9/10/2023 0 Comments Things fall apart author![]() ![]() The text explains that Okonkwo was “deeply grieved” by the changes that had taken place in his village, and that his grief was not only for himself, but that he also “mourned for the clan, which he saw breaking up and falling apart” (Achebe, pg 943). There were still many who saw these new institutions as evil, but even they talked and thought about little else…” (Achebe, pg 493). The new religion and government and the trading stores were very much in the people’s eyes and minds. Here the narrator expresses that “The clan had undergone such profound change during his exile that it was barely recognizable. This threat on Okonkwo’s identity that comes from the invasion of the Europeans is additionally seen when Okonkwo returns to Umuofia to see these changes himself. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one”, illustrating the men’s feelings of despair and fear at the changing landscape of their culture and tribesmen (Achebe, pg 940). We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. Obierika explains the white man in Umuofia “says that our customs are bad and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad. Evidence of this can be seen at the end of chapter 20 in Things Fall Apart, when Okonkwo’s friend Obierika visits him to discuss the changes that have occurred in Umuofia since Okonkwo was banished. The English bring with them new religion, new language, and new forms of government, that threaten to breakdown the previously established culture that Okonkwo and the other villagers who resist the change have become accustomed to, probably because they see these changes as a threat to what makes them who they are as African people. When the white Christian colonizing forces invade his village he sees this as a threat to his and his people’s way of life, and as a result to their identity as Africans. Things Fall Apart investigates aspects of identity through its main character Okonkwo’s views of what it means to be a man and what it means to be African. This reoccurring theme of identity in the sense of an African people can be traced back to Achebe’s background as a native of the Igbo people in Africa. Through the representation of the Igbo peoples’ way of life and their reaction to the colonizing forces that enter their villages, Achebe presents themes of identity as a group of African people with a past and heritage to be honored. They will be required to show their mastery of both the content and skills of the unit through a mid-unit essay and a unit test.Theme and Biographical Analysis of Things Fall ApartĬhinua Achebe, through his novel Things Fall Apart, presents a clan of Igbo people and their way of life during the beginning of colonization in Africa. Along with the novel, students will read several articles and poems that will help to deepen their understanding of the author, the text, and the themes. They will analyze his craft by looking deeply at character development, word choices, and symbols, examining how the author uses these devices to comment on the devastating impact of European colonialism on the culture and peoples of Africa. In this unit, students will examine how Achebe develops the complex themes of identity, culture and colonialism, and the individual and community throughout the novel. The novel’s message about colonialism is echoed and built upon by many of the non-European authors students will read throughout 11th and 12th grade English. ![]() His tragic novel, Things Fall Apart, is one of the most widely-read books in the world. Chinua Achebe, often called the father of modern African literature, has had an impact on readers around the world and on a generation of novelists who have come behind him.
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