Things Fall Apart Essay -- essays research papers

Things Fall ApartBy Chinua Achebe Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.New York, New YorkCopyright 1959Author memorialAlbert Chinualumogu Achebe, or Chinua Achebe, was born November 16, 1930, in Ogidi, Nigeria. His parents were Janet N. Achebe, and Isaiah Okafo, a teacher in a missionary school. Mr. Achebe was educated at the University College of Ibadan, but also attended Government College in 1944. He wrote his first novel, Things Fall Apart, in 1958. During the Biafran War, he was in the Biafran government service. After the war, Mr. Achebe taught at several universities, both in Nigeria and in the United States. In 1967 he cofounded a publishing company with a fellow author, Christopher Okigbo. Mr. Achebes later works include No Longer at Ease, Arrow of God, and Anthills of the Savannah. A serious car accident left Mr. Achebe paralyzed from the waist down in 1990. The majority of his novels deal with Africans struggle to free themselves from European colonial and politi cal influences, due to his experiences in the Biafran War and the Nigerian Civil War. Main CharactersOkonkwo- Okonkwo is the main character in the novel. He is a distinguished homo in the clan, and has been since a young age, when he established himself as a skilled wrestler. He had a very idle father, and this was a source of much embarrassment to him, so to overcome this, he is an overbearing husband, and father. He feels that he always has to prove that he is different than his father, which is chargetually his downfall.Unoka- Unoka is Okonkwos father. He was a very lazy man and always an embarrassment to his family, especially his son. He is the reason that Okonkwo is so scared of failing.Nwoye- Nwoye is Okonkwos son, and he is lazy and complacent, like his grandfather. Okonkwos way of changing this is to be especially hard on him, which drives him further away, eventually to join the missionaries.Ezinma- Ezinma is Okonkwos daughter, and he is proud of her, even though he wo nt show this because he thinks that it is a weakness. She is smart and pretty. Okonkwo wishes that she were a boy so that he could pass on his knowledge and fortune to her.Mr. Brown- Mr. Brown is the first missionary to arrive in Umuofia. He is nice enough to the clan, so they decide to let him stay, but soon enough he brings others, both from the clan and from outside, into the c... ...alk to you.This is an substantial excerpt from the book because it shows how the natives tried to negotiate with the white men peacefully. All they wanted was for the clan to return to the way it was before the white men came, and they even agreed to let the white men stay and practice their religion as long as they didnt bother anyone. But the Christians had to have everything, so there was a conflict.5.Obierika is talking. Chapter Twenty FiveObierika, who had been gazing steadily at his friends dangling body, turned suddenly to the District Commissioner and said ferociously That man was one of t he greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself and now he will be buried like a dog. He could non say anymore. His voice trembled and choked his words.This quote is significant because it shows the falling apart of the clan as a whole. Okonkwo was a one of the strongest men in Umuofia, both in physical strength and mental determination. His taking his own life is a sign that the natives are losing the battle against the stronger white men. If he is not strong enough to endure the white men, than it is obvious that no one else in Umuofia will last much longer.