things fall apart narrative essay

Things Fall Apart

Introduction to things fall apart.

Things Fall Apart is Chinua Achebe ’s acclaimed masterpiece. It narrates life in Nigeria at the turn of the 20th century during the rise of the colonial era. It was first published in 1958 and immediately became one of the favorite books to the readers. Things Fall Apart has multiple translations, offering access to the outside world to pre-colonial Nigerian culture and the traumatic changes people faced during the start of the colonization. The novel chronicles the clash between the traditional norms of the Igbo tribe and the white colonial government of that time, concluding that the divided nature of the indigenous Igbo tribe and the flaws in their native social structure led to the disintegration and ultimately fall off the Umuofia community .

Summary of Things Fall Apart

The protagonist of the story , Okonkwo, is a Nigerian leader of the Igbo community. He seems a self-made man who earns distinction and glory and brings honor to his people after he defeats an undefeatable wrestler, Amalinze the Cat who earned the nickname because he never lands on his back in a wrestling contest. Okonkwo’s deceased father, Unoka, motivates his victory as a wrestler and his success as a leader. As Unoka’s flaws, cowardice, unpaid debts, and wrong policies cost the family a fortune, Okonkwo resents and despises his father’s harmful practices and runs his family under his strict command displaying an enormous amount of masculinity by beating up his wives and children.

As a leader, the test for Okonkwo emerges when a man from a neighboring village kills a woman from Okonkwo’s village, inviting the tribal wrath. To dispense justice to avoid the protracted tribal feud, Umuofia village takes the son of the murderer, Ikemefuna as a peace offering in revenge for that killing. The boy, Ikemefuna, is to be sacrificed, but not immediately. As a leader, Okonkwo takes the boy home, where he receives the love and care of Okonkwo’s family. Okonkwo’s son, Nwoye, too, becomes fond of the new member and the boy’s influence over the family touches Okonkwo’s heart. On the other hand, Ikemefuna also respects Okonkwo as his ‘second father’

Over the years, Okonkwo’s anger doubles up owing to multiple factors. It becomes the reason for violating the celebrated customs of the tribe. He violates the Peace Week by beating his third wife, Ojiugo, who forgets to prepare meals, leading to another awful incident when he hits and shoots his second wife on a trivial issue but misses the shot. Later, Ogbuefi Ezeudu, the oldest man of the village meets Okonkwo to deliver a private message that the oracle demands the death of the Ikemefuna, whom he is treating as a family member. Keeping the boy’s attachment with his family in his mind, Ezeudu also stops him from taking part in his killing. But Okonkwo does not want to showcase his weakness and come out too feminine so he not only participates in the killing of the boy but also delivers the final blow with his machete. Sink in depression, Okonkwo visits his friend Obierika and starts feeling somewhat relieved. Meanwhile, the news of his daughter’s illness arises a sense of fear; he begins thinking that the tragedy has befallen his daughter for defying the oracle. However, the child recovers after the visit of Agbala, the prophet.

Although her recovery relieves Okonkwo, the death of one of the clan’s leaders, Ogbuefi Ezeudu, adds to his woes. He recalls his last meeting with Ezeudu in which he warns him against taking part in Ikemefuna’s death, but he ignores it. While attending the leader’s funeral, the tragedy compounds Okonkwo’s woes when his gun accidentally explodes and kills Ezeudu’s son. This heinous crime leads him to his seven-year exile . Following the punishment, he settles in his native village, Mbanta, where he reconciles his life, throwing his disappointment away.

During his second year of exile, Obierika, his best friend, visits him with money the villagers earned by selling Okonkwo’s yams and promises to deliver his share by building huts for him and his family until he returns to Umuofia. Obierika also tells him about the unjust approach of the white missionaries. Soon after Obierika’s departure, six missionaries, including a white man, Mr. Brown, arrive in their village. Mr. Brown’s Christian ideas seem nonsense to the naïve villagers, but Okonkwo’s son finds attraction toward Christianity. Horrified by this from his own son Okonkwo beats him up which leads to Nwoye leave the house and live independently. When the missionaries decide to build a church on the land, the natives resent. Yet the church witnesses completion despite this resentment. Soon the people start believing in Christianity’s power and many of them converted to Christianity.

Following their success in Mbanta, the white men travel and establish a school in Umuofia. On the other hand, during the same time, Okonkwo’s exile ends, but his return to Umuofia brings a great shock to him as he notices various radical changes. Many clan leaders have converted to Christianity. These unexpected changes numb his senses. He notices Mr. Brown’s active role in this transformation, encouraging the villagers to educate themselves. The major clash between the clans and white authorities arrives when Reverend James replaces Mr. Brown. The new head shows no mercy and disrespects their old traditions, too. The situation reaches the boiling point when Enoch, a newly converted man, unmasks an Egwugwu. Being revengeful, Egwugwu burns his compound and destroys the church because the new setup has cost his tribe a fortune.

Upon knowing this, the District Commissioner interns six village leaders, including Okonkwo. Despite the District Commissioner’s instructions to treat the leaders with respect, the court messengers humiliate them by shaving their heads and whipping them. Following their release, clansmen call for a meeting to establish a workable agreement on whether they should live in collaboration with the whites or opt for war. During the negotiation, five court messengers arrive and try to dismiss their gathering. Enraged by the missionaries’ growing influence, Okonkwo steps forward and beheads one of the messengers with his machete, hoping his clansmen will join him. The remaining hope of Okonkwo dies when his fellow leaders allow the other messengers to escape. This indifferent approach of clansmen makes Okonkwo realize that things have already fallen apart, and people will never enter the war against white supremacy, which is contrary to the age-old tradition.

When the District Commissioner, Gregory comes to take Okonkwo to the court, embittered on his people’s choices and fearing the humiliation of dying under white law, Okonkwo reaches home to commit suicide. Okonkwo’s action of committing suicide receives backlash amongst his own tribe since it’s against the teaching out Igbo. Gregory feels that the life of Okonkwo would make a reasonable paragraph for his book.

Major Themes in Things Fall Apart

• Tribal Belief and Traditions: Tribal belief marks the center of the text but unfortunately they suffer a decline with the arrival of the new religion of Christianity. However, some locals, including Okonkwo, refuse to accept this new change that is going to devastate the old structure. At first, they stand with Okonkwo to fight against the setup that appears inhumane to them, but they give up their old customs and turn toward prosperous Christianity, leaving Okonkwo in a state of extreme distress. This demonstrates how tribal beliefs and traditions have been deliberately belittled before western culture’s influence.
• Masculinity:  In African tradition, masculinity is regarded as one of the greatest virtues .   Okonkwo, the protagonist ,  values this trait and tries to exhibit it at various places. However, he despises his father for having feministic qualities. He dislikes his son’s passive nature as well who takes after his grandfather. Okonkwo’s masculinity becomes other people’s problems on various occasions, especially for his family, which suffers due to his violence and cruelty. For example, despite possessing a soft corner for Ikemefuna, he kills him with his machete and beheads the messenger who tries to violate their private meeting. He also criticizes his people for avoiding war against white supremacy and choose peace.
• Destructive Impacts of Colonialism: Colonialism is one of the major themes in the novel that appears in the second part of the book. When Okonkwo returns to his village after the exile, he notices the arrival of Christianity. The entire tribe is enduring the pain of newly established laws and government. Despite knowing the influence and cleverness of the white men, he goes against them to maintain their tribe’s laws and freedom. He notices how Mr. Brown is changing the minds of the people by equipping them with the knowledge that is resulting in changes in their traditional norms. People begin to question their ancient traditions, calling them savage practices. Although this cultural onslaught disturbs the locals, some of them join this new shift. This transformation of the people leads to the pulverization of the indigenous culture and cultural setting .
• Social and Cultural Transformation:  The novel fictionalizes the clash between ancient traditions of the Igbo tribes and the progressive social development. The arrival of British missionaries divides the Igbo community into two different parts. While some of them refuse to accept the newly established social order and religion, some others whole-heartedly embrace it. However, for some, it becomes difficult to decide whether they should accept the new faith or go with their old practices. Their choices become clear when Okonkwo kills a messenger and people remain silent, which shows that they are willing to surrender to the British.
• The Superiority of Whites:  The novel revolves around the Igbo traditions, their language, and culture but Achebe has used English to present it to the world. He has also used traditional proverbs in English to clarify implicitly that the native Igbo language cannot be translated into any other language. However, when Christian missionaries establish their religion and administrative machinery, many locals throw away their old customs and embrace the newly established structure. The superiority of the white culture is shown through the character of Mr. Brown and other missionaries, who reshape the locality by preaching religion and education.
• Fate and free will:  According to an Igbo saying, a human’s chi or spirit is aligned to his free will. In other words, a person can control his free will as Okonkwo tries to do so. He ascends to his society and attains the position of chief. However, once things start getting astray, it appears that he is capable of using his free will but incapable of exercising the right choice as his fate directs him to perform heinous crimes like killing and committing suicide. His spectacular rise and tragic fall show that the Igbo society believes in the concept of free will.
• Justice :  Justice and its dispensation is a powerful preoccupation presented in the novel. The Igbo people have established their institutions and administration to administer justice in their social structure. Okonkwo’s exile and Ikemefuna’s death provide insight into their system. However, when white men arrive with their institutionalized religion and government, local culture and laws appear vicious to them. That is why Okonkwo’s death at the end leads to the fact that hypocritical and inhumane British law slaughters the sense of justice once seems rooted deep in the Igbo tradition.
• Ambition:  Ambition also plays a crucial role. Okonkwo’s strong determination along with his discontent with his father’s idle ways leads him to assume the leadership of his clan. However, his strict and narrow approach in life makes him rigid and ruthless ending with his tragic crimes and death.

 Major Characters in Things Fall Apart

• Okonkwo : The central figure and protagonist, Okonkwo, is a strong-headed man, wrestler, and leader, who attains greatness overshadowing his inherited laziness. Okonkwo believes that his father is unmanly or weak in nature. Therefore, he adopts opposite ideals and becomes brave, wealthy, violent, and tries to be productive. He marries three times and runs his family ruthlessly. However, he gets caught in the vicious circle of his own rules and goes against the norms. After killing Ezeudo’s son, he goes into exile for seven years. When he returns, he finds vast changes in his community, where most of the villagers have abandoned their old customs and converted to Christianity. He resists the arrival of the white people and even kills their messenger. Thus, his obsession with masculinity, anger, and the tragic flaw of his character makes him reach the point where he takes his own life with guilt and failure before being punished for his crimes by the British.
• Nwoye:   Okonkwo’s only son who shares his grandfather’s characteristics that often invite his father’s wrath, Nwoye receives a heavy thrashing to get rid of his flaws and weaknesses. When Ikemefuna comes to stay with Okonkwo’s family, he sometimes seems to align with his father’s desires. However, when he comes to know about the boy’s death and his father’s role in it, he hates his ruthlessness. This hatred leads him to accept the English civilization when the British arrive. This change brings comfort to his subjugated life.
• Ezinma:  Okonkwo’s daughter, Ezinma is from his second wife, Ekwefi. Okonkwo loves his daughter because of her fearlessness and bold character. Her courage and boldness win both his father’s appraisal and respect in that Okonkwo wish her to be a boy.
• Ikemefuna: Ikemefuna is the boy Mbaino clan hands over to Umuofia to settle a dispute. He becomes the adopted son of Okonkwo and wins his heart, showing the strong and courageous side of his character. Although the boy secures a special place in Okonkwo’s family, he kills the boy with his machete to prove his masculinity.
• Unoka:  Okonkwo’s father, Unoka’s cowardice and recklessness bring shame to his son, Okonkwo. He loves to spend time singing. Moreover, he remains under debt that even after his death, the family carries the burden. Thus, his idle ways of living and indifferent life choices downgrade his status in the tribe where traits like courage and masculinity automatically get an upper hand over the person.
• Brown:  Mr. Brown is another important character in the novel. He is the representative of the Christian religion, preaches Christianity to the locals, and motivates them to get educated. He is a kind and God-fearing man. Although he is set to change the local social fabric, he hates the use of unnecessary power or barbaric approach. He helps them establish their school and hospital and wins many hearts by adoring the ancient local system.
• Reverend James Smith:  Reverend James Smith comes to Umuofia when Mr. Brown is sent back home due to health issues. However, he proves his opposite. His arrival in Umuofia introduces people to the chaotic side of the new culture. He criticizes the old customs and wants the villagers to embrace the new laws. He also intends to establish the dominance of the colonial beliefs for which he suspends a local woman from the church. He soon faces the local wrath for his arrogance.
• Ogbuefi Ezeudu:  As one of the oldest men of Umuofia who visits Okonkwo and warns him not to participate in Ikemefuna’s killing, Ezeudu’s role is of a tribal elder who visits others to convey some important social message.

Writing Style of Things Fall Apart

The writing style of the novel, Things Fall Apart , shows the straightforward and simple approach of the writer, Chinua Achebe, in that he fictionalizes the historical narrative from an omniscient point of view . He tries to show the factual representation of the events and incidents that seem to have become the reason for the collapse and disintegration of the ancient Igbo society. The use of Igbo oral traditions such as proverbs, idioms , and folk stories show the reason for his use of the English language that he has adapted to reflect his culture. Although the diction is formal, the sentence structure is simple and the tone is serious and somber, Achebe has shown that local cultures can be reflected through the English language.

Analysis of Literary Devices in Things Fall Apart

• Allegory : Achebe presents locusts as an allegorical representation of the colonial era who was invading the country to disrupt normal life and destroy the culture.
• Action: The main action of the novel comprises the tribal feud, the arrival of colonialism in Nigeria, and Okonkwo’s response. The rising action occurs when Okonkwo kills the messenger and invites the wrath of the colonizers. The falling action occurs when he commits suicide as nobody from his own tribe sides him against the British.
• Climax :  The climax occurs when Igbo leaders gather to discuss the issue of the crime of the missionaries and Okonkwo ends up killing one of the messengers. It leads Okonkwo to understand that things have turned worse and that he may not be spared anymore.
• Conflict :  There are various conflicts in the novel,  Things Fall Apart.  The first one is the internal conflict of Okonkwo, who tries to mask himself multiple times to maintain his position in the tribe. The second conflict involves the traditions of Umuofia and the new laws brought by the British; old culture versus new culture and tradition versus modernity.
• Characters:   Things Fall Apart presents both static as well as dynamic characters. Okonkwo is a major character, while Nwoye, Mr. Brown, and Mr. Smith are the minor characters. However, it is Nwoye who struggles to shape and reshape his beliefs and undergoes changes. Therefore, he is a dynamic character , while Okonkwo remains the same throughout, the reason that he is a static character along with various other characters.
• Foreshadowing : Foreshadowing in the novel begins with the title which indicates that there might be no happy ending. The second example of foreshadowing in the novel occurs when the first swarm of locusts arrives in the village, which prefigures the arrival of the missionaries.
• Imagery :   Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, i. Just then the distant beating of drums began to reach them. It came from the direction of the ilo , the village playground. Every village had its own ilo which was as old as the village itself and where all the great ceremonies and dances took place. The drums beat the unmistakable wrestling dance – quick, light and gay, and it came floating on the wind. (Chapter-1) ii. In this way the moons and the seasons passed. And then the locusts came. It had not happened for many a long year. The elders said locusts came once in a generation, reappeared every year for seven years and then disappeared for another lifetime. (Chapter-7) iii. The crowd roared with laughter. Evil Forest rose to his feet and order was immediately restored. A steady cloud of smoke rose from his head. He sat down again and called two witnesses. They were both Uzowulu’s neighbors, and they agreed about the beating. Evil Forest then stood up, pulled out his staff and thrust it into the earth again. (Chapter-10) The first example shows the images used for sound, the second for seasons and colors, and the third again for sound and colors.
• Irony : Things Fall Apart shows tragic irony as the proud, arrogant, successful, and ambitious man, Okonkwo, ends up hanging himself.
• Metaphor : Things Fall Apart shows good use of various metaphors . For example, i. Their sound was no longer a separate thing from the living village. It was like the pulsation of its heart. It throbbed in the air, in the sunshine, and even in the trees , and filled the village with excitement. (Chapter-5). ii. Dusk was already approaching when their contest began. The drums went mad and the crowds also. They surged forward as the two young men danced into the circle. The palm fronds were helpless in keeping them back. (Chapter-6) The first metaphor compares the sound to a thing and the second drums to mad people.
• Mood : The novel shows a joyous and celebrating mood in the beginning but turns tragic and gloomy as soon as the Okonkwo faces an exile and white missionaries arrive to change the tribal beliefs.
• Motif :  The most important motifs of the novel are chi , animal images, fire, locusts, and yams.
• Personification : The novel shows the use of personifications at several places. For example, i. The night was very quiet. It was always quiet except on moonlight nights. Darkness held a vague terror for these people, even the bravest among them. (Chapter-1) ii. Okonkwo’s fame had grown like a bush-fire in the harmattan. (Chapter-1) iii. The sun breaking through their leaves and branches threw a pattern of light and shade on the sandy footway. (Chapter-5) These examples show that the night, darkness, fame, and sun as having human attributes.
• Point of View :  Things Fall Apart is narrated in a third-person or omniscient point of view that is the author’s own point of view.
• Protagonist : Okonkwo is the protagonist of the novel. The novel starts with his grand introduction and involves various tragic incidents that become the reason for his tragic death.
• Resolution : Resolution is when all the mysteries , conflicts, and problems reach a conclusion . Things Fall Apart ends with Commissioner’s plan who decides to write a book in which little importance will be given to Okonkwo’s tragedy.
• Rhetorical Question : A rhetorical question is a question that is not asked in order to receive an answer from the audience . Some of the rhetorical questions used in the text are, i. When Unoka died he had taken no title at all and he was heavily in debt. Any wonder then that his son Okonkwo was ashamed of him?  (Chapter-1) ii. 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? (Chapter 13) These two examples show that the rhetorical questions posed do not need answers. They only stress the main point.
• Setting : The setting of the novel is the Umuofia and Mbanta villages of the Igbo tribe in Nigeria.
• Simile : The novel shows good use of various similes. For example, i. Okonkwo was as slippery as a fish in water. (Chapter-1) ii. The earth burned like hot coals and roasted all the yams that had been sown. Like all good farmers, Okonkwo had begun to sow with the first rains . (Chapter-3) iii. You drove him to kill himself and now he will be buried like a dog. (Second Book, Chapter-25) The first simile compares Okonkwo with a fish, the second the earth with coals, and the third a corpse with a dog.
• Symbol :  Things Fall Apart shows that the symbols of fire, yams, and locusts. Whereas the fire represents Okonkwo’s rage, locusts show the white settlement, and yams represent masculinity.
• Theme :  The novel shows a clash of cultures along with human’s adaptive nature, their desire for change, and the influence of the new religion.

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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.

Echoes of Transformation: Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’

This essay about Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” explores the intricate portrayal of cultural clashes amidst colonial Nigeria. Through the lens of protagonist Okonkwo, Achebe reveals the unraveling of tradition and the resilience of the Igbo people in the face of European colonization. While SparkNotes provides guidance through the novel’s themes, the true essence of the work lies in its ability to transcend analytical boundaries, resonating deeply with readers. Achebe critiques colonialism through characters like Mr. Brown and Reverend Smith, urging readers to confront their biases. The narrative highlights the impact of cultural collision on individual lives and communities, prompting reflection on power dynamics and privilege. Ultimately, “Things Fall Apart” serves as a powerful reminder of literature’s capacity to illuminate the human condition and provoke meaningful discourse in a world marked by division and discord.

How it works

In the literary realm of Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart,” a captivating tapestry of themes, characters, and cultural clashes unfurls, drawing readers into its intricate depths. Set against the backdrop of colonial Nigeria, Achebe masterfully intertwines a narrative that transcends mere storytelling, delving into the complexities of tradition, transformation, and the human experience. While resources like SparkNotes offer guidance through the novel’s labyrinthine corridors, the true essence of “Things Fall Apart” lies in the journey it offers, urging readers to explore its nuances with minds open and hearts ignited by curiosity.

At the core of “Things Fall Apart” pulses the rhythm of a society in flux, as the advent of European colonizers disrupts the delicate fabric of Igbo life. Through the eyes of Okonkwo, a formidable figure propelled by an unyielding pursuit of success and respect, Achebe beckons readers to witness the unraveling of tradition and the erosion of cultural identity. Yet, amidst the upheaval, echoes of resilience and defiance reverberate, challenging the inevitability of change and the imposition of foreign values.

While SparkNotes serves as a compass for navigating the novel’s thematic terrain, the true potency of “Things Fall Apart” lies in its capacity to transcend analytical boundaries and resonate with the soul. With vivid imagery and eloquent prose, Achebe invites readers to inhabit a world where the collision of cultures mirrors the complexities of the human spirit. As characters grapple with questions of belonging and power, readers are compelled to confront their own biases and assumptions, embarking on a voyage of self-discovery alongside the protagonists.

At the heart of the narrative of “Things Fall Apart” lies the theme of cultural collision and its profound impact on individual lives and communities. As European missionaries and administrators assert their dominance over the Igbo people, characters like Okonkwo confront the limitations of tradition in the face of inexorable change. Yet, amidst the chaos, glimmers of hope emerge, as characters strive to carve out their place in a rapidly shifting world.

Furthermore, “Things Fall Apart” offers a poignant critique of colonialism and its repercussions on both the colonized and the colonizers. Through figures like Mr. Brown and Reverend Smith, Achebe exposes the arrogance and ignorance inherent in colonial ideology, compelling readers to reconsider their notions of power and privilege. By centering the narrative on the perspectives of the marginalized, Achebe prompts readers to confront uncomfortable truths about oppression and resistance.

In conclusion, while SparkNotes serves as a useful tool for unraveling the layers of “Things Fall Apart,” the true essence of Achebe’s magnum opus lies in its ability to provoke introspection, foster empathy, and ignite meaningful discourse. As readers journey through the pages of this timeless work, they are reminded of literature’s enduring power to illuminate the human condition and challenge the status quo. In a world fraught with division and discord, the lessons of “Things Fall Apart” resonate with urgency, urging us to confront the complexities of our shared humanity with courage and compassion.

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Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe

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The Narrative Technique in Achebe's "Things Fall Apart"

Set in Nigeria at the turn of the 19th century, Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" chronicles the rise and fall of Okonkwo, a powerful leader in the Igbo tribe, as he fights against the turning tide of British colonialism. As Okonkwo's tribe and even his own son fall away from tradition, Okonkwo clings more desperately to his heritage, a decision that will have tragic consequences. Achebe's narrative techniques, such as point of view and structure, are critical tools for exploring this theme of cultural change.

The Parable of Okonkwo

Achebe uses the third-person point of view, pronouns like "he" and "she," to showcase the narrative's cultural conflict through voice. The distance of this perspective choice, combined with the use of past tense narration, creates a narrative style that mirrors a folktale or parable. Because the Igbo heritage figures prominently in the story, this traditional tone helps reinforce the importance of culture to Okonkwo. The story of his rise and downfall sounds like something that could have been passed down across generations of Nigerians for the purposes of teaching a lesson.

Cultural Fusion

"Things Fall Apart" is largely about the disintegration of African tribal tradition at the hands of European colonists. Achebe's narration makes a subtle commentary on this theme through blending western and non-western language and allusions. The book intersperses the Igbo culture's language, proverbs, family histories and rituals throughout the story, but also references John Bunyan's Christian allegory "Pilgrim's Progress," the Book of Common Prayer and Biblical teachings. By combining the two cultural heritages, Achebe demonstrates the battle between tradition and change that drives Okonkwo's story.

Structural Strategy

Achebe's three-part structure marks clear divisions in each section of Okonkwo's journey. Part One introduces Okonkwo's desire to redeem his family name by being a strong leader and warrior, and concludes when he is exiled from his village after accidentally killing a man. In Part Two, Okonkwo meets the British colonizers and witnesses their domination of local culture. Part Three marks Okonkwo's return, where he realizes his village has given in to the colonists and commits suicide. These divisions signal to readers that periods of change are approaching in Okonkwo's life; each is a step downward from his prideful goal of greatness.

The Tragedy of "Things Fall Apart"

In a tragedy, characters experience disastrous reversals of fortune brought about by their own flaws and wrongful choices. The narrative of "Things Fall Apart" makes use of this concept on two levels. Okonkwo himself is a tragic hero; although his greatest desire is to be greater than his father, his anger, bitterness and unwavering loyalty to the Igbo tribe all lead to his suicide. The story's other great tragedy, though, is the metaphorical death of the Igbo culture. In Okonkwo's absence, the village submits to British domination, erasing their society's tradition and heritage.

• Random House: Things Fall Apart Introduction
• The Postcolonial and Postimperial Web: Subversion versus Rejection: Can Postcolonial Writers Subvert the Codified Using the Language of the Empire?
• Carson Newman University: Some Thoughts About Tragedy
• Things Fall Apart; Chinua Achebe

Kori Morgan holds a Bachelor of Arts in professional writing and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing and has been crafting online and print educational materials since 2006. She taught creative writing and composition at West Virginia University and the University of Akron and her fiction, poetry and essays have appeared in numerous literary journals.

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Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart

A spiral stack of copies of the 1994 Anchor Books edition of Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart.

Wikimedia Commons

"The last four or five hundred years of European contact with Africa produced a body of literature that presented Africa in a very bad light and Africans in very lurid terms. The reason for this had to do with the need to justify the slave trade and slavery. … This continued until the Africans themselves, in the middle of the twentieth century, took into their own hands the telling of their story." —Chinua Achebe, "An African Voice" )

Nigerian Chinua Achebe is one of the world's most well-known and influential contemporary writers. His first novel, Things Fall Apart  (1958), is an early narrative about the European colonization of Africa told from the point of view of the colonized people. Published in 1958, the novel recounts the life of the warrior and village hero Okonkwo, and describes the arrival of white missionaries to his Igbo village and their impact on African life and society at the end of the nineteenth century. Through his writing, Achebe counters images of African societies and peoples as they are represented within the Western literary tradition and reclaims his own and his people's history.

This lesson introduces students to Achebe's first novel and to his views on the role of the writer in his or her society. It can be used alone or in conjunction with the related lesson Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart": Oral and Literary Strategies .

Guiding Questions

How does Achebe see the role of the writer/storyteller?

In what ways does Achebe use fiction to teach history?

To what extent is Things Fall Apart successful in communicating an alternative narrative to the dominant Western history of missionaries in Africa and other colonized societies?

Learning Objectives

Examine a piece of African literature to identify distinguishing literary features and traditions. 

Examine how Achebe discusses and differentiates cultures and languages with a change over time approach. 

Evaluate the effectiveness of presenting historical events and eras through fiction.

Differentiate between historical accounts and fictionalized accounts of history.

Assess narrative perspectives as culturally-positioned (i.e. Afrocentric and Eurocentric perspectives).

Lesson Plan Details

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

To gain background knowledge on the history and culture of the Igbo people and to help students understand Things Fall Apart within the historical context of the novel's events and the time of its writing and publication, you can refer to the following EDSITEment-reviewed resources:

• For information on Igbo traditions, Nigeria, and Africa, see the Igbo Information page from the People's Resources and the Nigeria Information page, which provides a map and general information, including descriptions of the four main ethnic groups  – Yoruba, Igbo, Fulani, and Hausa, both located on Art and Life in Africa Online .  See also the essay " The Berlin Conference " available through the Internet Archive.
• For maps of and information on the many languages spoken throughout Nigeria, see the Languages of Nigeria and Languages of Nigeria Map pages.
• Two interviews in which Achebe discusses the origins and purposes of his writing are " Chinua Achebe: The Art of Fiction CXXXVIV, " interviewed by Jerome Brooks in The Paris Review , Issue #133 (Winter 1994-5) and "An African Voice" Interview in The Atlantic Online (August 2, 2000). You may wish to assign students the interviews or excerpts to read online or in printed copies.

Lesson 1 uses maps to introduce students to the African continent and countries. Before teaching this lesson, view and/or download copies of the following maps from the periods before, during, and after the colonial period:

• Maps of Africa from 1688 and 1909, taken from the Map Collections 1500-1999 .
• Maps of the many languages spoken in African countries today from the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Ethnologue.

In Lesson 3, if you choose to assign Heart of Darkness to students to read and compare with Things Fall Apart , background information about Joseph Conrad can be found in the Biographical Essay on the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Victorian Web .

Activity 1. Mapping the Changing Face of Africa through History: Pre-Colonial, European Colonization, and Independent Nations

In his essay " Issues in African History " located on the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Art and Life in Africa Online , Professor James Giblin of the University of Iowa Department of History writes about the European "Scramble for Africa" (1880-1910) and the Berlin Act of 1885, which created a set of European-controlled nation-states that arbitrarily combined into one country diverse African ethnic groups, on one hand, and divided linguistic and ethnic communities, on the other:

"Africa's integration into a European-dominated economy has shaped its history since the 1880s. During the last quarter of the 19th century, Europe became increasing interested in exerting direct control over the Africa's raw materials and markets. European heads of state laid down ground rules for the colonial conquest of Africa at the Congress of Berlin in 1884-5. Over the next twenty years, all of Africa except Ethiopia and Liberia was violently conquered, despite many instances of African resistance. The British and French established the largest African empires, although the Portuguese, Belgians and Germans claimed major colonial possessions as well."

You might point out to the class that the cultural, religious, linguistic, and other historical divisions among ethnic groups have continued to challenge and blur the colonial borders of many African Nation-States, during colonization and especially after Independence.

Things Fall Apart takes place during Europe's violent partitioning of Africa at the end of the 19th century, and Achebe wrote and published the novel towards the end of the colonial period, during a time of burgeoning nationalism across Africa:

"African frustration was compounded by the inconsistency between, on the one hand, universalistic Christian ideals (for Christianity spread widely during the colonial period, as did Islam) and liberal political ideas which colonialism introduced into Africa, and, on the other hand, the discrimination and racism which marked colonialism everywhere. This discrepancy deepened during the Second World War, when the British and French exhorted their African subjects to provide military service and labor for a war effort which was intended, in part, to uphold the principle of national self-determination. Post-war Africans were well aware that they were being denied the very rights for which they and their colonial masters had fought. This deepening sense of frustration and injustice set in motion the events which would lead to national independence for most of Africa by the mid-1960s" ("Issues in African History").

To give students an idea of contemporary African geography as well as of the cultural and political changes that Africa has undergone as a continent over the past two centuries, provide the class with maps of Africa before, during, and after colonization, and assign the following activities:

Download and distribute to each student a copy of the African Continent Map.Gif located on the Multimedia Archive, available through the EDSITEment-reviewed resource African Studies WWW . This map indicates the outline of countries in Africa but is blank inside. Have students identify as many African countries as possible, filling in the names of the countries on the map. Ask them if they can identify any languages spoken in specific countries, and have them write these down on their maps as well. Write down the names of the countries that students were able to identify. Which countries are they? Where did they get their information, from school, their families or acquaintances, the news? Ask the class what they know about the countries they were able to identify on the map and from which sources they received their information.

Using a computer projection, individual or small group computer stations, or printed out copies, use the maps of Africa from 1688 and 1909, which you can find on the Map Collections 1500-1999 at the EDSITEment-reviewed resource American Memory Collection by conducting a Search by Keyword for "Africa."

For both of these maps, you can select the desired zoom level and window size to increase the detail of the displayed image and the size of the map, respectively. If you click in the Zoom View window and then click on the image, the display will be centered on the selected part of the map. You can select an area in the small Navigator View map so that the red box on the Navigator View will indicate the area of the image being viewed in the larger Zoom View.

Another pre-colonial map, The Continent of Africa from 1707 by Tobias Lotter, is located on Hemispheres, Antique Maps and Prints , available through the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Internet Public Library.

Show the class the Map of Africa 1688 or 1707, before colonization by Europe, and the Map of Africa 1909, which shows the continent divided up among British, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, and Spanish Colonies, the Belgian Congo, and Independent African States. Ask students to compare the maps: What differences do they notice? What similarities?

A map of post-colonial Africa showing the different countries, updated in 1998, is available on the Countries Resources page of the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Art and Life in Africa Online . A larger version of this map is available at Africa.gif , from CIA Maps , located on the Multimedia Archive, available through the EDSITEment-reviewed resource African Studies WWW .

Have the class compare the contemporary map with the two earlier maps and discuss the changes in the geopolitical divisions of the African continent. Then ask students to look over their original maps and fill in the names of the countries that they missed in their first mapping activity. You can note to students that African ethnic, religious, and linguistic groups have resisted the geopolitical boundaries of many Nation-States created under colonization; for instance, the borders of West Africa set in place under colonialism are often contrary to the area's cultural and political reality (See Robert Kaplan, " The Coming Anarchy " Atlantic Monthly Feb. 1994 Rpt. Atlantic Online , available through the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Internet Public Library.

To give students an overview of Nigerian history and cultural geography, locate Nigeria on a map of Africa from the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Art and Life in Africa Online: Countries' Resources . Then present a map of Nigeria itself on the Nigeria Information page, and point out the Igbo area. This page provides a map and general information about Nigeria, including descriptions of its four main ethnic groups: Yoruba, Igbo, Fulani, and Hausa, and the Igbo Information page from the Peoples Resources section of the site offers information about the ethnic group described in Things Fall Apart .

You can point out the vast ethnic (Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Fulani among many other peoples), religious (Muslim 50%, Christian 40%, African religion 10%), and linguistic diversity (515 listed languages, 505 of which are living languages) of present-day Nigeria using the Languages of Nigeria and Languages of Nigeria Map pages available through the EDSITEment-reviewed resource African Studies WWW . The Languages of Africa map provides a graphic depiction the many different languages spoken across Nigeria, with individual dots representing the primary location of a living language.

In an August 2002 interview " An African Voice ", published in The Atlantic Online, available through the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Internet Public Library, Achebe explains the fundamental and far-reaching disruption of African societies and social orders through European colonization:

"The society of Umuofia, the village in Things Fall Apart, was totally disrupted by the coming of the European government, missionary Christianity, and so on. That was not a temporary disturbance; it was a once and for all alteration of their society. To give you the example of Nigeria, where the novel is set, the Igbo people had organized themselves in small units, in small towns and villages, each self-governed. With the coming of the British, Igbo land as a whole was incorporated into a totally different polity, to be called Nigeria, with a whole lot of other people with whom the Igbo people had not had direct contact before. The result of that was not something from which you could recover, really. You had to learn a totally new reality, and accommodate yourself to the demands of this new reality, which is the state called Nigeria. Various nationalities, each of which had its own independent life, were forced by the British to live with people of different customs and habits and priorities and religions. And then at independence, fifty years later, they were suddenly on their own again. They began all over again to learn the rules of independence. The problems that Nigeria is having today could be seen as resulting from this effort that was initiated by colonial rule to create a new nation."

Ask students to note places in the text that foreshadow this disruption, this replacement of one reality with another, as they read the novel. For example, Achebe's first reference to the character Ikemefuna as "ill-fated," at the end of Chapter 1, foreshadows the boy's death and Okonkwo's son Nwoye's troubled response in Chapter 7, which in turn foreshadows Nwoye's conversion to Christianity and joining the missionaries in Chapter 16. In Chapters 16 through 18, Achebe indicates the ways in which the Europeans separated Nigerians of different clans and ethnic backgrounds and turned them against their own people and villages through their appeal to the village outcasts and by "teaching young Christians to read and write." Another example of how Achebe foreshadows the alteration of indigenous society is the replacement by "the white man's court" of the clan's customs with their own laws, discussed in Chapter 20. Obierika explains: "He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart."

Activity 2. Telling One's Own Story: Differing Perspectives

One theme that appears over and over in Achebe's writing is that our perceptions and the stories we tell are shaped by our social and cultural context, and he emphasizes that, "those that have been written about should also participate in the making of these stories" (" An African Voice ").

Achebe writes his own history of colonization in order to present a perspective different from those taught in the Western literary and historical tradtions. However, the text of Things Fall Apart provides a range of perspectives through its narrator and many characters. To create a framework for interpreting the conflict within and between values and cultures that Achebe addresses, engage students in a discussion of perspective/standpoint, and provide them an opportunity to analyze and then take on the perspective of one of the characters in the novel.

Ask the class, "Who is the narrator/speaker in the novel? Do the narrator's position, perspective, and identity remain constant or change throughout the narrative? What other characters' views are represented and used to convey the novel's insights and to give readers a certain viewpoint on Igbo society and the class with the British missionaries?"

Ask students to take up a character in the novel, such as Okonkwo, Obierika, Unoka, Ekwefi, Ezinma, Nwoye, or Ikemefuna, and rewrite a scene from his or her voice and position. To help students approach this activity, ask them why they chose a certain character, what role the character plays in the novel, and which scene would be appropriate to rewrite from this character's perspective. (The confrontations between the white men and the Igbo people are good incidents to use for the rewrite, as they can reinforce the colonialist/native point of view issue of the lesson.)

Use the character's actions, observations about the character made by other characters or by the character him- or herself within the text, narrative description, and your own impressions to describe the character and infer a point of view. To aid them in recognizing and adopting the point of view of one of the characters, have students fill out the Character Traits Chart , available in .pdf format.

Activity 3. Revising History Through Writing

In an interview in the 1994-95 issue of The Paris Review , Chinua Achebe states that he became a writer in order to tell his story and the story of his people from his own viewpoint. He explains the danger of having one's story told only by others through the following proverb: "until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter." Critics and Achebe's own essays have portrayed Things Fall Apart as a response to the ideologies and discursive strategies of colonial texts such as Joyce Cary's Mister Johnson and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness .

While reading Things Fall Apart , students should reflect on the proverb and ask themselves in what ways Achebe's novel subverts the themes and techniques of colonial writing and constitutes a different story or counter-narrative to the European texts. Ask the class to note the ways in which Achebe represents African culture and the African landscape, and to give textual examples of ways in which he employs narrative techniques that contest colonialist discourse. (Some examples are Achebe's use of simple, ordinary prose and a restrained mode of narration; the omission of exotic descriptions; creation of a subjectivity for his major characters; inclusion of a specific cultural and temporal context of the Igbo and Umuofia; presentation of the complexities and the contradictions of a traditional Igbo community without idealizing; introduction of white Europeans into the story from the Igbo population's perspective.)

In order to introduce students to colonial writing and thought, assign one or both of the following texts for them to read and analyze in relation to Things Fall Apart :

You may choose to assign Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness (1899) , available online at the Electronic Text Center, available through the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Center for the Liberal Arts , to your students to read. In conjunction with the novella, students can read the essay, " Achebe on Racism in Heart of Darkness ", available through the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Victorian Web .

After reading Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart , students can respond to the following questions about themes and literary techniques on the chart comparing Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart provided in .pdf format:

• What is the moral dilemma presented within each work?
• How do the two texts represent Christianity versus African religious belief and practice?
• How do they approach the relationship between the community and the individual?

As an alternate to Heart of Darkness , Rudyard Kipling's poem, " The White Man's Burden ," (Click 'Some Poems' then 'The White Man's Burden.') located on The Kipling Organization , available through the EDSITEment-reviewed resource The Academy of American Poets , constitutes a brief but significant example of colonial literature. Note that Kipling is writing about India rather than African countries, but that both situations are examples of nineteenth-century British Empire and colonial relations.

A few months after Kipling's poem was published, H.T. wrote a response entitled "The Black Man's Burden" (1899). 

Ask students the following questions about the poem in comparison to Things Fall Apart : What is "the white man's burden" within the poem? What is "the black man's burden"? How does the poem portray non-white peoples? Why is Johnson's response important to understanding history and writing history? What is the narrator's attitude towards Empire and colonialism? How does this attitude compare with that of the narrator in Things Fall Apart ? How are the Europeans' views of Africans and the Africans' views of whites represented in the novel? What contemporary examples were written with a similar purpose as Johnson's poem?

• Debate the aims and outcomes of writing in African languages versus colonizers' languages.
• To extend the notion of rewriting history from previously excluded points of view, have students analyze the way Achebe represents women in Igbo society within Things Fall Apart , and ask them to and write a paper discussing women's roles and status in the novel.
• An interesting comparison to the women in Things Fall Apart read the essay by John N. Oriji, "Igbo Women from 1929-1960" in West Africa Review1 (2000), and write a paper comparing the role of women in the novel and the historical role that Igbo women played in the Aba Women's Revolt in Nigeria during colonialism.
• Have students complete an at-home project or an in-class essay on The Role of the Writer in Society. In addition to publishing many novels chronicling the history of colonial and post-colonial Nigeria through the lives of fictional protagonists and their communities, Chinua Achebe has spoken out and written several essays on the role of the writer/storyteller within his or her society.
• Write on the board or distribute to the class the following quotes that Achebe uses to describe his mission as a writer: "Here is an adequate revolution for me to espouse  – to help my society regain belief in itself and to put away the complexes of the years of denigration and self-abasement. And it is essentially a question of education, in the best sense of that word. Here, I think, my aims and the deepest aspirations of society meet" (Quoted by George P. Landow in "Achebe's Fiction and Contemporary Nigerian Politics", available through the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Internet Public Library). "The writer's duty is to help them regain it [dignity] by showing them in human terms what happened to them, what they lost.
• There is a saying in Ibo that a man who can't tell where the rain began to beat him cannot know where he dried his body. The writer can tell the people where the rain began to beat them. After all the novelist's duty is not to beat this morning's headline in topicality, it is to explore in depth the human condition. In Africa he cannot perform this task unless he has a proper sense of history" ("The Role of the Writer in a New Nation"). Have the class discuss what these statements say about Achebe's view of the role of the writer/storyteller in society. As a final project, ask students to write an essay that analyzes the ways in which Achebe fulfills his role as a writer according to his definition through Things Fall Apart. For additional information, see the essays "Africa and Her Writers" and "The Novelist as Teacher" in Chinua Achebe's Morning Yet on Creation Day : Essays. New York: Doubleday, 1975.
• An alternate assignment would be a comparison of Achebe's views on the role of the writer with those of the Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka in his Interview on writing, role of writer, and political activism, available through the EDSITEment-reviewed resource Conversations with History.

Recommended Websites

African Studies WWW

K-12 Resources

• What Do We Know About Africa? Curriculum Guide
• African Continent Map.Gif
• Nigeria page
• Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
• The Academy of American Poets
• "The White Man's Burden" (Click 'Some Poems' then 'The White Man's Burden.')
• Map Collections 1500-1999
• Issues in African History
• Countries' Resources
• Nigeria Information
• Igbo Information
• Heart of Darkness
• Chinua Achebe
• Achebe in His Own Words: Quotations, Interviews, Works
• Postimperial and Postcolonial Literature in English (George P.Landow at Brown University): Chinua Achebe
• " An African Voice "
• " Chinua Achebe: The Art of Fiction "
• Victorian Web
• " Achebe on Racism in Heart of Darkness "
• " Kipling's Imperialism "
• " The British Empire Kipling's Day "

Print Resources used in this Lesson Plan

Achebe, Chinua, "The African Writer and the English Language." In Achebe, Chinua, Morning Yet on Creation Day: Essays. New York: Doubleday, 1975. 91-103.

-----, Things Fall Apart . New York: Ballantine Books, 1959.

Materials & Media

Chinua achebe's things fall apart: teaching through the novel - character traits chart, chinua achebe's things fall apart: teaching through the novel - comparing heart of darkness and things fall apart, related on edsitement, chinua achebe’s things fall apart : oral and literary strategies, chinua achebe’s 'new english' in things fall apart, edsitement's recommended reading list for college-bound students.

Themes and Analysis

Things fall apart, by chinua achebe.

Chinua Achebe sought to rediscover pride and dignity among Africans by rehabilitating their image damaged by the humiliating effect of racist portrayals. In 'Things Fall Apart' he does this with grace and clarity.

About the Book

Article written by Israel Njoku

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

In ‘Things Fall Apart ,’ Achebe details Western colonialists’ impact on African societies. This impact is outlined in a very simple manner, but within this simplicity, there is a rich and inventive use of language. The plot might move irregularly for large sections of the book, but this pacing represents a deliberate attempt to conform to an essentially African literary tradition and style. ‘Things Fall Apart ‘ contains themes that reflect the richness and sophistication of African cultures as well as the debilitating impact of outsiders on this culture.

Themes in Things Fall Apart

The humanity of african societies.

Achebe was motivated to write ‘Things Fall Apart’ because he wanted to re-tell the story of the Africans who European imperialists and their enablers in the arts had depicted in unfair one-dimensional representations. Achebe creates a fairly sophisticated and self-sufficient society with organized institutions. His aim was not to create a perfect society, but one more true to the facts of the situation. In Umuofia, we see disputes settled between members fairly, as seen in the case between Mgbafo’s brothers and husband before the Egwugwu . The temperaments of people in the community are not uniformly animalistic or primitive as depicted in the works of Joseph Conrad. Rather, there is a wide range of personality types, ranging from the extremely chauvinistic and aggressive Okonkwo to the sentimental and gentle Unoka and Nwoye. In between them, we have the likes of Obiereka and Ogbuefi Ezeudo, who do not lose their sense of sentiment and passion while subscribing to the patriarchal tenets of their society. Within individuals, there is much complexity, as Okonkwo himself isn’t innately evil but rather forced into that way as a result of childhood trauma and pressure to meet the expectations of society. This complexity of the African individual and society marks them out as ordinary, rather than exciting or exotic.

Clash of Cultures

‘Things Fall Apart’ chronicles the great tragedy of the displacement of traditional African societies by encroaching Westerners with imperialist ambitions. The community of Umuofia had ruled itself and observed its customs, and preserved its institutions for years. The worldview every community member learned from birth, all systems and institutions they came to accept without question, were suddenly threatened by the arrival of the white man with his religion and political system. The British came with a fundamentally different value system, power structure, and religion. Disputes were no longer solved the old way, under the overarching goal of maintaining communal cohesion over everything else. The people of Umuofia, who had lived without rulers, now have to deal with colonialists exerting uncommon power and authority over them. With the coming of the Whiteman with his process and sense of justice that took no cognizance of the customs of the people, the people of Umuofia essentially faced the erosion of their traditions and values.

Umuofia’s society is highly patriarchal, and Okonkwo’s behaviors and motivations are, in part, informed by his society’s gender roles and expectations. Okonkwo measures his success according to the fulfillment of his society’s ideal of masculinity. He strove to be a valiant wrestler and a hard physical laborer on his farm because these activities represent peak male performance and demonstration of physical strength. Okonkwo’s desire for an unquestionably dominant status in his family often motivates his physical violence when he perceives some challenge to his authority from his wives. The patriarchal ordering and gender expectations in the community extend into farming, with Okonkwo focusing on cultivating the supposedly manly yam while leaving other less important crops like cocoyam to his wives to cultivate. Women also have some importance in society. For example, the goddess Ani is one of the most powerful and important deities within the Umuofia religious system. She has a huge influence in day-to-day life as the goddess of fertility and has an entire week devoted to honoring her, within which feminine attributes like peace and tolerance are encouraged. 

Class Struggle

‘Things Fall Apart’ sees the construction of Igbo society in a pristine and undisturbed form, including its class system. As is typical of the Igbos, the Umuofians valued and respected wealth, placing the wealthy firmly at the top of the social hierarchy even though theirs was essentially a democratic system without clear rulers. 

Titles, number of wives, number of yams, and size of one’s compound, as well as the number of huts inside, are some of the physical and symbolic evidence of wealth, and the absence of all these was clear evidence of an individual’s failure in life. The less fortunate are not exactly marginalized or excluded, they are still carried along, and we see evidence of this when public opinion swung against Okonkwo when he tried to shut a fellow villager up in a meeting by implying this individual’s opinions weren’t needed as he has not taken any title. Nevertheless, the people of Umuofia valued wealth and thought of the wealthy as better than the poor. Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was derided in the village for his poverty, and the existence of the insult of ‘Agbaya’ and the popularity of its usage suggests the presence of societal consequences of poverty in this society. 

Wealth is also not the only marker of status. Within Umuofia’s religious system, there are two classes of people; the freeborn and the Osu . The Osu are descendants of people who have been dedicated to the lifetime service to the gods of the land. This permanently separates them in many ways from the freeborn, and they are thus seen as an inferior stock. With the coming of the Christian missionaries and British overlordship, these marginalized groups were accepted by the church and consequently gained a gradual ascendancy in society, upturning Umuofia’s normal hierarchy.

Within the inclusive tenet of Christianity, the Osu were judged to be equal to all other humans in Christ.  The “poor” and otherwise “worthless” gained a new sense of purpose and importance. The church’s propagation of supposedly “feminine” qualities like love, tolerance, and acceptance stands at variance with traditional patriarchal Umuofia values. Meanwhile, the stock of those who hold uncompromisingly to traditional Umuofia values continues to fall. Powerful villagers, including Okonkwo, were captured and humiliated by the British when they tried to challenge the growing boldness and authority of those elements of the community who had joined the church. The failure of the Umuofians to stamp authority on this group of people who would have been powerless before them before the arrival of the missionaries and colonialists signified a demolishment of traditional Umuofia systems and a transfer of power away from the usual power brokers. Those who still further resist this new state of affairs meet an ignominious end, like Okonkwo, who was forced into suicide. So, throughout the novel, we see the colonialists function as both oppressors and liberators of certain groups within Umuofia’s society. 

Analysis of Key events in Things Fall Apart

• Okonkwo throws Amalinze the Cat and establishes himself as a man of talent and strength.
• Okonkwo comes to care for Ikemefuna, the gesture marking his status as one of the leading men of the community.
• Okonkwo participates in the killing of Ikemefuna, demonstrating his fear of being seen as weak.
• Okonkwo is banished from Umuofia after accidentally killing the son of Ezeudo.
• Obierika visits Okonkwo in exile and informs him about the arrival of the White men.
• Nwoye leaves his father’s hut to join the Christians in Umuofia.
• Okonkwo returns from exile with his family to meet a much-changed Umuofia.
• Men of Umuofia destroy the church building in retaliation after Enoch commits a sacrilege.
• The District Commissioner arrests Okonkwo and other leaders of the clan as punishment for destroying the church and forces the community to pay a fine for their release.
• Okonkwo beheads the chief messenger and commits suicide afterward

Style, Tone, and Figurative Language of Things Fall Apart

‘Things Fall Apart’ is divided into three parts, with the first part being much longer and slower-paced than the remaining two parts. The first part employs a circumlocutory narrative technique that shifts between the present and the past. This represents the Igbo rhetorical technique of initially skirting around a subject before directly addressing it.

The progression of the plot is often halted to regale us with bits of Okonkwo’s backstory and information on Umuofia culture. This arrangement lacks the narrative linearity that is typical of classical European fiction.  The structure helps in portraying African culture as comparatively developed, sophisticated, and self-sufficient. The considerable treatment of crops, the festivals attached to them, marriage and funeral ceremonies as well as the convening of the Egwugwu judicial process are not necessarily central to the immediate plot but exist to paint a rich cultural texture around the story.  All these gradually build up a picture of the culture in which Okonkwo inhabits as well as illuminate Okonkwo’s character.

By the second part of the novel, when the White missionaries and colonizers had arrived in the picture, the novel picks up the pace and continues with the plot almost without interruptions.

‘ Things Fall Apart’ is written in a very accessible manner. The sentences are simple enough, and the words are uncomplicated, save for a couple of Igbo words that warrant translations. Achebe’s writing is very effective. The sprinkling of Igbo proverbs all around the work helps to enrich the narrative and dialogues as well as accord them a measure of authenticity. Although written in English, Achebe maintains a strong local cultural flavor in the language. When we read the dialogues or follow the narrative, the English language used does not interfere with the authenticity of the dialogues and narrative because Achebe’s writing transmits as accurately as possible the original Igbo contexts. 

Achebe can induce great emotions through seemingly innocuous actions. For example, before Ikemefuna was killed, as he walked in front of the Umuofians who had been tasked with this job, Achebe chose this time to write about Ikemefuna’s excitement and hope at seeing his mother again. Achebe sets up a powerful moment when Ikemefuna breaks into a childhood song and walks in sync with the rhythm, deciding that if the song ends on his right leg, it will mean his mother was still alive, but that if it ends on his left, his mother would be dead or ill. This mood of great optimism and innocence sets up a stark contrast with the horrific murder that follows. Ikemefuna’s death, just at the point when we are getting to know him far more and relate with his hopes and fears and even root for him, makes the entire scene all the more powerful and emotional. Ikemefuna’s superstitions are only part of a large corpus of myths or other religious injunctions or ancient wisdom preserved through songs, folklores, mythologies, legends, aphorisms, and proverbs, which constitutes an important part of Umuofia culture. Achebe utilizes all these to great effect through the interlaying of these cultural vestiges and artifacts within the narrative to provide a rich texture and foundation.

All these properly secure the novel’s ties to Igbo culture and leave no one in doubt as to its authenticity and status as a legitimate representation of Igbo sensibilities.  ‘Things Fall Apart’ utilizes the Third Person’s point of view, but this narrator’s perspective switches between a participating actor and an external observer, a “we” and a “them” at different points in the story. Sometimes the narrator seems to be intimately in the know and involved with the actions and the customs of the people, other times he seems like a detached observer.

Analysis of Key Symbols in Things Fall Apart

Yam is the primary crop in Umuofia society. Called the king of crops, it is associated with manliness and is an important status symbol. Okonkwo considers yams to be the only crop worth personally growing, leaving the other crops for his wives and children. The number of yams in a man’s barn is a definitive indicator of his level of success in life. Yams symbolize wealth and abundance.

Egwugwu Masks

The Egwugwu masks symbolize the villagers’ ties to the spirit realm, or rather to the land of their ancestors. The scary nature of the designs and carvings on the masks as well as the secrecy and anonymity with which its wearers operate, allows certain individuals to act on behalf of or with the unquestionable authority of the clan’s gods or ancestors.

What does Okonkwo’s death symbolize in ‘Things Fall Apart?’

Okonkwo’s death in ‘Things Fall Apart’ symbolizes the futility of the struggle against change as brought about by European colonizers. The moment the British came to their doorstep, the people of Umuofia were fated to lose their independence and way of life.

Why did Chinua Achebe write ‘Things Fall Apart’?

Achebe wrote ‘ Things Fall Apart’ mainly to challenge racist and uncomplimentary portrayals of African societies at the point of contact with colonizing Europeans.

Did Chinua Achebe present a perfect traditional African society in ‘Things Fall Apart?’

Although Chinua Achebe sought to challenge racist portrayals of traditional African society with ‘Things Fall Apart,’ he did not go the other extreme by presenting a perfect society. Instead, he presented an African society with all of its strengths and faults, asking not that people idolize or dismiss these societies, but instead view them as essentially human.

Is ‘Things Fall Apart’ popular internationally?

‘Things Fall Apart’ has sold over 20 million copies all over the world, making it one of the most popular African novels of all time. It is used widely in schools across the world.

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.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Things Fall Apart — Colonialism in “Things Fall Apart”: A Complex Exploration

Colonialism in "Things Fall Apart": a Complex Exploration

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