The Novel Things Fall Apart - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 528 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2019/05/18 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: Things Fall Apart Essay Did you like this example? Chinua Achebe wrote the novel Things Fall Apart to show the Igbo culture and the effect of colonization on it from an Africans point of view. Throughout the novel, the themes of masculinity vs. feminism and weak vs. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Novel Things Fall Apart" essay for you Create order strong were developed with regards to a clansman named Okonkwo. Pre-colonial Okonkwo was a wealthy clansman who had many titles. After colonization, he was poor, lost all of his titles, and lost his freedom. This, in part, was due to Okonkwos internal struggles of masculinity vs. feminism and weak vs. strong. Before colonization, Okonkwo did not want to be like his father. His father was a lazy alcoholic who did nothing but drink and play his flute. Okonkwo saw this as being weak. He was very much the opposite of this. He was a hard worker, had many titles, and was wealthy. Achebe writes, it was fear from himself, least he should be found to resemble his father. This fear drove Okonkwo to be the best and noblest man in the clan, however, he was very violent toward his three wives. Okonkwos anger gets the best of him when he gets into a fight with one of his wives. The story shows this in the passage, he pressed the trigger and there was a loud report accompanied by the wail of his wives and children. After colonization, Okonkwo realized that he had become a relic in that compliance rather than violence constitutes the wisest principle for survival when white man came to live among the Umuofians. This goes against what Okonkwo places value in. Fear of being like his father is what drove this in him. All of this can be seen when Achebe writes, perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man but his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness. This fear ultimately led Okonkwo to take his own life by hanging himself after killing a messenger to the white man. He took his own life because, he knew that Umuofia would not go to war and that the white man would end up coming for him. Okonkwos choices led to his own demise. His suicide was seen as a crime in that, it is an abomination for a man to take his own life it is an offense against the Earth. He did this because he was both unable and unwilling to change in the face of adversity in the form of colonization of the Igbo clan by the white man. His fear of being perceived of as being weak kept him from changing in order to survive. This affected the whole clan in that it lost a respected leader. This is seen when Obierika, Okonkwos friend, says, that man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. Okonkwo did not change after the colonization of the Igbo clan by the white man. His internal struggle to remain masculine and strong proved to be more important than surviving. His point of view and how it was uncompromising in the face of adversity was Achebes main point of this novel. Dedication to ones values is timeless and affects all. The Novel Things Fall Apart - Free Essay Example Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 524 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2019/04/22 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: Things Fall Apart Essay Did you like this example? Â  It is incredible how a single quote can encapsulate the main idea of an entire novel. Chinua Achebe, the author, puts the reader in Okonkwo and Obierikas shoes when their culture disintegrated before their eyes, and they let it happen. The novel takes place in the village of Umuofia in Africa. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Novel Things Fall Apart" essay for you Create order There, culture is based primarily on religion and established practice. Their religion was part of the Igbo culture and was polytheistic. However, at one point, white men arrived and tried to colonialize the clan by converting them to Christianity, a monotheistic religion. When the white men requested land to create a Church, Umuofias leaders purposefully gave them land in the Evil Forest, because that is the location where they would leave cursed people to die. Therefore, the white men would be dead in only a few days. However, when they survived, people were astonished, and that gave the people of the Igbo clan a reason to doubt their religion and convert to Christianity. Okonkwo, the narrator, is a man with a great reputation in Umuofia, who is very traditional and expects a lot from his children and wives. He grew up with an effeminate, lazy father who had a poor reputation. He thought anyone with feminine qualities was weak, so he wished that all of his children were male. Furthermore, Okonkwo believed that his eldest son, Nwoye, was too feminine, and he was beaten for it. Therefore, when Okonkwo realized that Nwoye converted to Catholicism, he reached his breaking point and even tried to choke him. Nwoye reminded Okonkwo of his father, which he wanted nothing to do with. We can also see how Obierika isnt immediately pointing his finger at any one person for the loss of their culture. He isnt only blaming the white men for twisting and changing their clan, but also blaming his brothers for letting it happen. For example, the people of the clan were the ones who let the white men in, gave them land, listened to them, and let them change their morals to the point where many converted. He uses the metaphor of the white man putting a knife on the things that held them together: religion, tradition, family, and culture. As an effect, they have fallen apart because they were betrayed by their own family and friends who converted to Christianity. This quote overall shows Obierikas disappointment, rather than anger with the people of his clan. Thus, this novel shows how colonialism in Africa affected more than just history, but the people who were personally involved and how they were scarred. Even though Okonkwo was not a good father and husband because he put unrealistic and unfair expectations on everyone he knew, he had the respectable good intentions of not wanting to bring his father back into his life. Furtermore, reading this novel, which is based on the nineteenth century, now in the twenty-first century, shows a young generation like mine how different life was in the past, especially in Africa. In fact, his novel may help the reader make sure that they ensure what theyre passionate about, and not let anyone change that.