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Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe was a world-renowned novelist, critic, poet, and professor. Throughout his literary career that spanned decades, he wrote many works that earned critical acclaim. His first novel ‘Things Fall Apart’ is considered to be one of the best works of his career and is his most famous piece of work. The book was released in 1958 and to date remains the most widely read book in African literature. Chinua started with the intention to study medicine at the university but changed his major to English literature (Chinua, p.35). It was during this time in university that he began to write stories. He has other novels under his belt such as ‘Anthills of the Savannah’ (1987), ‘A Man of the People’ (1966) and ‘No Longer at Ease’ (1960).
The book ‘Things Fall Apart’ focuses on Okonkwo, who is an Igbo man and a well-respected warrior of the Umuofia clan. The story revolves around his life in the village and how the villagers observe traditional beliefs very seriously. Towards the end of the story, the introduction of the white missionaries and the theme of colonization emerge. The culture and traditions of the Africans slowly disintegrate as the missionaries and colonialists are determined to usher a new age of civilization to the West African State (Chinua, p.51). Okonkwo held on to the freedom of his culture and realized in the end that his people are not willing to fight for their traditions.
Okonkwo is a model family man, warrior, clansman, and farmer. He is motivated by the fact that his father, Unoka, was a disgrace who died while indebted to many people because he was an irresponsible spendthrift. Okonkwo swore never to be like his father and went out of his way to ensure that he grew to be the exact opposite, a man whom many people looked up to. He was however worried about his twelve-year-old son Nwoye who is lazy and has the potential to turn out like Unoka.
The village of Umuofia got into a dispute with a neighboring village and to settle this; the community gave Umuofia a virgin and a fifteen-year-old boy named Ikemefuna. Okonkwo took the boy as his son and grows very fond of him to the extent of referring to him as his father. Okonkwo exercises restraint in his relationship with Ikemefuna but is happy that his son Nwoye also takes a liking to the boy (Chinua, p.62). The two boys become attached, and to Okonkwo’s delight, Ikemefuna is like a model son and Nwoye begins to mimic the positive masculine traits of Ikemefuna. The boy stays with the family for three years.
One day locusts invade the village of Umuofia. Usually, when this happened, the locusts would be back every year for the following seven years nod then disappear for a long time. The villagers were excited and went about gathering the insects which were a delicacy when cooked. Ezeudu who was a respected village elder paid a visit to Okonkwo with the terrible news that the Oracle had decreed that Ikemefuna must be killed. He, Okonkwo, would not have a hand in the death as the boy called him ‘father.’ Oknokwo lies to Ikemefuna telling him that he would be returned to his home village, at which news Nwoye burst into tears.
When the men of Umuofia take Ikemefuna, he begins to reflect on the upside of the situation which was the fact that he would get to see his mother. Sadly after a while, the men attach the young boy with machetes. Okonkwo also does the same as he did not want to his fellow village men to think he was weak. He ignored the Oracle’s instruction that he was not to take part in killing the boy.
After the boy’s death, Okonkwo becomes depressed, and he can neither sleep nor eat. To ease his grief, he goes to visit his friend Obierika. He feels somewhat relieved during the visit and even helps to treat his friend’s daughter by gathering medicine for her. Soon after, the village elder Ezeudu’s death is announced. This news saddens Okonkwo who recalls that during their last conversation, Ezeudu warned him against killing Ikemefuna. However, he attends the elaborate funeral albeit with a heavy heart (Chinua, p.68). The funeral turns out to be tragic as the explosion of Okonkwo’s gun executes Ezeudu’s son. Okonkwo sinned against the earth goddess by killing a fellow clansman and had to take his family to exile for seven years as a way of atoning for his sin. His animals are killed, and his buildings burnt down to cleanse the village.
Okonkwo and his family retreated to the village in which his mother was born called Mbanta. They were received very warmly especially by his uncle, Uchendu. The villagers helped him settle down by building huts and lending him yams to plant. The family settled down to the rhythm of life in their new home. After a year, Okonkwo’s friend Obiereka came to visit while bearing the sad news that another village, Abame, had been devastated by the white men.
Soon after this visit by Obiereka, six missionaries made their way to the village of Mbanta with the intention of converting the villagers to Christianity. They explained to the villagers that the practice of worshiping more than one God was considered to be idolatry. They instead preached about their own God who was the Trinity. The villagers did not understand this. Even though they had come to convert the villagers, Mr. Brown did not allow his companions to provoke the villagers.
Mr. Brown fell and ill, and Reverend Smith was chosen to replace him. Reverend Smith was a less tolerant and patient man and allowed the followers to be free from restraint. During one of the traditional ceremonies, one of the white men dared to unmask one of the gods which were equal to killing the god. The gods were displeased and soon after the church was razed to the ground (Chinua, p.72). The District Commissioner was infuriated by the burning of the Church and requested that the clan leaders should meet him. His intentions were however not good, and he had the leaders thrown in jail.
They were eventually released, and the clan leaders held a meeting to discuss the situation. During the meeting, some messengers from the court approached them and ordered them to cease. Okonkwo rose up and killed the leader of the messengers with the expectation that his fellow leaders would join him. This turned out not to be the case, and Okonkwo realized that the rest of his people were not willing to go to war.
The part that I found most interesting about the book was the role that was played by Okonkwo who was the main protagonist in the story. He was a concerned father who always looked out for the wellbeing of his son Nwoye. He was delighted when Ikemefuna joined his family and became a positive influence on the boy. He was also very conscious of the negative image that his late father had left on the village and worked hard to distance himself from such a character.
Okonkwo was a man who believed firmly in the traditions of his people. When he killed his fellow clansman, he knew that he had sinned and he moved his family to another village. The whole clan held their traditions in high reverence and observed them religiously. The coming of the white man was a severe threat to these traditions. Mr. Brown and his followers told them that worshipping many gods was idolatrous. The concept of one God was one that was foreign to the villagers as they had many gods that they worshipped.
Mr. Brown took a better approach that was meant to convince the villagers and not just force Christianity upon them. Reverend Smith n the other hand took on an intolerant and aggressive approach which was disrespectful of the Africans and their culture. This led to retaliation in the form of burning down their church. The arrest of the leaders was a further antagonism. They should have approached the whole matter differently first by showing respect to the African culture and then attempt to convert them willingly.
Christianity also accompanied colonial rule, and this might have played a role in the local people’s refusal to be converted. The white man had invaded their county, imposed their rule on them and yet expected them to accept all this willingly. Okonkwo fights valiantly for his beliefs when he kills the leader of the court messengers. He hoped that his fellow clansmen would join him in this fight, but they did not. They must have realized that they stood no chance against the white man who was more powerful and could throw them in jail and mete abuse on them. The beginning of colonial rule in Africa caused suffering to the local people, and the book shows the beginning of this. The story is brilliantly told, and even though the events were from a long time ago, they remain captivating to study. It is no wonder therefore that ‘Things Fall Apart’ in considered Chinua Achebe’s best work.
Works CitedChinua, Achebe. “Things fall apart.” Ch. Achebe (1958): 1-117.
