Things Fall Apart

Personal Response Essay

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe told a story centre around a strong man of Ibo village of Nigeria named Okonkwo. The story started with Okonkwo’s glory and grace by tracing the ways he built up his wealth and how he attained a position in his society. The introducing of European missionaries and the fallen of Okonkwo then elevated the story to a tragic plane. The story ended with the death of Okonkwo due to his unwillingness of embracing changes.

One of the themes in Things Fall Apart was the clash of cultures. The theme was portrayed in individual and societal level respectively through the main character, Okonkwo and the African tribe with the Christian missionaries. The difference of the Igbo culture and Christianity led to a severe misunderstanding between the missionaries and the Umuofia people. As a man who strictly followed and surrounded by the Igbo culture in his entire life, Okonkwo was deeply embedded in the way of life and he was unable to accept the drastic change of culture. Thus, he fought colonialism in order to protect his belief and to retain the culture that he hold tight on. In societal level, Umuofia had a highly democratic and efficient government before the missionaries came but the European invader insisted that every nation needs a king or a leader to prevent anarchy. This shows the different ruling system of the two countries resulted from cultural differences. The lack of social interaction and the misunderstanding between the missionaries and the people of Umuofia are the main reason that contributed to the culture clash. This collision of cultures become the major theme of the novel as the introducing of the missionaries signified the turning point of the collapse of the Igbo culture and it served as the key factor that led to the down fall of Okonkwo and Umuofia.

In the novel Things Fall Apart, the language used by Chinua Achebe is greatly affected by the African culture and background. Although the...