CHINUA ACHEBE’S

THINGS FALL APART

Pamela Anne P. Escobedo

English2

1AD-6

BOOK CRITIQUE: Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

Have you ever been into a situation wherein you have two choices in mind? One would

be doing it, and the other would be not doing it. And then you get these back-up questions in

mind “if I pick this… then…” It is all just a ‘domino’ effect. Well in this book, I am presenting

to you, is a book full of those ‘domino’ effects and reasons why. The constant dilemma to

change or to stick to old tradition is where this book circles its idea most of the time. The author,

himself, wanted to let readers know what and how African society is viewed by the Western

audiences. How Africans are misunderstood with their culture and norms. The title of the book,

itself, describes the whole plot of the story. Knowing that when things fall apart there is a

problem, and a cause that made it all falling apart. The way Achebe wrote this book reflects her

life as an African writer. He has been writing a lot of books and novels but this one is sold for

more than 12 million copy, truly he is one of the most influential African writers of his

generation. He went to work for the Nigerian Broadcasting Service before, and was also a poet, a

professor and acritic. He is is mostly into creating and reshaping the perception of the African

history, culture, and their place in associations. Like in the book the way Mr. Brown, from the

name itself, a Western man wanted to introduce and teach the tribe with new and different ways

to Igbo tribes that also made everyone changed their practice somehow, resulting to them

Okonkwo’s disappointment and death. Okonkwo is a man full determination that he does not

want any failures and he wants to be seen as a very strong person. He, himself, does not want to
show affection, but really wants his son who is not like is father, who he believes is a failure.

And from there the whole story creates this idea of what everything should be—free of mistakes.

Well, it all turned around as he killed his ‘adopted son’ and did not follow what the village

elder’s advice, and he chose his pride of being a strong man in front of others. This resulted to

more unfortunate events, not just to him but to the tribes as well. Achebe is

What I noticed about this book, is that one thing is really connected to another. From the

first action Okonkwo made to the last thing he did to himself. But because this book is more of a

tragic story, you will see that the problems encountered in the story, are continuously happening

because of the previous choices the characters did. However, the suspense parts were really

effective as it helps set the mood and tone consistently in the whole book that made the story

really interesting and exciting. For me, I really liked how the story went through the other

subplots that help the main plot still very relevant to the main idea. Also, the characters

presented, we can tell went through changes—from the son of Okonkwo, to his clansmen. The

story happened in on big area where Africans live, as the story went from one village to another.

It really showed the culture and tradition of the Igboos. The way the setting was presented, each

helped in the process of dealing with the characters. You will see the ways they go to villages are

because of what they had done in the past. We can easily tell what are the major themes because

of the consistency of how the author presented them in the whole story—the struggle between

change and tradition which is the main idea of the story that could be seen with the way the

missionaries came to the tribes; Varying interpretations of Masculinity which is mainly seen with

Okonkwos actions compared to his thoughts of not wanting any ‘feminine side,’ and Language

as a sign of cultural difference which ofcourse the missionaries had a hard time with how to

understand their ways and words. These really helped the flow of the story and let readers to
understand what is happening from the main character to the wholeness of the book itself. Their

dialogues in the story was somehow, of course, new to me because their words are not my usual

type of words to communicate, the use of ‘clansmen,’ ‘tribe,’ ‘egwugwu,’ and their names,

ofcourse, are new to me. These, however, showed how their culture and traditions are reflected

in the story—we could tell it’s not the usual story we read and get. All of these, is because

Chinua Achebe, again, is an African writer who wants us to understand and show us the

colonialism happening in Nigeria in an African view.

Thing’s fall apart may test you with your understanding and realizations, as you read the

book; you get a lot of thoughts and go deeper as you analyze the events that happened. I got to

know a lot about their culture and ways of course. Also the story tells us that this society is a

growing and evolving society that is quickly changing every now and then. You can’t change

what you can control, so control what you can change. We should be open to new things but still

don’t forget our roots, where we came from. Language could be one of the hindrances and source

of problem, but what can make us communicate is our actions, our intentions, and the way we

give out our message. With the type of society now, being feminine or going against the cliché

ways of people could make a difference, good or bad. It is not that important for genders now a

days to stick to what is limited to the given idea of what you should do and make, because what

is important is the fact that you can do something good to others and not really just about

yourself. The book is a great tool for literature. I recommend this to other readers, if you are up

to tragedy stories and likes a lot of suspense.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
 Achebe, Chinua. "Things Fall Apart." Cliffnotes. Clifton Keith Hillegass, 18 Apr. 1918.

Web. 13 May 2015.

<http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cliffsnotes.com%2Fliterature%2Ft%2Fthings-fall-

apart%2Fabout-things-fall-apart>.

 Achebe, Chinua. "Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe Biography."

Chinua Achebe Biography. Clifton Keith Hillegass, n.d. Web. 13 May 2015.

<http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/t/things-fall-apart/chinua-achebe-biography>.

 "Literary Articles." Significance of the Title of the Novel 'Things Fall Apart' by Chinua

Achebe. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2015. <http://www.literary-articles.com/2013/11/things-

fall-apart-by-chinua-achebe.html>.

 "Chinua Achebe." The Economist. Trans. Obituary. The Economist Newspaper, 30 Mar.

2013. Web. 13 May 2015. <http://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21574453-chinua-

achebe-africas-greatest-storyteller-died-march-21st-aged-82-chinua-achebe>.

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