on their relationship. The strain on their relationship is what makes it so easy for him to reject his traditional religion and convert to Christianity as he did not feel much of an attachment to it. He was so easily drawn to Christianity because he rejected several of the beliefs of the Umuofian society. Nwoye is an interstitial character as he is an example of a character that does not agree to reinforce aspects of his traditional culture and adapts to the religion of the colonizers. For example, the text discusses how Nwoye never understood why twins who were born in the village were left in the Evil Forest to die because they were seen as a sort of bad omen.

The affirmative nature of Okonkwo’s character helps in understanding the “Make America Great Again” mindset of today. Okonkwo was raised at a time where everything was cut and dry and there was little to no changes happening in the Umuofian society. He wants things to stay the way they have always been, but the income of Christianity threatened this very way of life. This is just how some Americans who support the Trump administration feel. They believe that things such as immigration are a threat to traditional American ideals. Previously, I just viewed them as fearing change and progress but reading this book has helped me understand the reasons behind why people fear change.

The novel also helped in understanding nationalism and the passion and pride in one’s culture. Okonkwo gave up his relationship with Nwoye because he believed his decision to become Christian was a rejection of his Igbo heritage. He put his pride for his culture and cultural identity before his own son.