Analysis of Things Fall Apart

Chinua Achebe

Alex Gordon and Lyndsey Ritchie

January 14, 2011

• Born in Ogidi, Nigeria• Son of a teacher in a missionary school• Parents devout evangelical Protestants • Christened him Albert after Prince Albert,

husband of Queen Victoria• Albert Chinualumogu Achebe

• Education • In 1944 attended Government College in

Umuahia. • Also educated at the University College

of Ibadan English, history and theology. • Rejected his British name

• During the Nigerian Civil War (1967-70) Biafran government service

• Taught at US and Nigerian universities• In 1967 cofounded a publishing company

at Enugu • Retired in 1981• Paralyzed

• Famous for his novels describing the effects of Western customs and values on traditional African society.

• Use of satire and keen ear for spoken language most highly esteemed African writers in English

• First novel THINGS FALL APART (1958)

• NO LONGER AT EASE, ARROW OF GOD (1964), and ANTHILLS OF THE SAVANNAH (1987) all centered on colonialism

• As an essayist gained fame with his collections MORNING YET ON CREATION DAY (1975), HOPES AND IMPEDIMENTS (1988) and his long essay THE TROUBLE WITH NIGERIA (1983)

Religion"Nothing can stand alone; there must always be another thing standing beside it." • Chi person's spiritual double; linking

to ancestors, unborn, and Chukwu • Chukwu the great God that created

all the other gods and humankind. • Chi gets the last word• Ani earth goddess in charge of

morality; controls the fertility of people, animals, and plants; serves as a symbolic womb for the dead before they are reborn.

• Agbala the Oracle of the Hills and Caves

Marriage

• Bride-price ensure marriage's stability.

• returning home • uri ceremony bride paid a long visit

to the groom's family. • isa-ifi ceremony formal acceptance

of the bride into her husband's family• normally married at 16

Titles• Ozo title an lbo man took • idemili second title;with the man taking it

called "Ogbuefi"• Two more titles could also be taken • Very rare fifth title

Story Telling in Oral Cultures• Folk tales, myths, riddles, and proverbs • Imaginative, religious, social, and

educational functions. • Instill morals, traditions, beliefs

Kola and Chalk• Chalk made of white clay • Used by the Ibo in rituals. • Symbolizes peace.

Traditions

• What did they want? • Transformed barbarian way of living to a civilized way of

living• What did they do?

• Caused turmoil; fighting amongst villages • How did they change the people/culture?

• Built hospitals and schools (modernized villages)• Introduced Christianity

• Biggest fear weakness and failure• Struggles overcoming father’s reputation; controlling

emotions• Downfall was set on traditional way of life; refused to

change or compromise• Motivations superior rank among village, to be better than

his father• Flaws emotions, close-mindedness, hypocrisy in regards

to tradition versus change

• Themes• Masculinity versus Weakness• Change versus Tradition

• Style & Tone• Ironic, tragic, satirical

• Literary devices• simile “Okonkwo’s fame had grown

like a bush-fire in the harmattan.” • imagery “…when the rains had

stopped and the sun rose every morning with dazzling beauty.”

• pathos “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.

• Weak and incapable of ruling based on reason as opposed to emotion

• Not allowed to have an opinion

• Accept the “housewife” role; an accessory to the man

• Expected to have and raise children

• Accept other females/wives

• “Darkness held a vague terror for these people, even the bravest among them.”

• Written as a response to Heart of Darkness• 'An Image of Africa' (1975)

• Reflects on Okonkwo – Family ties, loss of position

within village, British relations

• Reflects on Nyowe– Conversion to Christianity

• Reflects on Brown/Smith– Such a struggle converting

Africans

“Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.”

• Why is it important?

• What makes it an example of good literature?

• How successful was Achebe in breaking the stereotype?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vMnlH5xg_I&feature=player_detailpage

every tired second, every heavy page they fold into a nightmare, they almost turn to rage i felt like i was draining, i should have been happy

and no one should need nothing, you never needed me and its always raining

i am calling from the end, things will fall apart again everything you gave me, everything you know

it's my newest form of torture, my newest broken bow i'm running out of fortune, i'm running out of pain

and i benefit from sadness and sadness cools my brain i am calling from the end, things will fall apart again

and it's always raining

“Africa is mystic; it is wild; it is a sweltering inferno; it is a photographer's paradise, a hunter's Valhalla, an escapist's Utopia. It is what you will, and it withstands all interpretations. It is the last vestige of a dead world or the cradle of a shiny new one. To a lot of people, as to myself, it is just 'home'. It is all these things but one thing — it is never dull.” 

-Beryl Markham  

http://www.monge.net/thingsfallapart/igbo%20background.html

Liukkonen, Petri. Petri Liukkonen & Ari Pesonen & Kuusankosken Kirjasto 2008. 14 Jan 2011. Web

“Things Fall Apart.” Class notes. Mrs. Schoch. 08 Jan 2011.