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Things Fall Apart

By chinua achebe.

Chinua Achebe's 'Things Fall Apart' remains the single best piece of literature to come out of Africa.

About the Book

Article written by Israel Njoku

Degree in M.C.M with focus on Literature from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

‘Things Fall Apart ‘ is an immensely important novel that shines not only because of the relevance of its themes but also the poignancy embedded within its simplicity, and the greatness lying behind a seemingly basic plot. It is the work with the greatest reputation in African literature. Here we find out what makes ‘Things Fall Apart’ so worthy of this gigantic reputation.

An Important Novel

Before Achebe wrote ‘Things Fall Apart ,’ students learning about Africa through fiction had to go through works like Joyce Cary’s ‘ Mister Johnson ,’ and Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness .’ These are supposedly serious literary works with a clean reputation that purported to accurately represent the African man. In truth, these works only served to advance the imperialist goals of the European colonizers by representing Africans as passionate simpletons at best or as primitive animals at worst. Joyce Cary’s work typecasted the African within a very limited and specific category- that of the passionate and emotional but simple individual. What ‘Things Fall Apart’ did was to present Africans with a wider range of attributes that marked them as fully human, with typical human strengths and weaknesses. So, we get individuals like Okonkwo and Nwoye occupying worldviews and temperaments that are poles apart. We also have the likes of Obierika, who straddles a middle ground between both character types.

Achebe constructs a Umuofia society with a fairly sophisticated way of life and institutions. The people of Umuofia judged disputes under an overarching need to preserve harmony and cohesion in society. They had elaborate marriage rituals that emphasized a wider sense of familyhood and community. They buried their dead with much respect and fanfare. However, it was also a very patriarchal society that marginalized women, killed off twins, and cast away people with certain debilitating illnesses. Although this is a society that could very much do with the sophistication in medicine and technology the West had to offer, it was by no means the primitive and cannibalistic society full of blood-thirsty savages that the likes of Conrad described in their books. Achebe’s book is important because it offers a truer image of Africa that is far more respectful to Africans, and far more acknowledging of their humanity.

‘Things Fall Apart’ might seem a pretty easy read, with a style that does not appear to fulfill high Western stylistic standards, but it is no less powerful. Through the use of a structure and style that conforms to African oral tradition rather than that of the West, Achebe’s work demonstrates its authenticity and power. The work is structured in a manner that closely mimics traditional African forms. The novel is divided into three unequal parts, with the first part being as large as the second and third parts put together. The first part is only large because much time is spent on events that lay out the culture and traditions of the people of Umuofia, rather than on progressing the plot.

The narrative nostalgically goes over the community’s agricultural practices, religion, marriage, funeral customs, and judicial system, before returning to the plot at the end. This narrative structure is not consistent with Western literary forms but has its roots in the oral traditions of African storytelling. Igbo orators normally skirt around a subject by dwelling on side events before eventually hitting upon it. With the coming of the White man and his religion, the plot progresses at a rapid pace, as if to signal the rapid coming to an end of this Umuofia society that Achebe had spent so long describing.

‘Things Fall Apart’ is known not only for the originality and relevance of its themes but also its style. Achebe’s masterful use of the English language earned him praise from critics. The critic, Obumselu, praised Achebe for maintaining the literal fidelity of the Igbo words and contexts he was translating into English. He thought Achebe succeeded in preserving the local flavor of these words and contexts. His thoughts were echoed by the critic G. Adali Morty, who, writing in 1959, succinctly posited that Achebe’s use of language “has the ring and rhythm of poetry. In the background of the words can be heard the thrumming syncopation of the sound of Africa- the gongs, the drums, the castanets and the horns.”

The novel’s reputation as an authentic work is also helped by its seeming objectivity and freedom from bias and agenda. Achebe’s decision to not go to the other extreme and oppose racist portrayals of African society with idealized portrayals of the same society earned him plaudits from the likes of Gerald Moore. Moore contrasts Achebe’s intellectual honesty and realism with the chauvinistic idealism and African mythologizing, which he seems to detect in works of contemporaries of Achebe like Camara Laye. Moore believes that Achebe’s refusal to “justify, explain or condemn is responsible for a good deal of the book’s success. The novelist presents to us a picture of traditional Igbo life as just as he can make it. The final judgment of that life, as of the life which replaced it, is left to us.”

Nationalist Criticism

Another way in which critics have looked at Achebe’s ‘ Things Fall Apart ,’ and indeed most of his other works, was within the lens of the anti-colonial and pan-Africanist demand for African writers to throw away every vestige of western forms in their works. One such form is the use of the language of the colonizers, such as English. For the subscribers of this school of thought, African writers ought to write in indigenous African languages and not in English. These critics believed that the use of English by African writers would limit the ability of writers to do justice to the complexity and originality of the African imagination.

Several anti-colonial writers like Ngugi Wa Thiong’o have criticized Achebe for writing in English. To them, it was impossible to fully convey an authentic African experience while writing about it in a foreign language. But their criticisms ring hollow in the face of Achebe’s masterful use of the English language in such a way that it clearly and effectively transmits this authentic African experience. The original Igbo feeling, humor, and depths behind the dialogues are effectively conveyed.

Critics like Obiajunwa Wali believed that African writers writing in English were subjecting their work to European standards, with their novels being only a continuation of Western literary and philosophical traditions rather than being part of the evolution or maturation of a truly African one. For him, novels like ‘Things Fall Apart’ cannot be entirely African since they borrow from European stylistic and narrative strategies. Achebe’s response to this position was the argument that it is not actually about the language one uses but how one uses such language. In his essay, ‘ The African writer and the English language ,’ written in 1965, Achebe explained that there is nothing inherent about the English language that negatively restricts the originality and authenticity of the African novel. He maintained that the African writer could pass his message accurately and authentically convey the African experience through creative and masterful use of the English language. 

Feminist Criticism

Although Achebe locates ‘ Things Fall Apart’ within an obviously patriarchal Igbo society, one true to the times, he nevertheless came under fire for his portrayal of women in the novel. Critics like Ifi Amadiume and Florence Stratton argued that Achebe’s portrayal of women displays deep-seated prejudicial sentiments towards them. They argue that Achebe often went beyond what was obtainable in pre-colonial Igbo society to disempower and silence the voice of women. Stratton observed that Igbo women did have considerable influence and power in pre-colonial Igbo society and that Achebe’s failure to capture this sufficiently reveals his bias against women.

In conclusion, it is easy to see why ‘Things Fall Apart’ has sustained the reputation it has so far. It is easy to see why, despite the simplicity of narration and language, it continues to retain the reverence of some of the most prominent writers and critics, as well as readers from around the world. It is an important historical work, an important ammunition against racist literature, a successful representation of the possibilities of utilizing indigenous African forms, as well as a great demonstration of an authentic way to use the English language to accurately convey African thought, sentiments, and events.

Things Fall Apart Review

Book Title: Things Fall Apart

Book Description: 'Things Fall Apart' is the first novel by Chinua Achebe and also by far his most successful. Having sold over 20 million copies worldwide, it is the most widely read, studied, and translated piece of African literature.

Book Author: Chinua Achebe

Book Edition: First Edition

Book Format: Hardcover

Publisher - Organization: Heinemann Educational Books

Date published: October 17, 1958

ISBN: 978-0435904960

Number Of Pages: 209

‘ Things Fall Apart’ is not only an important novel that successfully counters racist portrayals of Africans in Western literature but is also a disarmingly rich work that incorporates traditional African forms in a revolutionary way. The structure might be unusual, but that is only because it is staying true to the African oral tradition, rather than Western standards. ‘ Things Fall Apart ‘ owes a lot of its success and acclaim to the nuance and maturity with which it carries out its task of rehabilitating the butchered image of Africa, refusing to go the other extreme, but to rather present things as they were.

• Quite accessible
• Great depiction of traditional African society
• Revolutionary use of traditional African styles and forms
• Ability to accurately translate the original Igbo contexts into English
• Very influential to subsequent African writers
• Needlessly stripped female characters of power

About Israel Njoku

Israel loves to delve into rigorous analysis of themes with broader implications. As a passionate book lover and reviewer, Israel aims to contribute meaningful insights into broader discussions.

Cite This Page

Njoku, Israel " Things Fall Apart Review ⭐ " Book Analysis , https://bookanalysis.com/chinua-achebe/things-fall-apart/review/ . Accessed 11 April 2024.

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Book Review

Book Review: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Author: Chinua Achebe

Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd.

Genre: Historical Fiction, Classic, African Literature

First Publication: 1958

Major Characters: Okonkwo, Ikemefuna, Ezinma, Nwoye

Theme: Tradition vs. Change, Fate vs. Free Will, Masculinity, Religion

Setting: Pre-colonial Nigeria, 1890s

Narrator:  Third-person omniscient

Book Summary: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Okonkwo is the greatest wrestler and warrior alive, and his fame spreads throughout West Africa like a bush-fire in the harmattan. But when he accidentally kills a clansman, things begin to fall apart. Then Okonkwo returns from exile to find missionaries and colonial governors have arrived in the village. With his world thrown radically off-balance he can only hurtle towards tragedy.

First published in 1958, Chinua Achebe’s stark, coolly ironic novel reshaped both African and world literature, and has sold over ten million copies in forty-five languages. This arresting parable of a proud but powerless man witnessing the ruin of his people begins Achebe’s landmark trilogy of works chronicling the fate of one African community, continued in Arrow of God and No Longer at Ease.

Things Fall Apart is the kind of book that makes reading so enjoyable. Not only did it have a captivating story to tell, it also had a great deal of meaning hidden within its text, giving me plenty of reasons to come back to this book long after finishing it. This is an insightful novel that makes you think about a variety of themes and morals while simultaneously entertaining and captivating readers with its characters and setting. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is one of those books that I will constantly look back on and think about for years to come, for such was its level of quality on both a narrative scale as well as in terms of its rich subtext.

“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.”

Things Fall Apart tells two concurrent stories that overlap and counterbalance each other throughout the novel. One of the novel’s focuses centers around the protagonist Okonkwo, a fierce warrior who represents traditional African culture. The other focus is on Okonkwo’s tribe, Umuofia, as it undergoes a drastic change in all areas of life once European missionaries enter the fray. The stark divide in ideologies between Okonkwo and Umuofia becomes the focal point of the story and leads to some very contentious moments in the book.

What is one to do when their home has turned against them, when it has done away with your long-held beliefs and values? What is one to do when they are powerless to stop a seemingly unstoppable force from ravaging their essence? These are the conflicts present in Things Fall Apart as seen through Okonkwo’s battle against his ever-changing tribe in the midst of a European takeover. What follows is an entertaining yet poignant tale that will not soon be forgotten.

“Age was respected among his people, but achievement was revered. As the elders said, if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings.”

Okonkwo’s story was excellent. I felt firmly attached to this character the whole time reading, always anxious to see what happens next in his journey or where he would find himself at its conclusion. Granted, Okonkwo may not be the nicest character in literature, nor would you be necessarily wrong in assessing him as a bad person. He does some pretty rotten things in the novel, but context means everything, and though he may have done wrong by conventional standards, he did these things with good intentions, as deluded as they may have been.

In my view, Okonkwo is a tragic hero whose actions are taken in the best interests of his family and tribe, never out of any selfish or vain reasons that would usually lend themselves to an unlikable or evil character. He is tremendously flawed, but so are a lot of tragic figures in literature, which makes them all the more interesting to follow. More to that point, his flaws were completely relatable and forgivable since everything that happened to Okonkwo was the result of circumstances beyond his control. Okonkwo was one of the strongest, most well-developed, and fascinating literary characters I have come across.

“The world has no end, and what is good among one people is an abomination with others.”

The brilliance of Things Fall Apart is how objective it manages to be while at the same time establishing an intimate feel throughout the entirety of the novel. That is to say, Chinua Achebe was able to shine a light on the culture of the missionaries as well as the Africans and point out their strengths and weaknesses, all the while engaging the readers in a very personal tale of one tribesman’s struggle to come to terms with this newly imposed way of life.

Achebe never once painted Umuofia and its people as being the “good guys,” or the helpless and innocent victims of colonialism. Likewise, he never made the European missionaries out to be the heartless “bad guys” who sought only to inflict damage and pain unto the Africans. Instead, Achebe balanced these two sides out and demonstrated that nothing is ever merely black and white, and that complexity exists everywhere and cannot be stereotyped or callously assumed. That is the magic behind Things Fall Apart – that it is capable of being many things to many people while maintaining an objective ambiguity about it, thus leaving the interpreting up to the readers rather than having its meanings blatantly shoved down our throats. This diversity of perspective and opinion make books like Things Fall Apart all the more worthwhile a reading experience.

“Eneke the bird says that since men have learned to shoot without missing, he has learned to fly without perching.”

Another aspect of Things Fall Apart that made it great was its historical and cultural significance in the field of literature. Though the events of the novel were purely fictitious, they resembled the real-life events which occurred all throughout Africa during a time when the British were colonizing across the globe. This novel gave many readers, such as myself, an accessible means by which to learn about the infringement of these African cultures and the assimilation which took place thereafter by the British. Beforehand, I was not too knowledgeable on African affairs in the early 20th century, nor was I fully aware of the intentions of the Europeans as they colonized new lands.

However, after reading Things Fall Apart, I came away from it learning a lot about the history and culture of the African people and their plights, as well as about the motivations of the missionaries. Although I would not recommend this book as a substitute for a textbook on the subject, I can say that it conveys a good deal of historical context that would satisfy those hoping to get more involved in African literary studies.

This is a relatively short novel, and its chapters fly by so fast that you will be through with it in no time at all, which may be the only bad thing I can say about this book. Though as short a read as it may have been, its impact was anything but fleeting with a memorable story and a plethora of subtext in which to indulge for a long time to come.

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Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, a Book Review

Introduction: things fall apart by chinua achebe.

Other authors wrote about this topic, but they came at it from a different perspective. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness ( Review ) – which I found offensive because of the way he depicted black people – was one of those books.

With the demonstration going on around the world, I thought I'd add this book review that I wrote more than seven years ago.

What is Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe About?

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a story about the clashing of cultures. The clash between the Ibo society of Umuofia, a group of nine villages in Nigeria, and European colonization and Christianity. And the falling from grace of both an individual and a society, and the reason for both. First published in 1958, the story covers the end of the 19 th century, and is through the eyes of the warrior, Okonkwo, from the village Iguedo.

While growing up in the village of Iguedo, Okonkwo was very ashamed of his father, Unoka. He considered his father to be very lazy. Iguedo vowed that he would lead a very different life, one where he would provide for his family. Many boys had a better start than Okonkwo because their fathers would have given them lands. But despite this, Okonkwo was able to rise and become known and respected. He was a man of action and a man of war.

The story depicts the ways of the Iguedo people who believed in gods and were very fearful of the wrath of these same gods. It was also a very patriarchal society where men ruled the household and women did their bidding. Although Okonkwo was very brave, I didn’t like his character as a person. He was quick to anger and abused his family whenever they slipped up.

And he knew exactly how to kill a man’s spirit. He ruled his household with a heavy hand. So they were perpetually fearful of him. I loved the spirit of his second wife Ekwefi, who had a mind of her own, although she would suffer for it.

To understand and appreciate Things Fall Apart , we cannot look at it with today’s lens. A lot of the things that the villagers did would be considered illegal today. And they were a highly superstitious people who offered sacrifices to gods. When a woman had twins the newborns were thrown into the Evil Forest. It was generally accepted that men could beat their wives and children.

Each year, they celebrate the Week of Peace in Umuofia. One year, Ekwefi went away to get her hair done, when she should have been preparing Okonkwo’s meal. His first wife tries to cover for her. But Okonkwo is not fooled. When she returns home he beats her mercilessly. And that is a no-no during the Week of Peace because it’s a time when they live peacefully with everyone, to honour the gods. As punishment for his deeds, Okonkwo has to

“bring to the shrine of Ani one she-goat, one hen, a length of cloth, and a hundred cowries.”

A man from another village kills the wife of Udo from Umuofia.

“…Okonkwo had  been chosen by the nine villages to carry a message of war to their enemies unless they agreed to give up a young man and a virgin to atone for the murder of Udo’s wife. And such was the deep fear that their enemies had for Umuofia that they treated Okonkwo like a king and brought him a virgin who was given to Udo as a wife, and the lad Ikemefuna.”

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It was the intent of the leaders in Umuofia to kill Ikemefuna. Ikemefuna is placed in Okonkwo’s care and for three years the lad is treated like one of his children. At the end of the three years, the leaders decide it is the right time to kill the boy. One of the elders, Ogbuefi Ezeudu, visits Okonkwo and warns him not to participate in killing Ikemefuna. The warrior doesn’t heed the wise man’s warning and is actively involved. Shortly after, Ogbuefi Ezeudu dies and at his funeral, during a gun salute, Okonkwo accidentally shoots and kills the deceased man’s 16 year old son.

Since the shooting is accidental, Okonkwo is exiled from Umuofia for seven years. He takes his family and his prized possessions to the village of Mbanta where his mother was from. And he prospers there and waits to return to his community.

Things Fall Apart  by Chinua Achebe is divided into three parts. In the first two sections, the novel depicts the life of the Ibo people at the end of the 1800s, before colonization and the invasion of missionaries.

Missionaries from the West and colonial administrator arrive and disrupt the ways, beliefs and life of the villagers, who do not know how to adapt to change. The villagers are viewed as primitive. Yet as the story unfolds, Achebe skillfully demonstrates the weaknesses in both systems, that of the villages and those of the new arrivals. There is no true dialogue between both parties.

After the exile, Okwonko and his family return to Umuofia and find a very changed place. He has also lost his standing in society and is very determined to reclaim it. There is a clash between the villagers and the Christian missionaries and colonizers. Okwonko also doesn’t know how to adapt to change or even want to.

“He [Okwonko] sprang to his feet as soon as he saw who it was. He confronted the head messenger, trembling with hate, unable to utter a word. The man was fearless and stood his ground, his four men lined up behind him. In that brief moment the world seemed to stand still, waiting. There was utter silence….The spell was broken by the head messenger. ‘Let me pass!’ he ordered. ‘What do you want here?’ ‘The white man whose power you know too well has ordered this meeting to stop.’ In a flash Okonkwo drew his machete. The messenger crouched to avoid the blow. It was useless. Okonkwo’s machete descended twice and the man’s head lay beside his uniformed body…. Okonkwo stood looking at the dead man. He knew Umuofia would not go to war….He heard voices asking: ‘Why did he do it’…”

Final Thoughts: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Before there is any repercussion for his actions, Okonkwo commits suicide. Societies disintegrate, and people disintegrate when they do not communicate and compromise with each other.

About the Author  Avil Beckford

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Things fall apart by chinua achebe [a review].

Things Fall Apart is considered one of the great novels of the 20 th century and a landmark in post-colonial literature. A short, simply-told novel; it is the complexity hidden within that marks Achebe as a great writer.

Things Fall Apart is the story of Okonkwo, a man famous throughout his Nigerian region’s nine villages for his achievements. When barely an adult he was already a great wrestler. Even now he is still considered young, yet is already a wealthy farmer with three wives, two titles and has shown prowess in two inter-tribal wars. Okonkwo has collected five heads in battle and is known to drink palm wine out of his first head on special occasions.

He was tall and huge, and his bushy eyebrows and wide nose gave him a very severe look. He breathed heavily, and it was said that, when he slept, his wives and children in their out-houses could hear him breathe. When he walked, his heels hardly touched the ground and he seemed to walk on springs, as if he was going to pounce on somebody. And he did pounce on people quite often. He had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough, he would use his fists. He had no patience with unsuccessful men. He had had no patience with his father.

Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was a very different man. Unoka was lazy, improvident and a drinker. He was always in debt to everyone, yet always seemed able to borrow more. Unoka once consulted an oracle to discover why his crops were so poor. He was told in clear terms that it was because of his poor work ethic.

In many ways, Okonkwo’s character is a strong reaction to his father’s. Okonkwo fears weakness and failure, he hates idleness and gentleness. Though not necessarily cruel, he is short-tempered and his family suffer when they fail to live up to his standards. Nwoye, Okonkwo’s twelve-year-old eldest son, can find himself being beaten if he ever shows signs of laziness.

Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and the forces of nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw. Okonkwo’s fear was greater than these. It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father. […] And so Okonkwo was rule by one passion – to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved. One of those things was gentleness and another was idleness.

Okonkwo’s current wealth is due to his strength of character. Inheriting nothing from his father, Okonkwo turned to sharecropping. It was a hard life with little profit and the year he began was a poor one where many other farmers lost their crops. But Okonkwo’s sharp rise out of poverty earns him tremendous respect. Others know it was not due to luck, that Okonkwo is a self-made man who deserves his success but the harshness he shows to the less fortunate makes them wince.

But even Okonkwo is not entirely made of stone. When the traditions and beliefs of his people call for harsh action to be taken, Okonkwo can find his heart softening if not his deeds. But he is not one to turn against tradition even when his own rash actions mean traditional justice must be acted against him.

Unknown to Okonkwo there are bigger challenges on the horizon. The arrival of Christian missionaries and a colonial government will tear apart families and communities that do not know how to respond either to the external threat or to the internal weaknesses they exploit.

Today, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is probably the most famous work of African literature, certainly for the English-literate portion of the world. First published in 1958, more than 12 million copies have been printed in more than 50 languages, it is a staple of high school and university literature classes and opened the door to Nigerian and African literature.

A short novel of around 150 pages told in 25 short chapters, Things Falls Apart hides a lot of thought and complexity in its simply-told story – a characteristic of the best writing. The plot is engaging and the flawed hero earns our respect for the traits that made him a self-made success, our censure for his moments of brutal insensitivity and our sympathy as a man who can’t comprehend how his world is changing beyond his control.

Between the story of Okonkwo and his environment, Achebe intersperses the novel with chapters and passages that immerse the reader in Igbo culture. There are the aspects that show a common past with all human civilisations and culture, one centred on tradition and customs; early religion and superstition; polygamy, arranged marriage and patriarchy. In the first part of the novel, the reader is shown Igbo festivals, weddings, funerals, wrestling matches and how disputes are resolved and justice delivered. Most of all, Achebe gives the reader an appreciation of these peoples’ language; their style of conversation and especially, their use of idioms, proverbs and storytelling in expressing their point of view. He shows the reader the richness of pre-colonial Nigeria in the late nineteenth-century. In this sense, Things Fall Apart is a rebuttal to Western takes on Africa such as Conrad’s Heart of Darkness .

Instead, Achebe shows the impact of the infiltration of the West from an African point of view. It is this clash of cultures aspect of Things Fall Apart that Achebe really delivers a complexity, despite the brevity, that I admired so much. Things Fall Apart emphasises the large gap between the two cultures. The Igbo live in small groups with no overall leadership; their religion in polytheistic and localised; disputes are settled and peace kept by the judgement of the community’s elders. The colonisers, on the other hand, brandish a centralised government, a monotheistic religion and courts which blindly uphold written laws. The colonisers make little attempt to understand the Igbo culture. They just assume it to be primitive and inferior which allows them to impose their values and attempt to transform the society with impunity.

‘What has happened to that piece of land in dispute?’ asked Okonkwo.

‘The white man’s court has decided that it should belong to Nnama’s family, who had given much money to the white man’s messengers and interpreter.’

‘Does the white man understand our custom about land?’

‘How can he when he does not even speak our tongue? But he says that our customs are bad; and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever. He can 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.’

That being said, Achebe is not telling us a black-and-white morality tale of the evils of colonialism. While he undoubtedly shows the large negative impact of the colonisers, he also points to its positives such as the delivery of medicine, technology and education. More than that, Achebe emphasises the flaws of Igbo culture that made it so vulnerable to infiltration from the outside. As it has elsewhere, Christianity with Jesus as a saviour, has particular appeal for those made outcasts, perhaps unjustly, by the indigenous culture, attracting converts. Whatever its flaws, Christian morality and secular justice has the impact of exposing failures of traditional methods, causing division between those who want to question and change tradition from within and those who react defensively to protect it at all costs.

Obierika was a man who thought about things. When the will of the goddess had been done, he sat down in his obi and mourned his friend’s calamity. Why should a man suffer so grievously for an offence he had committed inadvertently? But although he thought for a long time he found no answer. He was merely led into greater complexities. He remembered his wife’s twin children, whom he had thrown away. What crime had they committed? The Earth had decreed they were an offence on the land and must be destroyed. And if the clan did not exact punishment for an offence against the great goddess, her wrath was loosed on all the land and not just on the offender. As the elders said, if one finger brought oil it soiled the others.

Achebe’s influences and the context in which he was writing can perhaps partly explain these aspects of Things Fall Apart . In the Introduction to this Penguin Modern Classics edition, fellow Nigerian writer Biyi Bandele mentions the influence on Achebe and his work from having a Christian father and a heathen uncle. That Achebe was part of a Nigerian generation of educated elite, expected to lead the nation following the end of colonialism, but with considerable difficulties to overcome for colonialisms legacy. In these terms, Achebe is a forerunner to other post-colonial writers such as Salman Rushdie. Published in 1958, two years before Nigerian Independence, the atmosphere of optimism and despair in the pre-colonial setting of the novel mirrors similar anxieties of the time of publishing.

Achebe grew up in a home where they sang hymns and read the Bible night and day. But he would often sneak across to his ‘heathen’ uncle’s compound and partake in pagan festivals of rice and stew. To his delight, he found in the food no flavour of idolatry. The converts to the new creed looked down on the non-Christians in the village, calling them ‘the people of nothing’. But Achebe did not suffer from an identity crisis over the two cultures contesting for his devotion. He lived at the crossroads of culture and although, as he grew up, he knew to reject, ‘all that rubbish [about] the evil forces and irrational passions prowling through Africa’s heart of darkness’, he felt also that the crossroads did have a certain potency, ‘because a man might perish there wrestling with multi-headed spirits, but he might also be lucky and return to his people with the boon of prophetic vision. From the Introduction

Post-colonial literature emerged after the fall of European global power following the Second World War. It became a powerful genre in literature; voices and stories previously unheard became popular and celebrated. Hopefully it will continue to be as there is still much more to be said, but writers with lived experience of colonialism are a dying breed and new writers given more focus to the ‘post’ rather than the ‘colonial’ of the genre.

Things Fall Apart is rightly viewed as one of the great novels of this genre and one of the best of the 20 th century. I am glad to finally have read it. Two more of Achebe’s novels – Arrow of God and No Longer at Ease – form an ‘African Trilogy’, though not one of continuing the story of Things Fall Apart with the same characters, or even published in chronological order. I have already read and enjoyed these too and will post me reviews shortly.

Reader, beware: Things Fall Apart is savage and tender, it blisters with wit and radiates with the inner glow of hard-earned compassion. It is disillusioned but passionately engaged, solemn while being exuberant; it is polemical but wise. There is not a shred of the congealed violence of cheap sentimentality: Achebe’s characters do not seek our permission to be human, they do not apologise for being complex (or for being African, or for being human, or for being so extraordinarily alive). From the Introduction

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I read this in my teens when I worked at the library and started reading through all the fiction from A to … well, somewhere in A. Ha! I don’t think I understood it at all at the time, so need to revisit it.

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It will only get harder for teenagers to understand without guidance as colonialism recedes further in the collective memory. But it is a great book and worth rediscovering. His follow up novels in his Africa Trilogy are good too (reviews to come!). Thanks for your visit and comment

I’m hoping that the efforts at curriculum reform will mean that teenagers have that guidance in future. We can only hope. I will look out for your further reviews.

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THINGS FALL APART

by Chinua Achebe ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 23, 1958

This book sings with the terrible silence of dead civilizations in which once there was valor.

Written with quiet dignity that builds to a climax of tragic force, this book about the dissolution of an African tribe, its traditions, and values, represents a welcome departure from the familiar "Me, white brother" genre.

Written by a Nigerian African trained in missionary schools, this novel tells quietly the story of a brave man, Okonkwo, whose life has absolute validity in terms of his culture, and who exercises his prerogative as a warrior, father, and husband with unflinching single mindedness. But into the complex Nigerian village filters the teachings of strangers, teachings so alien to the tribe, that resistance is impossible. One must distinguish a force to be able to oppose it, and to most, the talk of Christian salvation is no more than the babbling of incoherent children. Still, with his guns and persistence, the white man, amoeba-like, gradually absorbs the native culture and in despair, Okonkwo, unable to withstand the corrosion of what he, alone, understands to be the life force of his people, hangs himself. In the formlessness of the dying culture, it is the missionary who takes note of the event, reminding himself to give Okonkwo's gesture a line or two in his work, The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger .

Pub Date: Jan. 23, 1958

ISBN: 0385474547

Page Count: 207

Publisher: McDowell, Obolensky

Review Posted Online: April 23, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1958

LITERARY FICTION

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HOUSE OF LEAVES

by Mark Z. Danielewski ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 6, 2000

The story's very ambiguity steadily feeds its mysteriousness and power, and Danielewski's mastery of postmodernist and...

An amazingly intricate and ambitious first novel - ten years in the making - that puts an engrossing new spin on the traditional haunted-house tale.

Texts within texts, preceded by intriguing introductory material and followed by 150 pages of appendices and related "documents" and photographs, tell the story of a mysterious old house in a Virginia suburb inhabited by esteemed photographer-filmmaker Will Navidson, his companion Karen Green (an ex-fashion model), and their young children Daisy and Chad.  The record of their experiences therein is preserved in Will's film The Davidson Record - which is the subject of an unpublished manuscript left behind by a (possibly insane) old man, Frank Zampano - which falls into the possession of Johnny Truant, a drifter who has survived an abusive childhood and the perverse possessiveness of his mad mother (who is institutionalized).  As Johnny reads Zampano's manuscript, he adds his own (autobiographical) annotations to the scholarly ones that already adorn and clutter the text (a trick perhaps influenced by David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest ) - and begins experiencing panic attacks and episodes of disorientation that echo with ominous precision the content of Davidson's film (their house's interior proves, "impossibly," to be larger than its exterior; previously unnoticed doors and corridors extend inward inexplicably, and swallow up or traumatize all who dare to "explore" their recesses).  Danielewski skillfully manipulates the reader's expectations and fears, employing ingeniously skewed typography, and throwing out hints that the house's apparent malevolence may be related to the history of the Jamestown colony, or to Davidson's Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of a dying Vietnamese child stalked by a waiting vulture.  Or, as "some critics [have suggested,] the house's mutations reflect the psychology of anyone who enters it."

Pub Date: March 6, 2000

ISBN: 0-375-70376-4

Page Count: 704

Publisher: Pantheon

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2000

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THERE THERE

by Tommy Orange ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 5, 2018

In this vivid and moving book, Orange articulates the challenges and complexities not only of Native Americans, but also of...

Orange’s debut novel offers a kaleidoscopic look at Native American life in Oakland, California, through the experiences and perspectives of 12 characters.

An aspiring documentary filmmaker, a young man who has taught himself traditional dance by watching YouTube, another lost in the bulk of his enormous body—these are just a few of the point-of-view characters in this astonishingly wide-ranging book, which culminates with an event called the Big Oakland Powwow. Orange, who grew up in the East Bay and is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, knows the territory, but this is no work of social anthropology; rather, it is a deep dive into the fractured diaspora of a community that remains, in many ways, invisible to many outside of it. “We made powwows because we needed a place to be together,” he writes. “Something intertribal, something old, something to make us money, something we could work toward, for our jewelry, our songs, our dances, our drum.” The plot of the book is almost impossible to encapsulate, but that’s part of its power. At the same time, the narrative moves forward with propulsive force. The stakes are high: For Jacquie Red Feather, on her way to meet her three grandsons for the first time, there is nothing as conditional as sobriety: “She was sober again,” Orange tells us, “and ten days is the same as a year when you want to drink all the time.” For Daniel Gonzales, creating plastic guns on a 3-D printer, the only lifeline is his dead brother, Manny, to whom he writes at a ghostly Gmail account. In its portrayal of so-called “Urban Indians,” the novel recalls David Treuer’s The Hiawatha , but the range, the vision, is all its own. What Orange is saying is that, like all people, Native Americans don’t share a single identity; theirs is a multifaceted landscape, made more so by the sins, the weight, of history. That some of these sins belong to the characters alone should go without saying, a point Orange makes explicit in the novel’s stunning, brutal denouement. “People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them,” James Baldwin wrote in a line Orange borrows as an epigraph to one of the book’s sections; this is the inescapable fate of every individual here.

Pub Date: June 5, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-525-52037-5

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018

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• Book review: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Roxanne de Bruyn

Before you read further - there is the occasional spoiler in this review .

Things Fall Apart is a simple story. It tells of a family in an Igbo village in Niger. It tells of a boy, who dies and the man, his surrogate father, who kills him. Most of all, it tells the story of a community which is lost in the changes of a new way of life. It begins with a warning, preparing the readers for tragedy, and there is always a sense that terrible things happen and that is part of life.

Chinua Achebe tells the story beautifully, using rich descriptions of the society and its people. The structure is reminiscent of Greek tragedy, simultaneously reflecting the similarities between Western and Igbo cultures and also creating a conflict between the style and content. While he writes in English, Achebe uses Igbo words and descriptions, giving the story the music of the language, and making it accessible to a larger audience.

He is descriptive, painting images of food, work, clothes, and of the myths and legends women tell their children when the men are not around. Doing this, he manages to tie together the cultures that never quite meet in the story.

The book is centred on a man called Okonkow and his family. Eager to differentiate himself from his unsuccessful father, Okonkwo works hard to prove himself as a man and quickly rises to be a leader in his village. However, his desire to show his masculinity and strength continues, which results in him being harsh and sometimes violent. The story follows his Okonkwo’s life through tragedy and the arrival of Christianity and colonisers to his world.

The village and its people are described carefully, slowly built through different scenes, beginning when two men sit together and the host breaks the kola nut to welcome guests. This is an act which is repeated through the novel, giving a sense of ritual and importance. Any event involves crowds, music, food. When the egwugwu wear their masks, there is an auxiliary ritual where the women and children run away, apparently afraid, but sidle back again to watch.

Throughout, women remain on the outskirts, in the background, and seldom have a voice. It is a polygamous, patriarchal society and there are examples of women being seen as belonging to men. Violence towards women is also accepted; when Okonkwo is punished for beating his wife during the Week of Peace, it is the timing, rather than the act itself, which is taboo.

There are small exceptions: Okonkwo’s second wife left her husband to be with him, the oracle is a woman and women play their part in upholding the societal structures, even when they are discriminately. Even Okonkwo feels a greater connection to his daughter, rather than his sons, although he does wish that she were a boy.

There is a huge feeling of the fragility of life. Life is dependent on agriculture; on the yams growing, on favourable weather, so everything is tied to the land, and yams are therefore the main sign of wealth and of masculinity. Even so, wealth can be taken away quickly by circumstance. There is a high child mortality rate, and religion and beliefs have evolved to explain and give meaning to these tragedies. Egwugwu (masked village leaders embodying the gods) have both spiritual and governance roles.

Underlying everything, there seems to be the idea that even if someone happens to be successful now, it is easy for them to fall. Honour and respect is important, but there appears to be an underlying feeling that it is important to obey the natural order of things.

It is this natural order which is challenged by the arrival of Christianity. The missionaries arrive slowly, insidiously, and the villagers do not take them seriously. That the reader knows how this must finally end only adds to the tension. As Christianity spread, local people convert to the new religion. And when issues arise, as they inevitably must, the problem is that some of the “enemy” are also family and nothing is easy anymore. And when the newcomers are threatened or attacked, their retribution far exceeds the violence of Okonkwo.

The book seems to give an answer to the problem of clashing cultures – taking the time to understand, respecting beliefs, sharing knowledge. Without this respect and flexibility, there is only death and violence. A church is burnt, Okonkwo, a great warrior, dies. Those who cannot see, or learn, bring disaster.

Okonkwo is a powerful protagonist. He embodies the importance of masculinity in the Igbo society, and the emphasis on heritage and ancestors. He also shows that it is possible to prove himself and be more than his father was, no matter how hard that may be. On the other hand, his character also shows that masculinity is not everything. By trying so hard to prove himself and his strength, Okonkwo ultimately goes against the values of his community and its gods, and eventually finds himself surrounded by people who do not understand him. Even in death, Okonkwo disregards the beliefs of his people, and has is almost as disrespectful to his heritage as the Christians are. In some ways, Okonkwo is an embodiment of a true Igbo warrior but, in another, he is no longer part of his tribe.

It is a book which grows in significance on reflection. The story tells of people’s lives, their dreams, their hopes, their families, their lands… and at the end, all their colonisers see is a sentence or two in a book about their pacification. And that is the real tragedy.

Things Fall Apart is a beautiful book about change, death and life. Ultimately, there is only loss, as the world that we had come to understand and care about is no more. But it is also a warm, amusing, lyrical story, which allows the reader to fall into a different perspective. A must for anyone who wants an intelligent, thoughtful story with beautiful imagery and a different perspective.

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Author - Roxanne de Bruyn

Roxanne is the founder and editor of Faraway Worlds. She is a freelance writer and guidebook author and has written for several travel publications, including Lonely Planet and The Culture Trip. With a background in communications, she has studied ancient history, comparative religion and international development, and has a particular interest in sustainable tourism.

Originally from South Africa, Roxanne has travelled widely and loves learning the stories of the places she visits. She enjoys cooking, dance and yoga, and usually travels with her husband and young son. She is based in New Zealand.

Last Updated 16 May 2022

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Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

F irst published in 1958 – the year after Ghana became the first African nation to gain independence, as Britain, France and Belgium started to recognise the end of colonialism in Africa and began their unseemly withdrawal – Chinua Achebe's debut novel concerns itself with the events surrounding the start of this disastrous chapter in African history.

Set in the late 19th century, at the height of the "Scramble" for African territories by the great European powers, Things Fall Apart tells the story of Okonkwo, a proud and highly respected Igbo from Umuofia, somewhere near the Lower Niger. Okonkwo's clan are farmers, their complex society a patriarchal, democratic one. Achebe suggests that village life has not changed substantially in generations.

But then the English arrive in their region, with the Bible – rather than the gun – their weapon of choice. As the villagers begin to convert to Christianity, the ties that had ensured the clan's equilibrium come undone. As Okonkwo's friend Obierika explains: "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." Unwilling to adapt, Okonkwo finds himself the protagonist in a modern Greek tragedy.

The first part of a trilogy, Things Fall Apart was one of the first African novels to gain worldwide recognition: half a century on, it remains one of the great novels about the colonial era.

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Review: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

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Humph. You're being so negative! I read this book in high school so I don't remember enough to defend it now, but I remember thinking it was a very well-written book. Okonkwo is an excellent character.

That's ok, Di, it doesn't need defending. I didn't enjoy it too much but that's a personal preference. I'm sure it is rightly admired by smarter people than me.

I always welcome comments...

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The Best Fiction Books » Historical Fiction » Historical Fiction set in Africa

Things fall apart, by chinua achebe, recommendations from our site.

“It almost feels like a cliché to say that this is one of my favourite books. But there is no way you can escape this book. It is such a part of African literature. It is an inescapable classic. It is a brilliant feat of storytelling, the economy of it, the brevity, the imagery, the ear he has for the traditional language. This is the story of Okonkwo, one of the chiefs in the village who rose from poverty and becomes one of the leading figures. He is a leader and local wrestling champion in Umuofia, a fictional group of nine villages in Nigeria, inhabited by the Igbos. He tries to stick to the tradition that he knows and is hopeless when confronted with the modern. He cannot wrap his mind around change in the form of the British and the missionaries and ultimately he is destroyed by that. Even though it is a tragic story you are still captivated by it.” Read more...

The best books on Nigeria

Helon Habila , Novelist

“What Achebe is saying is that there was a culture, there were really intricate social and economic systems that existed before colonialism, that were disrupted by that process.” Read more...

The Best Historical Fiction

Tendai Huchu , Novelist

“I think what’s so fantastic about it is that it’s sort of portentous, if that’s the right word, in that it captures that moment between the end of colonisation and independence, and the inevitable crushing of Africa’s dreams. I can’t remember exactly when it was written, but it was very early on in the process. It sounds really pessimistic – I mean, it’s a beautifully written book, but it’s the way in which the fate takes over. There was an endemic inevitability about things falling apart, almost through nobody’s fault. And there are people nobly fighting against that. It sounds like a terribly pessimistic, self-flagellating book about how Africa’s independence came too soon. In some ways it is, but it’s also about the nobility of individuals trying to stop things falling apart. I read it when I was quite young and I didn’t know what a parlous state Africa was really in, and this gave me a historical context for it all.” Read more...

The best books on Colonial Africa

Sam Kiley , Journalist

Other books by Chinua Achebe

No longer at ease by chinua achebe, chike and the river by chinua achebe, home and exile by chinua achebe, anthills of the savannah by chinua achebe, our most recommended books, on liberty by john stuart mill, war and peace by leo tolstoy, middlemarch by george eliot, nineteen eighty-four by george orwell, the confessions by augustine (translated by maria boulding), republic by plato.

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Book Review:

Things fall apart, by a.d.konwar.

Book Review: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Reviewer: A. D. Konwar

It had been a long time since I have read a whole book in one sitting and then 'Things Fall Apart' happened. Read it on the day of Uruka and the Bihu will be almost over now, yet can't shake off the effect of this harsh prose. Achebe's characters are unapologetically human in their actions, grounded in their own sensibilities of right and wrong. The novel is not a preachy sermon on the 'greatness of ancient practices of yore' or the 'practicality of colonial civilisation', but is rather a critique of both and this is where it's charm lies. Set at the time when the Europeans were entangled in a 'scramble' for the exotic resource that was Africa, the novel, in subtle ways, documents the colonisation of the continent. Achebe's writing is lyrical, he is so economoical that this doesn't seem to be a debut work but rather the work of a seasoned novelist. There does not seem to be an element out of place but then again, this impression could also be because it presents an insider's view into a world that is still very much opaque and as such, mistakes, if there are any, are misted in the unraveling of the mystery of an African's Africa. His tone is neither diminishing of the tribal customs nor is it sympathetic. He treats them as they should be, without glorification or vilification.

Published in 1958, around the first strokes of decolonisation in Africa, the novel was a monumental reminder to the 'gentle crimes of the white man' of whom as Okonkwo's friend Obierika explains: "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."

English, here, is just a vehicle for the train of thoughts and experiences that are, to their core, African. It does away with the pretentious pre-assumptions of language or the pre-assumptions of the culture from which the language originates and the culture that places itself on a higher pedestal as its language is used to describe cultures that it places on lower rungs. Achebe's writing strays as further away as possible from these notions and in doing so, writes in a language that is his own, rife with African proverbs and even ways of expressions. Writing it in English, then, is also some sort of poetic justice, perhaps, to the novel that ends with the haunting lines describing the white Deputy Commissioner's assessment of Okonkwo: "The story of this man who had killed a messenger and hanged himself would make interesting reading. One could almost write a whole chapter on him. Perhaps not a whole chapter but a reasonable paragraph, at any rate. There was so much else to include, and one must be firm in cutting out details. He had already chosen the title of the book, after much thought: The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger."

The novel, then, is not a story of Okonkwo and his fall from grace but rather a story of the tussle between two cultures at the crux of which, people like Okonkwo are sacrificed.

However, the success of Achebe's prose lies rather in creating a new narrative for later African writers to follow and expand on: claiming agency of their own stories. As he writes in the novel, "There is no story that is not true, [...] The world has no end, and what is good among one people is an abomination with others." He foreshadows the process of de-abomination that his novel paves way for.

The novel then bears remembrance of a time that has gone long by but its repercussions have come to shape our experiences. Being citizens of a post-colonial country, understanding the process of colonisation and how it had stripped us of ourselves is crucial to our being and Achebe's novel must therefore be read towards the same if not for anything else.

Arunabh Konwar is an undergraduate student at Jorhat. Their areas of interest are English literature, linguistics, film studies and sociology. They have previously worked under the aegis of Jean Drèze and Reetika Khera in rural Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, and, have also served as the editor of the 24th volume of the annual journal of the Jorhat Institute of Science and Technology.

Things Fall Apart and other books by Chinua Achebe are available at NEthing

Things Fall Apart

Chinua achebe, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Things Fall Apart: Introduction

Things fall apart: plot summary, things fall apart: detailed summary & analysis, things fall apart: themes, things fall apart: quotes, things fall apart: characters, things fall apart: symbols, things fall apart: theme wheel, brief biography of chinua achebe.

Historical Context of Things Fall Apart

Other books related to things fall apart.

• Full Title: Things Fall Apart
• When Written: 1957
• Where Written: Nigeria
• When Published: 1958
• Literary Period: Post-colonialism
• Genre: Novel / Tragedy
• Setting: Pre-colonial Nigeria, 1890s
• Climax: Okonkwo's murder of a court messenger
• Antagonist: Missionaries and White Government Officials (Reverend Smith and the District Commissioner)
• Point of View: Third person omniscient

Extra Credit for Things Fall Apart

Joseph Conrad: “A Bloody Racist”. Chinua Achebe delivered a lecture and critique on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness , calling Conrad “a bloody racist” and provoking controversy among critics and readers. However, Achebe's criticism of Conrad has become a mainstream perspective on Conrad's work and was even included in the 1988 Norton critical edition of Heart of Darkness .

Achebe as Politician. Achebe expressed his political views often in writing, but he also involved himself actively in Nigerian politics when he became the People's Redemption Party's deputy national vice-president in the early 1980's. However, he soon resigned himself in frustration with the corruption he witnessed during the elections.

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Things Fall Apart

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Chinua Achebe

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Full Book Analysis

The narrative structure of Things Fall Apart follows a cyclical pattern that chronicles Okonkwo’s youth in Umuofia, his seven-year exile in Mbanta, and his eventual return home. Each of the novel’s three parts covers one of these periods of Okonkwo’s life. The novel’s three parts also map onto a gendered narrative structure that follows Okonkwo from fatherland to motherland back to fatherland. This gendered narrative structure functions in counterpoint with Okonkwo’s ongoing obsession with his own masculinity. Despite every attempt to gain status and become an exemplar of traditional Igbo masculinity, Okonkwo suffers from a feeling of relentless emasculation. Okonkwo’s struggle to achieve recognition repeatedly draws him into conflict with his community, eventually leading both to his own downfall and to that of Umuofia and the nine villages.

Part One of Things Fall Apart emphasizes Okonkwo’s coming-of-age and his attempts to distance himself from the disreputable legacy of his father, Unoka. Okonkwo’s tireless efforts and singular drive, along with his local fame as a wrestling champion, go a long way in securing him a place among the titled men of Umuofia. Yet Okonkwo’s zeal frequently leads him astray, as when he executes Ikemefuna, the young boy who became his surrogate son after being surrendered to Umuofia by another village to settle a violent dispute. When the clan elders decide it is time for Ikemefuna’s execution, an elder named Ogbuefi Ezeudu warns Okonkwo that he should “not bear a hand in [Ikemefuna’s] death.”

Despite this warning, a moment of panic ultimately drives Okonkwo to bring his machete down on his surrogate son: “He was afraid of being weak.” At other points in Part One, Okonkwo shows himself quick to anger with his wives and short in patience with his children. His obsession with upward mobility and traditional masculinity tends to alienate others, leaving him in a precarious social position.

In addition to narrating Okonkwo’s struggle to build a distinguished reputation, Part One also provides a broad view of the precolonial Igbo cultural world. Achebe showcases numerous Igbo cultural values, religious beliefs, and ritual practices to provide the reader with a sense of the Igbo world. By the end of Part One, however, both Okonkwo’s life and the life of his community teeter on the brink of disaster. The first blow comes with the death of Ogbuefi Ezeudu, the oldest man in the village, and the same man who warned Okonkwo against killing Ikemefuna. The second blow comes when, during Ezeudu’s nighttime burial, Okonkwo’s gun misfires and kills Ezeudu’s sixteen-year-old son. The ominous manslaughter of Ezeudu’s son forces the remaining village elders to burn Okonkwo’s huts, kill his livestock, and send him and his family into exile for seven years.

Exiled for committing a “feminine” (i.e., accidental) crime, Okonkwo retreats from his fatherland to the land of his mother’s kin, a retreat that Okonkwo finds deeply emasculating. This personal sense of emasculation parallels larger cultural and historical changes, as white Christian missionaries begin to infiltrate the lower Niger region, including both Umuofia and Okonkwo’s site of exile, Mbanta. The personal and historical senses of emasculation come to a head when an old friend from Umuofia visits Okonkwo in Mbanta to inform him that his eldest son, Nwoye, has abandoned traditional Igbo beliefs and joined the Christian faith. Realizing that this event constitutes a major rupture in his patrilineal line, Okonkwo disowns Nwoye.

By the time Okonkwo and his family leave Mbanta, the growing presence of foreigners in Umuofia has already created deep internal divisions. In addition to the missionaries who arrived in his absence, government officials also begin to filter in, installing a foreign rule of law. The changes in Umuofia compromise Okonkwo’s homecoming, which he hoped would represent a new start. Finding himself once again in a passive, emasculated position, Okonkwo grows increasingly furious with his fellow Umuofians, who refuse to take violent action against the missionaries and force them out. Whereas others praise the British for providing increased access to resources along with medicine and education, Okonkwo sees the British as a cancer whose presence will eventually kill Umuofia and the nine villages.

Following another emasculating incident where colonial officers throw Okonkwo and others in jail and set a steep bail, Okonkwo takes an uncompromising position in favor of tradition. His final acts of violence—murder and suicide—cement the novel’s tragedy. This tragedy is, once again, deeply gendered. In the law of Umuofia, an intentional killing constitutes a “masculine” crime. Although Igbo tradition does not explicitly code suicide as a “feminine” crime, killing himself is an unspeakable act that strips Okonkwo of all honor. Thus, his suicide brings a final instance of emasculation, as he will be denied the honor of a proper burial.

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Achebe's Things Fall Apart

136 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

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