Chinua Achebe’s Things
Fall Apart is a story of community, manhood, and transformation. The
novel’s narrative focuses on the life of Okonkwo, a tribal leader in the Nigerian
Igbo tribe of Umuofia; the first half of the novel centers on Okonkwo’s
interaction with his surrounding countrymen, and the second half treats his
reaction to the invasion of foreign missionaries into his locale. Okonkwo’s
foremost goal in life, and the center of his existence, is the pursuit of
titles of nobility within the tribe. He achieves these goals through aggressive
displays of bravado and violence, using his conquests in battle and physical
competitions to achieve rank in his community. He rules his household with
sternness that borders on cruelty because he fears that his children will grow
up to be like his father, who was notoriously lazy and died with no property to
his name. The primary recipient of Okonkwo’s severity is his eldest son Nwoye,
about whom Okonkwo demonstrates the greatest concern about work ethic.
The first
event in Things Fall Apart that
significantly alters the narrative’s status
quo is the murder of an unnamed “daughter of Umuofia” in the marketplace of
the nearby village of Mbaino. The elders of Umuofia demand recompense in the
form of a virgin girl and young man, and the young man, Ikemefuna, falls under
Okonkwo’s care. Ikemefuna quickly gains the favor of his new household, even
secretly in the eyes of his new adopted father. Ikemefuna’s three-year stay in
Okonkwo’s household is brought to an abrupt halt, however, when the oracle of
the Igbo earth goddess demands that Ikemefuna be killed. Okonkwo is encouraged
not to participate in the exercise, as is would be unfavorable in the eyes of
the gods to kill one so much like a son. Okonkwo ignores this advice, and
ultimately he is the primary instrument in the brutal murder of Ikemefuna.
The novel
continues with vivid descriptions of the spiritual and societal practices of Umuofia,
demonstrating the tribe’s unswerving reliance on oracles, medicine men, and
general superstition in order to make major decisions. Achebe juxtaposes
accounts of the “medicinal” mutilation of infant corpses and the midnight
kidnappings of children with joyous depictions of Igbo nuptial rites and
communal meetings in order to paint a clear picture of every aspect of tribal
life. Achebe’s involved account of Umuofian culture comes to a close when
Okonkwo accidentally shoots and kills a young man in the frenzy of a funeral
ceremony. Okonkwo and his family are forced to flee from the tribe for seven
years and live with his maternal relatives as refugees.
With the
flight of Okonkwo and his family, the second half of the narrative of Things Fall Apart begins. While in
exile, Okonkwo’s close friend Obierka brings news of a massacre in a nearby
village by mysterious white men. These white men, British missionaries,
eventually make themselves known in Okonkwo’s new home of Mbanta in the form of
a white man and his interpreter Mr. Kiaga, who quickly enrage Okonkwo by
converting his son Nwoye to Christianity. The missionaries have limited success
in Mbanta, with most of their operations being based in Umuofia, but their
denial of many of the foundational Igbo religious tenets and perplexing accounts
of theological concepts quickly make them targets of the tribe’s collective
frustration. Okonkwo hopes to escape the madness of Christianity as his exile
comes to a close, but upon his return to Umuofia, he finds the village subject
to the same religious oppression as Mbanta. The tension between the tribe and
the missionaries escalates when an overzealous convert unmasks a sacred
ancestral spirit or egwugwu. Okonkwo
and others retaliate by setting the Umuofian church building ablaze, only to be
incarcerated and abused by the local British District Commissioner’s Office.
Soon after his release, Umuofia holds a community meeting to discuss this
outrage. During the meeting, Okonkwo attempts to incite a war between the village
and its invaders by murdering a messenger for the District Commissioner. His
effort fails, and he ignobly hangs himself in defeat.
Through
Things Fall Apart, Achebe paints a
vivid picture of Igbo culture, outlining many of its customs and characteristics.
He does so by being thorough, not failing to include the negative aspects of
the culture as well. Ultimately, Achebe’s goal with Things Fall Apart is to portray the Igbo people as human beings
with real hopes, fears, and aspirations. As a part of this discourse, Achebe
also demonstrates the fracturing of Igbo culture as a result of the
introduction of Christianity into the society. He captures the multifaceted
nature of cultural misunderstandings and demonstrates how this confusion can
quickly escalate to conflict. By doing so, however, Achebe often portrays the
British missionaries in a harsh light and tends the favor the pagan Umuofian
way of life. This bias makes it difficult for some readers, especially those
with a Christian background, to give much weight to the novel as a whole. Other
factors that detract from the reading experience include the simple use of
language that often results in blandness, as well as the disjointed manner in which the
narrative is presented. In spite of its shortcomings, Things Fall Apart helps to expand the Western reader’s worldview,
and it also allows the him or her to examine a strongly-voiced perspective on post-colonialism
and the underlying cause-and-effect relationship that brings it about.
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