Things Fall Apart

ASIM'S WEBWORLD View: AP English List of Books   OUTSIDE LINKS Recommend a Link		Introduction Things Fall Apart, Achebe's first novel, was published in 1958 in the midst of the Nigerian renaissance. It tells the story of an Ibo village of the late 1800's and one of its great men, Okonkwo, who has achieved much in his life. He is a champion wrestler, a wealthy farmer, a husband to three wives, a title-holder among his people, and a mamber of the select egwugwu whose members impersonate ancestral spirits at tribal rituals. "The most impressive achievement of Things Fall Apart..." maintains David Carroll in his book Chinua Achebe, "is the vivid picture it provides of Ibo society at the end of the nineteenth century." The order is disrupted, however, with the appearance of the white man in Africa and with the introduction of his religion. "The conflict of the novel, vested in Okokwo, derives from the series of crushing blows which are levelled at traditional values by an alien and more powerful culture causing, in the end, the traditional society to fall apart," observes G.D. Killam. Okonkwo is unable to adopt to the changes that accompany colonialism. In the end, in frustration, he kills an African employed by the British, and then commits suicide, a sin against the tradition to which he had long clung. Achebe acieves a balance in recreating the tragic consequences of the clash of two cultures. Killam notes that "in showing Ibo society before and after the coming of the white man he avoids the temptation to present the past as idealized and the present as ugly and unsatisfactory." Summaries and Such I was lucky to find a really comprehensive summary to the text. It includes chapter-by-chapter general descriptions, character descriptions, critical events, and themes. I found it to be very helpful. [CLICK HERE...] Lecture notes from a university class are also available. The notes discuss general information about the author, Nigeria, the structure of the book, the main character, slavery and also themes with page references. Also includes general discussion questions, several of which make excellent essay topics.