“Things Fall Apart” was a masterpiece novel written by a Nigerian author known as Chinua Achebe. The structure of the novel was formal like regular books with 25 chapters. The novel was set in Nigeria during the 19 th century. This novel has received worldwide recognition and criticism. It depicted the pre-colonial culture among the Igbo. Achebe used a single main character, known as Okonkwo, to drive his entire story. Okonkwo was able to reveal the beliefs and leadership of the Igbo. The novel played an important role in capturing the invasion of the African culture by the whites. The whites brought informal education, Christianity and a new government. This marked an important even among many Africans. A lot of those who resisted the whites faced serious repercussions.
The book revealed the pre-colonial culture of the Igbo and how it changed after the white man came into their ancestral land. The main character in “Things Fall Apart” was called Okonkwo who was respected in his village. He was a wealthy and hardworking individual who rose to fame after becoming a wrestling champion. He was also a leader of his community. Due to his prestige and leadership position in the community, he was handed Ikemefuna, a prisoner boy. Okonkwo was supposed to be the guardian of the boy whose life sentence relied on the Oracle’s judgment (Achebe, 2009). Unfortunately, he killed the boy before the judgment despite warning from a village elder. To make matters worse, he killed again at a funeral ceremony. He was sent to exile for seven years with his family.
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Upon returning to Umuofia, the village had been influenced by white men who were Christian missionaries. Surprisingly, the number of converts had increased, and the whites had established a new government system. Okonkwo tried to resist the white dominance together with some village elders although he noticed that they were not willing to sacrifice their lives for the cause. He killed one of the white messengers who was sent to Umuofia (Booker, 2011). He would become the most wanted villain in the land. Okwonkwo went against Igbo customs by choosing to commit suicide, a decision that tarnished his great reputation.
Chinua Achebe was able to depict the pre-colonial culture in Nigeria effectively. Okonkwo showed how power influenced individuals and how they interacted with other people. He used his position and power to harm other people including his wives and children. Many inhuman acts were committed by Okonkwo because he wanted to show the society that he was not weak. Achebe revealed that there existed an imbalance of power between the leaders and villagers (Booker, 2011). Despite that, Okonkwo was a hard working person because he did not want to end up like his father. Achebe showed the importance of being hard in the community of Igbo. This resulted in him being crowned the undisputed wrestling champion. In the end, Chinua Achebe subtly showed that change was inevitable especially when we became fanatical like Okonkwo. The ultimate point in the story was that we have to make peace with changes that happen around us.
Summing up, Chinua Achebe’s work subtly pointed out the effects of resisting change. This was shown through Okonkwo who was fanatical and resisted everything that came his way. He was way too ambitious that he could not control it. To a great extent, Achebe showed the effects of being overambitious; it shattered an individual. Finding a balance between our pursuits and conscience was important. The Igbo culture was eroded by the invasion of the white man. This was the reason why Okonkwo killed the messenger. The book also showed the lack of unity among village elders to resist white supremacy.
References
Achebe, C. (2009). Things fall apart . Toronto: Anchor Canada.
Booker, M.K. (2011). Things fall apart, by Chinua Achebe (Critical Insights) . Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.
