Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Book Report by Fatima

    This novel is entitled Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe. The book mostly speaks about different traditional village cultures in Africa. It also speaks about an incursion of the British who tries to take over the village by introducing his religion and making it the higher and better religion. Okonkwo is the narrator of the story. The novel setting is in a small village called Umofia which is located in the southeastern part of Nigeria and it is in the late 1800s/early 1900s. Man vs. Man is the conflict that is presented in the novel.

    Okonkwo is the main character in the novel. He is a hardworking farmer, wrestler, and clan leader who has three wives and is a father of several children. He has earned various high titles in his village. Okonkwo is terrified of being a failure like his father. As a result, his behavior towards others is unkind and unruly. In the novel it explains how Okonkwo is a man filled with anger and violence. At the end of the story, Okonkwo kills himself. This shows that he has let the violent part of him down and has become an insecure and crazy man. I didn't really like this character because of his behavior.

    Nwoye is Okonkwo's oldest son. He is a very lazy boy and is following his grandfather's footsteps. Okonkwo doesn't think of him highly and this troubles him. The books shows how Nwoye stills shows a feminine side when he stills yearns to hear his mother stories. In the end, Nwoye stops trying to please his father and finds peace and contentment in another religion with the missionaries that has invaded the village. I like this character because he is different from the other characters and his personality intrigues me.

    Ezinma is Okonkwo's daughter. Her mother is named Ekwefi. Ezinma is the only child of Ekwefi. She is horrified that she will lose her so they share an unusual bond. Okonkwo is fond of the girl and often wishes that she is a boy for he believes that she will make the perfect son. I like this character because she is a hardworking girl and is very motivated.

    One scene that is part of the conflict is when Okonkwo kills a young boy by mistake and is banished from the village. He is to live in his mother's land for seven years. This breaks Okonkwo's heart for all his titles has been taken away from him and that brings him down from his high status in the village. Okonkwo is also upset because he was becoming very wealthy and accomplishing much more than his late father. Another scene is when the British missionaries invade the village and try to take it over. Until then the only and superior religion was the Ibgo culture. The religion of the missionaries changed some of the villagers tremendously. Some of the villagers didn't appreciate the missionaries trying to take over the village and tried to object by taking matters into their hands. Some of the acts placed them in the missionaries prison.

    The attempt of the missionaries trying to take over the village forced Okonkwo to perform brutal acts towards the British. When Okonkwo realized that the villagers was letting the missionaries overrule their beliefs, he chose another way to resolve this. He took his life away by hanging himself on a tree in the back of his obi.

    The novel ends sadly. The villagers find the body of Okonkwo hanging off a tree in the back of his compound. Obierika blames the District of Commissioner to be the cause of his death. The villagers ask him to take the body down because their customs says that it is wrong for a man to take his own life, and therefore no clansman can't touch him or give him a formal burial. The District of Commissioner does this and plans on writing a book on Okonkwo entitled “The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger”. The author speaks about changes in tradition affect people. This theme applies to people by people changes over the years due to moving to different places that practices different religions or have different cultures. As a result, most of the times that person is likely to change and adopt that new culture.

    I liked this book because of the setting and because of the contents of the story. The author's technique of writing was fantastic because it made the story seem realistic and it was understandable. This book broaden my horizon by opening up my perspective on Africans. I would definitely recommend this book to others because they could better understand the tribes and cultures of Nigeria.

The background image is borrowed from: http://www.samadhicushions.com/samadhi/images/items/S-3363.jpg