book report things fall apart

• Things Fall Apart

Chinua Achebe

• Literature Notes
• Book Summary
• About Things Fall Apart
• Character List
• Summary and Analysis
• Part 1: Chapter 1
• Part 1: Chapter 2
• Part 1: Chapter 3
• Part 1: Chapter 4
• Part 1: Chapter 5
• Part 1: Chapter 6
• Part 1: Chapter 7
• Part 1: Chapter 8
• Part 1: Chapter 9
• Part 1: Chapter 10
• Part 1: Chapter 11
• Part 1: Chapter 12
• Part 1: Chapter 13
• Part 2: Chapter 14
• Part 2: Chapter 15
• Part 2: Chapter 16
• Part 2: Chapter 17
• Part 2: Chapter 18
• Part 2: Chapter 19
• Part 3: Chapter 20
• Part 3: Chapter 21
• Part 3: Chapter 22
• Part 3: Chapter 23
• Part 3: Chapter 24
• Part 3: Chapter 25
• Character Analysis
• Reverend James Smith
• Character Map
• Chinua Achebe Biography
• Critical Essays
• Major Themes in Things Fall Apart
• Use of Language in Things Fall Apart
• Full Glossary for Things Fall Apart
• Essay Questions
• Cite this Literature Note

Things Fall Apart is about the tragic fall of the protagonist, Okonkwo, and the Igbo culture. Okonkwo is a respected and influential leader within the Igbo community of Umuofia in eastern Nigeria. He first earns personal fame and distinction, and brings honor to his village, when he defeats Amalinze the Cat in a wrestling contest. Okonkwo determines to gain titles for himself and become a powerful and wealthy man in spite of his father's weaknesses.

Okonkwo's father, Unoka, was a lazy and wasteful man. He often borrowed money and then squandered it on palm-wine and merrymaking with friends. Consequently, his wife and children often went hungry. Within the community, Unoka was considered a failure and a laughingstock. He was referred to as agbala , one who resembles the weakness of a woman and has no property. Unoka died a shameful death and left numerous debts.

Okonkwo despises and resents his father's gentle and idle ways. He resolves to overcome the shame that he feels as a result of his father's weaknesses by being what he considers to be "manly"; therefore, he dominates his wives and children by being insensitive and controlling.

Because Okonkwo is a leader of his community, he is asked to care for a young boy named Ikemefuna, who is given to the village as a peace offering by neighboring Mbaino to avoid war with Umuofia. Ikemefuna befriends Okonkwo's son, Nwoye, and Okonkwo becomes inwardly fond of the boy.

Over the years, Okonkwo becomes an extremely volatile man; he is apt to explode at the slightest provocation. He violates the Week of Peace when he beats his youngest wife, Ojiugo, because she went to braid her hair at a friend's house and forgot to prepare the afternoon meal and feed her children. Later, he severely beats and shoots a gun at his second wife, Ekwefi, because she took leaves from his banana plant to wrap food for the Feast of the New Yam.

After the coming of the locusts, Ogbuefi Ezeuder, the oldest man in the village, relays to Okonkwo a message from the Oracle. The Oracle says that Ikemefuna must be killed as part of the retribution for the Umuofian woman killed three years earlier in Mbaino. He tells Okonkwo not to partake in the murder, but Okonkwo doesn't listen. He feels that not participating would be a sign of weakness. Consequently, Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna with his machete. Nwoye realizes that his father has murdered Ikemefuna and begins to distance himself from his father and the clansmen.

Okonkwo becomes depressed after killing Ikemefuna, so he visits his best friend, Obierika, who disapproves of his role in Ikemefuna's killing. Obierika says that Okonkwo's act will upset the Earth and the earth goddess will seek revenge. After discussing Ikemefuna's death with Obierika, Okonkwo is finally able to sleep restfully, but he is awakened by his wife Ekwefi. Their daughter Ezinma, whom Okonkwo is fond of, is dying. Okonkwo gathers grasses, barks, and leaves to prepare medicine for Ezinma.

A public trial is held on the village commons. Nine clan leaders, including Okonkwo, represent the spirits of their ancestors. The nine clan leaders, or egwugwu , also represent the nine villages of Umuofia. Okonkwo does not sit among the other eight leaders, or elders, while they listen to a dispute between an estranged husband and wife. The wife, Mgbafo, had been severely beaten by her husband. Her brother took her back to their family's village, but her husband wanted her back home. The egwugwu tell the husband to take wine to his in-laws and beg his wife to come home. One elder wonders why such a trivial dispute would come before the egwugwu.

In her role as priestess, Chielo tells Ekwefi (Okonkwo's second wife) that Agbala (the Oracle of the Hills and Caves) needs to see Ezinma. Although Okonkwo and Ekwefi protest, Chielo takes a terrified Ezinma on her back and forbids anyone to follow. Chielo carries Ezinma to all nine villages and then enters the Oracle's cave. Ekwefi follows secretly, in spite of Chielo's admonitions, and waits at the entrance of the Oracle. Okonkwo surprises Ekwefi by arriving at the cave, and he also waits with her. The next morning, Chielo takes Ezinma to Ekwefi's hut and puts her to bed.

When Ogbuefi Ezeudu dies, Okonkwo worries because the last time that Ezeudu visited him was when he warned Okonkwo against participating in the killing of Ikemefuna. Ezeudu was an important leader in the village and achieved three titles of the clan's four, a rare accomplishment. During the large funeral, Okonkwo's gun goes off, and Ezeudu's sixteen-year-old son is killed accidentally.

Because the accidental killing of a clansman is a crime against the earth goddess, Okonkwo and his family must be exiled from Umuofia for seven years. The family moves to Okonkwo's mother's native village, Mbanta. After they depart Umuofia, a group of village men destroy Okonkwo's compound and kill his animals to cleanse the village of Okonkwo's sin. Obierika stores Okonkwo's yams in his barn and wonders about the old traditions of the Igbo culture.

Okonkwo is welcomed to Mbanta by his maternal uncle, Uchendu, a village elder. He gives Okonkwo a plot of land on which to farm and build a compound for his family. But Okonkwo is depressed, and he blames his chi (or personal spirit) for his failure to achieve lasting greatness.

During Okonkwo's second year in exile, he receives a visit from his best friend, Obierika, who recounts sad news about the village of Abame: After a white man rode into the village on a bicycle, the elders of Abame consulted their Oracle, which told them that the white man would destroy their clan and other clans. Consequently, the villagers killed the white man. But weeks later, a large group of men slaughtered the villagers in retribution. The village of Abame is now deserted.

Okonkwo and Uchendu agree that the villagers were foolish to kill a man whom they knew nothing about. Later, Obierika gives Okonkwo money that he received from selling Okonkwo's yams and seed-yams, and he promises to do so until Okonkwo returns to Umuofia.

Six missionaries, including one white man, arrive in Mbanta. The white man speaks to the people about Christianity. Okonkwo believes that the man speaks nonsense, but his son, Nwoye, is captivated and becomes a convert of Christianity.

The Christian missionaries build a church on land given to them by the village leaders. However, the land is a part of the Evil Forest, and according to tradition, the villagers believe that the missionaries will die because they built their church on cursed land. But when nothing happens to the missionaries, the people of Mbanta conclude that the missionaries possess extraordinary power and magic. The first recruits of the missionaries are efulefu , the weak and worthless men of the village. Other villagers, including a woman, soon convert to Christianity. The missionaries then go to Umuofia and start a school. Nwoye leaves his father's hut and moves to Umuofia so he can attend the school.

Okonkwo's exile is over, so his family arranges to return to Umuofia. Before leaving Mbanta, they prepare a huge feast for Okonkwo's mother's kinsmen in appreciation of their gratitude during Okonkwo's seven years of exile.

When Okonkwo returns to Umuofia, he discovers that the village has changed during his absence. Many men have renounced their titles and have converted to Christianity. The white men have built a prison; they have established a government court of law, where people are tried for breaking the white man's laws; and they also employ natives of Umuofia. Okonkwo wonders why the Umuofians have not incited violence to rid the village of the white man's church and oppressive government.

Some members of the Igbo clan like the changes in Umuofia. Mr. Brown, the white missionary, respects the Igbo traditions. He makes an effort to learn about the Igbo culture and becomes friendly with some of the clan leaders. He also encourages Igbo people of all ages to get an education. Mr. Brown tells Okonkwo that Nwoye, who has taken the name Isaac, is attending a teaching college. Nevertheless, Okonkwo is unhappy about the changes in Umuofia.

After Mr. Brown becomes ill and is forced to return to his homeland, Reverend James Smith becomes the new head of the Christian church. But Reverend Smith is nothing like Mr. Brown; he is intolerant of clan customs and is very strict.

Violence arises after Enoch, an overzealous convert to Christianity, unmasks an egwugwu. In retaliation, the egwugwu burn Enoch's compound and then destroy the Christian church because the missionaries have caused the Igbo people many problems.

When the District Commissioner returns to Umuofia, he learns about the destruction of the church and asks six leaders of the village, including Okonkwo, to meet with him. The men are jailed until they pay a fine of two hundred and fifty bags of cowries. The people of Umuofia collect the money and pay the fine, and the men are set free.

The next day at a meeting for clansmen, five court messengers who intend to stop the gathering approach the group. Suddenly, Okonkwo jumps forward and beheads the man in charge of the messengers with his machete. When none of the other clansmen attempt to stop the messengers who escape, Okonkwo realizes that they will never go to war and that Umuofia will surrender. Everything has fallen apart for Okonkwo; he commits suicide by hanging himself.

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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

Chinua achebe, everything you need for every book you read..

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.

Things Fall Apart

75 pages • 2 hours read

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Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-13

Chapters 14-16

Chapters 17-19

Chapters 20-22

Chapters 23-25

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Further Reading & Resources

Discussion Questions

Summary and Study Guide

Things Fall Apart , published in 1958, is Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe’s first novel. Simultaneously portraying the traditions and beliefs of Nigerian Ibo culture and engaging with the narrative of European colonialism in Africa, Things Fall Apart uses one man’s story to speak for many.

Achebe’s plot centers on Okonkwo , a passionate man focused on reaching the apex of masculine virtue in his home village, Umuofia. As a child, Okonkwo notices his father’s “feminine” and dishonorable behaviors: Unoka is lazy, pleasure-seeking, and debt-ridden. As a young man, Okonkwo seeks to “[wash] his hands” of his father’s legacy through intense hard labor (8). He wins glorious wrestling victories, leads his village to war, and builds a thriving farm. Quickly, he is on track to earn titles within the community, markers of power and influence.

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Okonkwo’s first troubles come with Ikemefuna’s arrival. The product of an exchange intended to avoid war between two villages, Umuofia and Mbiano, Ikemefuna ends up in Okonkwo’s household. Though his adjustment is not immediate, he quickly becomes Okonkwo’s favorite. Okonkwo is satisfied by Ikemefuna’s influence over his oldest son, Nwoye , with whom he is constantly disappointed; with Ikemefuna around, Nwoye acts more like a man and less like his grandfather, Unoka. But when Umuofia’s Oracle, Agbala, demands Ikemefuna’s death, Okonkwo releases him and participates in his murder.

Agbala also demands Okonkwo’s daughter, Ezinma , and Okonkwo tries to protect his favorite biological child. Though Okonkwo, his wives, and his friends respect the authority of their gods and ancestors, they find following these commands difficult. Okonkwo faces punishment if he treats his wives or peers too harshly. Even when Okonkwo, his friend Obierika , and Nwoye question the will of the gods or ancestors, their adherence to the family structure remains firm. Rituals, drum summons, and Oracle appearances always happen at night, in the darkness; the mysterious darkness holds a powerful sway over Okonkwo, his family, and his kinsmen, and their community beliefs help them maintain stability and unity in times of conflict.

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Okonkwo accidentally shoots the son of an elder during ritual gunfire at the elder’s funeral, and in response to his crime, he and his family must leave the village for seven years. Transplanted to Mbanta, the village of his mother, Okonkwo mourns the loss of the future for which he worked so hard. Though he continues to hold high expectations for himself and build new wealth and influence, his distance from the tribe means that he expects to work to earn honor upon his return.

While Okonkwo and his family are in Mbanta, white missionaries arrive in Umuofia. The unfamiliar church wins over the village’s outcasts; eventually, a preacher visits Mbanta and converts Nwoye. Nwoye abandons his family to join the church; this fracture in the structure of the social system indicates a greater fracture that the white men’s arrival catalyzes.

Upon return to Umuofia, Okonkwo discovers that the white man’s religion has become political, too. The colonial administration imprisons men when they follow local tradition. Though one missionary, Mr. Brown , coexists effectively with the villagers, the next, Mr. Smith, incites deep-seated conflict. As he collaborates with authorities, specifically the District Commissioner , Mr. Smith deepens the rift in Umuofia.

Mr. Smith encourages an overzealous convert, Enoch, to unmask an egwugwu , an elder who embodies a spiritual ancestor. This crime profoundly offends the villagers, and the egwugwus burn down his church. The District Commissioner tricks Okonkwo and five of Umuofia’s other leaders into prison, and the villagers scramble to post bail for these powerful men. When they return, Okonkwo wants to declare war.

Before the villagers can decide how to solve their conflict, messengers arrive to dissolve their meeting. Rather than engage in conversation, as leaders have so far, Okonkwo responds directly: he decapitates a messenger. Disappointed with his fellow villagers’ cowardice, Okonkwo flees the scene and commits suicide. When messengers return to Umuofia, asking for Okonkwo, his friend, Obierika, leads them to his hanged body and asks that they remove it: his body is unclean, for suicide is a great evil, and his fellow villagers cannot bury him with their own hands.

The novel ends with entry into the District Commissioner’s consciousness, as he conceives of the story of Okonkwo as a detail in his colonial narrative, The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger .

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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.”

It’s important to have different perspectives on books. If you’re not a reader, you can find a synopsis of many books from Readitforme that you can listen to. Click the link to join. This is a great way to learn the latest thinking on many topics.

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

Hello there! I am Avil Beckford, the founder of The Invisible Mentor. I am also a published author, writer, expert interviewer host of The One Problem Podcast and MoreReads Success Blueprint, a movement to help participants learn in-demand skills for future jobs. Sign-up for MoreReads: Blueprint to Change the World today! In the meantime, Please support me by buying my e-books Visit My Shop , and thank you for connecting with me on LinkedIn , Facebook , Twitter and Pinterest !

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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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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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Historical Context

Things fall apart, by chinua achebe.

'Things Fall Apart' was born out of the need to correct careless, one-dimensional and ultimately racist portrayal of traditional Africans by Western writers.

About the Book

Written by Israel Njoku

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

‘ Things Fall Apart’ is, in some respects, a reactionary novel written as a political statement to counter certain unfair narratives about Africa popular in Western fiction. In this sense, it is a work very much defined by its historical context, namely the anti-colonialist sentiment rife around the time Achebe was coming of age and the racist nature of the colonialist literature he read while studying at the university.

Chinua Achebe wrote ‘ Things Fall Apart ’ as a response to skewed portrayals of Africa by European writers. The Nigeria Achebe grew up in was under the throes of a British colonial process that had begun decades before his birth. While growing up, Achebe was exposed to literature by Europeans that attempted to describe Africa and its people, often in a subordinate role within encounters with European adventurers, missionaries, or administrators, whichever the case may be. Two such works, Joseph Conrad’s ‘ Heart of Darkness (1902), and Joyce Cary’s ‘Mister Johnson’ (1939), were especially influential in motivating Achebe to write ‘ Things Fall Apar t.’ Both works represented Africans as brutish, one-dimensional horror figures without any measure of sophistication.

Being initially exposed to exclusively Western literature, Achebe first began identifying with the West, and he saw himself in the civilized, gentlemanly, and adventurous western characters encountering untamed African savages in their supposedly dangerous adventures down the heart of Africa. However, his evolving consciousness allowed him to properly see these representations as they were, as well as better understand his true place within these interactions. The Africa he read in these works ceased to be an enigma or a wild fantastic place, but rather a place as real as his home, as real as the stories and folklores passed down to him. The Africa he knew about was far from what these biased, prejudicial, and agenda-driven Western writers were portraying. There was a passage in ‘ The Heart of Darkness ‘ featuring a scene where some European adventurers were sailing on a boat down the river Congo, while the native Africans stood by the riverbanks watching them. Referencing his feelings about this passage within the context of his increasing consciousness of biased African portrayal, Achebe noted: “But a time came when I reached the appropriate age and realized that these writers had pulled a fast one on me! I was not on Marlowe’s boat steaming up the Congo in ‘ Heart of Darkness ‘; rather, I was one of those unattractive beings jumping up and down on the riverbank, making horrid faces… The day I figured this out was when I said no; when I realized that stories are not always innocent; that they can be used to put you in the wrong crowd, in the party of the man who has come to dispossess you.”

Thereafter he was inspired to correct this jaundiced portrayal of Africa and Africans by showing the world the perspective of these Africans- a perspective that makes them far more human and respected.

Publication

Achebe began work on ‘ Things Fall Apart’ in 1954 during his time as a scriptwriter in the Talks Department at the Nigerian Broadcasting Service. When he traveled to London as an attendee of the British Broadcasting Corporation staff training school in 1956, he took advantage of the opportunity to solicit expert feedback on his now-developed manuscript for the work. This manuscript contained not just the ‘Things Fall Apart’ story as we know it but also a continuation that covered the lives of Okonkwo’s son and grandson.

However, when Achebe returned to Nigeria, he revised and finetuned the novel, cutting out a second and third section from the original manuscript, and deciding that the first part of the book was a complete story deserving of being a standalone novel.  Feeling the work complete, Achebe sent the manuscript to a London typing service in 1957 for it to be typed. However, his manuscript was promptly abandoned at a corner of the office, and it took the intervention of Achebe’s boss at the NBS, Angela Beattie, for him to receive a typed copy of his manuscript after months of solicitation. 

After some initial rejections, Achebe’s manuscript was finally accepted for publication by Heinemann after a recommendation from an educational adviser, Donald MacRae. ‘ Things Fall Apart’ was then published on 17 June 1958 to eventual widespread acclaim. It has since gone on to sell over 20 million copies, becoming a fundamental text in schools around the world. To date it is the best-selling African novel, as well as the most critically acclaimed.

Legacy and Influence

The work’s revolutionary influence on post-colonial African literature has led many to refer to Achebe as the father of African literature. This reputation rests on Achebe’s influence in determining the path that subsequent African novels would follow. Achebe’s work would inspire other African writers like Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, Chukwuemeka Ike, and Flora Nwapa, who followed Achebe’s lead in setting their novels at the nexus between old traditional values and western values, exploring the theme of conflict and change. Achebe influenced not only the themes of these novels but also the styles. 

His pioneering use of African English, which draws heavily from traditional African proverbs, folk tales, and idioms began to see widespread adoption in the works of African writers. Achebe’s influence was also strong among older writers like Onuora Nzekwu whose formal and anglicized prose gave way to the African vernacular style in his third novel, ‘Highlife for the lizards, ’ published in 1965. Another prominent novelist, T.M Aluko also adopted an African English style after reading Achebe.

Where was ‘Things Fall Apart’ set in?

‘ Things Fall Apart ’ was set in pre-colonial and colonial eastern Nigeria, capturing the twilight of independent African rule and the undisturbed flourishing of their culture, as well as the impact of Western missionaries and imperialists on this culture.

Who influenced Achebe’s writing?

Achebe was motivated to write after reading the work of Joyce Cary, but his style and form takes a radical departure from Western literary tradition, instead drawing more from African oral tradition.

How successful is ‘ Things Fall Apart ?’

‘Things Fall Apart’ is the best-selling African novel, having sold over 20 million copies to date.

How has ‘Things Fall Apart’ impacted African literature

‘Things Fall Apart’ encouraged the subsequent publication of books that reexamined the interaction between colonialist powers and traditional African societies. It motivated the stylistic use of peculiar African literary forms and infusions.

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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Njoku, Israel " Things Fall Apart Historical Context 📖 " Book Analysis , https://bookanalysis.com/chinua-achebe/things-fall-apart/historical-context/ . Accessed 29 March 2024.

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"Heart Advice For Difficult Times" 👉 For more insights, check out the full book here 📖 Transcript and written book summary available here for free 🗒️ Author: Pema Chödrön Category: Mindfulness & Happiness

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