Things Fall Apart: The Fall of a Culture

 Novel Review:

Things Fall Apart
by Chinua Achebe

“Eneke the bird says that since men have learned to shoot without missing, he has learned to fly without perching.”
― Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

Things Fall Apart is a one of a kind African novel because it portrays an unfiltered unique African tradition directly from an African named Chinua Achebe. The critically acclaimed novel is one of the first African novel written totally in English and the author has included the how the British colonialism and Christian missionaries have affected an African tribe in terms of their belief.  

One issue discussed by the material is...

     One of the issue discussed in the novel is the fear of changes happening in our life. Almost everyone has this kind of fear because we have created a comfort zone with all the things we are used to -beliefs, social status or even diet. The reactions to such changes ranged from a mild acceptance to the change to committing suicide as an act to refuse such change happening in his life. The latter did happen to the protagonist Okwonko who is well known as a strict, very wealthy and hard working Umuofian who values masculinity deeply. He fears of failure and becoming weak like his father who he thinks was a disgrace to him as he was lazy and and not masculine. There is one instance in the novel where the influence of British colonialism and Christian missionaries starts to take place in Okwonko’s homeland and the Umuofian culture he is very proud of starts to crumble; in the end he ultimately end his life by committing suicide even though it is against his culture to do so. He goes through far measure because he  does not want to submit defeat to the colonials which he believes will weaken him into his father. From here, the fear of changes can be powerful as it can lead a person to do drastic decisions just to clear away from it. In the end we must learn to accept changes in life as they are unavoidable so that we too will be gravely affected by them.

     In a nutshell, Things Fall Apart is a good novel that illustrates the uniqueness of African culture and its fall to the British colonialism and Christian missionaries. If you want to explore African culture, this novel will be perfect for you.

Brusque

• Meaning 1: markedly short and abrupt

• E.g.: She asked for a cup of coffee and received a brusque reply: “We don't have any.” 

• Meaning 2: blunt in manner or speech often to the point of ungracious harshness

• E.g.: The teacher was brusque and impatient.

Poignant

• Meaning : causing a strong feeling of sadness

• E.g.: The photograph was a poignant reminder of her childhood.

Prophesy

• Meaning: to state that something will happen in the future

• E.g.: The book claims that modern events were prophesied in ancient times.