Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe was published in England in 1958. This book was chosen because it is based around imperialism. I connects directly to our current course of study and allows for a better understanding. It is useful to our current course of study because it gives us a different point of view of imperialism. The point of view of the victim which is not heard as often as it should be. The practical information that was obtained from this text was that there are extreme impacts on the indigenous people of any place through the infiltration of outsiders. The outsiders change the culture and traditions of these colonies with their own. This is done for economical purposes and to show the rest of the world the power that they have. Things Fall Apart was written because Chinua Achebe wanted to show imperialism from the perspective of the minority. In this case he focused on Nigeria because that is where he was from. Chinua was from Nigeria and lived there for practically all of his child.
This means that he was able to experience imperialism first hand. He was able to properly and accurately explain any feelings that the characters had. Achebe wished to inform and persuade his readers in an entertaining manner. He wanted people to know that imperialism only benefits those initiating it. He wanted to persuade his readers to believe that none of the people forcefully living in these colonies are benefiting from imperialism. He wants readers to believe the opposite of the textbook which says that there are benefits to imperialism for everyone. The entertainment came through the story which he made easily understandable and easy to follow in terms of plot lines. This hooks readers making them want to read it more because they understand what they are reading. The audience that this is intended for is anyone willing to learn imperialism through a story from the perspective of the victims.
Many messages were present throughout the book. One of the main messages is that the Igbo tribe is not filled with extremely brutal and dangerous people which is how outsiders see them. In fact they are strong and kind. They care about those within the community and would do anything that is not violent to help each other out. Another main message is to not abandon your culture, but to embrace it. Even after 7 years of being forced away from his tribe, Okonkwo returns to his village to try and preserve it and its culture. He embraced who he was and came back to help pass that on to others. Achebe wanted to write about the Igbo people because he was an Igbo chieftain. He knew what he was talking about when writing and was able to both properly and thoroughly explain it. He wanted to show people the issues with imperialism and how it affects the indigenous people and their culture. Some of the most important themes present in Things Fall Apart were gender roles and family. Gender plays a huge role in Things Fall Apart. The basis of their tribe is gender roles. From the crops each gender is in control of to what their role is in the household. For men it is to be the breadwinner and take care of the yams.
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For the women it is quite a few things. They need to be good and submissive wives, and they need to bear many children to continue the family tree. Women are also worshipped because of their abilities to bear children. “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper.” 1 This shows how the male sex is dominant over the female sex. It also shows that because the male is dominant he can do almost anything he pleases. His wives cannot say anything or go against his wishes because they are fearful of any violence that could occur. Family is a main theme as well because the family has a certain structure that is important in the Igbo tribe. Family is based off of respect. The father provides for the family and teaches the sons how to do the same. There is also a baseline for respect especially of previous fathers of the families. To keep up with the males in the family there is a need for healthy children that are “supplied” by the mother. This continues the line and ensures that their family will not end until no men are produced.
Even Okonkwo himself became very fond of the boy – inwardly of course…there was no doubt that he liked the boy. Sometimes when he went to big village meetings or communal ancestral feasts he allowed Ikemefuna to accompany him, like a son, carrying his stool and his goatskin bag. And, indeed, Ikemefuna called him father.2This shows the importance of family. Okonkwo saw Ikemefuna as his son when he finally realized he did not truly have a family. Okonkwo also wanted to try and prevent Ikemefuna from turning out like his father did. Ikemefuna began to reflect on Okonkwo and began to think of him as a father figure. Things Fall Apart is informative on life under imperialism. It also showed what the tribes had to face both before and after they were colonized. Chinua Achebe has fulfilled his purpose in writing the book because they brought to greater attention the horrible outcomes of imperialism. How it destroys culture, and destroys almost everything to achieve greatness whether it’s in economical, political, or social circumstances.
What was interesting about this text was how there were parts that everyone could connect to because you could interpret it differently then someone else. Only to a certain extent as to not ruin or hide what the author is trying to convey. However, what was uninteresting about this text was that some things that were not as important were repeated many times. Also, any issues tended to not be as complex and seemed to have an easy fix. However, there were some bigger issues that could not be solved as easily which was good. For example making the whites leave, it was extremely difficult and sadly never accomplished. So it was interesting to see the struggle in that. This book was a worthwhile read, because it grew the knowledge already contained from class, by contributing different views on how imperialism affected others. The story itself was good because it went into depth of how the characters handled hardships. Especially when they lost significant people and were conquered by whites. Things Fall Apart enhanced the subject knowledge of imperialism by showing another side to the scenario.
This text improved my abilities as a student by making me more aware to how minorities are affected by those politically, economically, and/or socially superior to them. It also made me realize some of the greater consequences of imperialism. Yes I would recommend this book to a student. This is because other students need to understand the consequences of imperialism. They also most likely would like the story because it is overall good and easy to follow. My perception of imperialism has not been altered. This is because at the beginning of the unit I already did not believe that imperialism was good for almost all as was said in the textbook. I believed believe that the indigenous people are hurt and imperialism not only does great damage to them as people, but to their cultures, and to their lands. Whatever has been rooted in them since birth is slowly being torn out and replaced as if they were weeds when they are truly yet secretly a flower in about to blossom.
