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1AD-6
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
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
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Achebe, Chinua. "Things Fall Apart." Cliffnotes. Clifton Keith Hillegass, 18 Apr. 1918.
<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
fall-apart-by-chinua-achebe.html>.
"Chinua Achebe." The Economist. Trans. Obituary. The Economist Newspaper, 30 Mar.
achebe-africas-greatest-storyteller-died-march-21st-aged-82-chinua-achebe>.
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