Summerlin 1

Chelsey Summerlin

Mrs. Ostwalt

English IVP

September 25, 2017

Things Fall Apart

In the novel, ​Things Fall Apart,​ Chinua Achebe uses the Igbo culture to reveal his

negative perspective of American Imperialism and he brings out his views through the

tragic hero, Okonkwo, and the tragedy of change versus tradition. Several themes are

prominent throughout the novel. The novel was set in Nigeria around 1900 in the

villages of Umuofia and Mbanta, before colonization. Those themes include the Igbo

Society Complexity, the Clash of Cultures, and Destiny. All themes are related because

they all deal with human motives and emotions across cultures and time.

Today 250 tribes and more consider Nigeria their home. Nigeria is in West Africa,

just north of the equator. Nigeria covers an area of 356,669 square miles which is

equivalent to two times the size of California. The country has three main environmental

regions known as the Savanna, tropical forests, and coastal wetlands. These

environmental regions greatly impact the cultures and the people that live there. The

Niger and Benue rivers come together in the center of the country, creating a “Y” that

splits Nigeria into three isolated sections, which marks the three major ethnic group

boundaries. Politically Nigeria is separated into thirty-six different states. Nigeria has the

largest population of any African country, with almost 345 people per square mile. It is
 Summerlin 2

the most densely populated country in Africa. Nearly one-in-six Africans are Nigerian.

Nigeria’s population continues to grow at 2.6% each year. Nearly 45% are under

fourteen years old. The Igbo society makes up 18% of Nigerians. English is the official

language of Nigeria and it is used in all government interactions and in state-run

schools. The most prominent languages of the south are Yoruba and Igbo. Prior to

colonization, these were the unifying languages of the southwest and southeast,

regardless of race. Another language used is called Pidgin, a mix of african and english,

it basically uses english words mixed with Yoruban or Igbo grammar structures. In

Nigeria, there is weak national unity among the people. The main national symbol is the

country’s flag. With three parts, the center is white and the two flanks on the outside are

green. The green stands for agriculture and the white is for unity and peace. Nigeria’s

national motto is “Peace and Unity, Strength and Progress.” In Igbo society, each village

was administered as a Republic or sovereign state. Political institutions in pre-colonial

Igbo society were Family groups, village councils, Age grades, and the Ala. In depth,

the family group is one of the most recognized institutions and the basic unit. The village

council was also known as the council of elders and it compromised the family heads in

the village. Age grades carried out the maintenance responsibilities of the community.

They took care of the peace and order, sanitation, helping out during harvesting and

enforcing laws. The Ala is another important political institution. The Igbo society is

segmentary, Republican and sovereign in nature. There are no chiefs compared to

Yoruba and Hausa/Fulani pre-colonial administration. The novel relates to the igbo

society because they were a culture on the verge of change, some conformed to the
 Summerlin 3

change while others in their culture struggled to grasp the concept of changing and

benefiting.

Problems between the colonizers and the Igbo people revolved around religion.

England thought that christianity was the one true faith and that all people should

believe in it. Many of the missionaries learned that the nigerians were satisfied with their

own spiritual beliefs and were not interested in changing them which led them to believe

that the Igbo people couldn’t be trusted. The settlers began to fear them and think of

them as evil. They failed to comprehend that the Igbo were very spiritual people with

strong beliefs in unseen powers. All native tribes had ceremonies to honor creatures

because they were all connected closely to nature. The nigerians raised crops, some

were warriors and hunters, while others were peaceful. Since the missionaries and the

Igbo were not comfortable with each other, they would react to what they saw as an

attack. Fear and failure to compromise between the two different societies was

common. Each society was trying to influence their beliefs on one another. For the Igbo,

“It was like beginning life anew without the vigor and enthusiasm of youth, like learning

to become left-handed in old age,” (Achebe). The clashing of cultures would continue as

more and more colonizers would appear. The issues in the novel were based on a

culture on the verge of change, the struggle between change and tradition, and how the

western society viewed the African society as primitive and simple. Achebe depicts

negative and positive elements of Igbo culture, and is sometimes critical of his own

people as he is one of the colonizers.

 Summerlin 4

A theme brought out in Things Fall Apart was Destiny. Based off of the main

character, Okonkwo, because of his inflexible nature, he seemed destined for

self-destruction, even before the arrival of European colonizers. The arrival of a new

culture only hastened his fate. “Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo wasn’t a cruel man.

But his whole life he was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness. It was the

fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father.” (Achebe) Chinua

Achebe made the protagonist of the story a static character. Okonkwo was a static

character because of his violence from beginning to end was constant. He was unable

to put communication before physical action. He had the inability to change his behavior

and emotions. “He had a slight stammer and whenever he got angry and couldn’t get

his words out quickly enough, he would use his fists.” (Achebe) Okonkwo sticks out the

most of all characters because not only is he a static character, you could also consider

him to be a round character as well. He is a round character because he realized his

failure to harmonize his family and that he needs to. He recognized that the only relief

from all his built up failures was to commit suicide. Personally, I thought of him as a

coward since all he did was drag his family down with him because of his selfishness. I

am upset that Okonkwo spent his whole life swallowed by the fear of being like his

father. I think he tried too hard and didn’t realize how bad he was until all his failures

started adding up. Then, he finally realized everything he had done to his family and his

people; the burden of himself was too much for him to handle. It is ironic that throughout

the book he tried everything to never be like his father, when in reality he turned out to

be just like him.

 Summerlin 5

A social issue discussed in the book was Gender and the way the Igbo treated

their women. “Without looking at the man Okonkwo had said ‘This meeting is for men.’

The man who contradicted himself had no titles. That was why he had called him a

woman. Okonkwo knew how to kill a man’s spirit.” (Achebe) In this quote from the novel,

you can see how they think of their women. The men acted that being called a woman

is such a terrible insult that it could “kill a man’s spirit.” Also, this behavior is still found

today with all cultures, including the Igbo society. In that time, it was important for the

men to be in control and have the upperhand. In the book quotes like these were very

common, “ No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women

and his children (especially his women) he was not really a man.” (Achebe) Reading

this novel as a girl has really opened my eyes to how masculinity is so prominent in

Okonkwo’s time. It’s crazy to think of a time that I would’ve been so mistreated just

because of my gender. In their culture, you could be looked up to at a young age, they

let their youth speak up and share their ideas instead of shooting them down because of

their age or education level, like we do today. For example, “Age was respected among

his people, but achievement was reversed. As the elders said, if a child washed his

hands he could eat with kings.” (Achebe)

In conclusion, the Igbo society is a complex culture with many traditions and in

this novel, Chinua Achebe mixed it up by bringing in the christian missionaries creating

the change versus tradition theme. Throughout the novel, various themes and issues

appeared and they all revolved around the Igbo people and culture. The novel included

a tragic hero, Okonkwo, who was destined for self-destruction. In my opinion, the
 Summerlin 6

protagonist was his own antagonist. He was selfish and cowardly when it came to the

way he took care of his village and family. Throughout the novel Okonkwo tried to be

the hero and stay far away from the path his father paved for him, but ended up on that

path when he was not careful. In the end, Okonkwo himself was his biggest enemy.
 Summerlin 7

Works Cited

Achebe, Chinua. ​Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe.​ Spark Publishing, 2014

Babatunde, Oyediji Oluwaseun. “Igbo Pre-Colonial Political System in Nigeria.”

Oyedijioluwaseunbabatunde's Blog​, 10 Apr. 2014,

profseunoyediji.wordpress.com/2014/04/06/igbo-pre-colonial-political-system-in-nigeria/

Chua, John, and Suzanne Pavlos. ​CliffsNotes on Things Fall Apart. ​03 Oct 2017

</literature/t/things-fall-apart/book-summary>.

Curry, Tim. “Nigeria.” ​Countries and Their Cultures​, © 2017 Advameg,

Inc., ​www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/Nigeria.html​.

Voa. “American History: A New World Clash of Cultures.” ​VOA,​ VOA, 5 Oct.

2012, learningenglish.voanews.com/a/1519967.html.