Things Fall Apart
by Chinua Achebe
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Book Reviews of Things Fall Apart
Book Review: School Project
Summary: 4 Stars
Throughout most of "Things Fall Apart" Achebe describes the many traditions, rituals, and everyday happenings that occur in the villages of Ummuofia. For instance yams are of very high importance in the village, they even have yam festivals. Some of their beliefs seem strange, such as the belief in digging up a stone to cure an ogbanje, a dead child who returns to the other to be reborn. Others seem to coincide with our own laws, such as punishment for murder and distinction between murder and manslaughter. The main character, Okonkwo, accidentally commits murder and so he and his family are banished from the clan for seven years. After his banishment the "white men" come to his village. They are Christians who come with churches to try and convert the "heathens", but they also come with guns.
While the beginning of the book focused mainly on the many rituals of the clan, its was still quite interesting to read. Many of their ways seemed to coincide with ours. The way to treat iba, the fever, was to use medicinal steam and today the same idea is used in VicksŪ humidifiers. Of course other remedies seem stranger, like digging up a rock to cure constant miscarriage, which surprisingly worked. It seemed the whole beginning half of the book was to slowly pull you into the story and have you feel you were part of the village. Around the fifteenth chapter the book begins to talk about the "white men" and the attempts the early church made to gain followers. This was the most exciting part of the book, especially the unrest in the villages building up until the people find that they must determine what to do now.
Outside of the book I would immediately say that imperialism hurt the Africans. However "Things Fall Apart" seems to portray other sides of imperealism. The District Commisioner and his aides seem as mean and horrible as you would expect them to be. Yet the missionaries seem much more . For instance Mr. Kiaga accepts osu, or outcasts, into the church and Mr. Brown sat with villagers to learn about their Gods and traditions. Even when the villagers assaulted some of the converts, the missionaries told them to be patient and not fight back. Aside from the ultimate suicide of Okonkwo, imperialism overall helped the people of Ibo.
Book Review: Okonkwo as Everyman?
Summary: 5 Stars
I did not know about this writer until I heard Toni Morrison in a radio interview recently praising this novel. Since I hold her in high esteem, I would try any writer she recommended. Apparently I'm a little behind the times since according to the information on the front of the book, there are "more than 2 million copies in print."The action of the novel begins in Nigeria a few years before white missionaries brought Christianity and accompanying colonialism to that part of Africa. The central character is the very complex Okonkwo, a tribal leader with many strengths and weaknesses. He is therefore not unlike many of us, at least in part. He is ambitious, sometimes cruel to his wives and children, fearful of failure but also at times a very loving father. For example, he struggles to be better than his own lazy father and worries that his eldest son Nwoye will amount to nothing and turn out to be just like his grandfather. He has no idea, of course, of what Nwoye will eventually become. Okonkwo has great affection for his daughter as well as for Ikemefuna, a young lad who is 16 when he comes to live with Okonkwo's family. One of the central tragedies of the novel has to do with what Okonkwo, according to the Oracle, has to do to Ikemefuna. Mr. Achebe, to his credit, shows Okonkwo with all his warts as well as the good and bad of Nigerian culture before the missionaries came.
As one would suspect, the white Christian missionaries don't come off very well.They go about converting the "primitive tribes of the lower Niger" with little or no regard for their customs and traditions. One has to ask if the Nigerians were better off before or after Christianity and accompanying colonialism?
One of the rewards of reading this novel is learning so much African folklore and sayings. In a delightful story, we find out why the turtle does not have a smooth shell, for example. Also, "There was a saying in Umuofia that as a man danced so were the drums beaten for him." Finally, "Whenever you see a toad jumping in broad daylight, then know that something is after its life."
The title for this novel comes from Yeats' "The Second Coming. Truly "the center cannot hold" for the tragic Okonkwo. You will remember him long after you finish this short novel. I guarantee it.
Book Review: A Great Story by A Great Author!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm taking a geography class and we have to write a paper on a writer from a developing country. From the list of books I chose to read this book by Chinua Achebe. I've just finished this book and I loved it. It is a story about one man who starts out with nothing and gains everything but at the end loses it all. Basically like the title, things just fall apart for this one man. Okonkwo is this man who is known as one of the greatest men who ever lived in the Umuofia clan. As a young man (18 years old) he started his great legacy by becoming the greatest Wrestler of the nine villages of Umuofia. In their culture, those who are strong were the most commended. For a boy who was born into a household, which had no title and no honor, he became a leader. Okonkwo hated his father for being a weak man who only went into debt and died poor. He wanted to set a good example to his sons and become a real man who can support his family and gain respect from others. While he was only becoming more and more powerful suddenly he is put into exile for accidentally killing a clansmen's daughter (a bullet from his gun accidentally goes off). For seven years he lives with his mother's clansmen with his family. During those seven years, the white men come and take over his clansmen of Umuofia. They come and try to break their traditions and convert them to the english ways. They force the people to praise their "god" and queen. When Okonkwo returns with his family, he is shocked at the incredible change Umuofia has undergone. He tries to lead others into fighting the white men and taking back their land and culture. When he sees that his warriors become nothing but weak "women" (he considers any man who is weak as a woman) he tries to go on fighting them on his own. But his broken heart is what kills him at the end. Such a strong willed person with many achievements yet dominated with fear and anger of becoming weak drives him to his death.
I personally love reading african literature (I think they are very interesting than other literature i've read). You learn folklore, cultures, social interactions, and other interesting stuff. This book is one of the most creative literatures i've ever read. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.
Book Review: Achievement Kills
Summary: 5 Stars
Things Fall Apart tells the story of Okonkwo's life. The book gives an excellent feel for the life of an Ibo tribesman in the Nigerian bush. The reader learns of customs and taboos; how families relate and power is wielded; and how society deals with taboo violations. The impact of British Colonial rule also makes an appearance in this tale--leading to a conclusion which gasps with intensity. But if this were all the book had to recommend it, one could easily ignore it as a mere window into the bygone lifestyle of a culture most of us can safely pay no attention to. Few of us will ever travel to occupied Biafra to eat yams and see the colorful clothing. The closest most of us will ever come to this environment is the Nigerian taxi driver who whisks us to the airport or hotel.
Okonkwo begins his life in shame. His father fails to provide well for the family. For the rest of his life, Okonkwo sets out to demonstrate to the world that he can do better. He works tirelessly, he accumulates degrees and initiation. He affords wives and children.
But, he finds little pleasure in this life. Angry, violent, he distances himself from the family who might have succored him. Still, driven by shame, he keeps working hard, trying to show the world that he is a force to be reckoned with. More yams! More wealth! Lead the village to battle! Stand firm & strong.
Although his compatriots admire him, he fails to connect with them. Rather than allowing friendships to deepen, to find support and connection, Okonkwo continues to achieve, to compete, trying to surpass those who would have loved to be his allies.
This isolation, born out shame, leads to Okonkwo's demise. Achievement never leads to the community, to the connections and sharing, which allows shame to heal. Okonkwo was never able to feel a part of his community, and it cost him his life.
Isolation and shame are rampant in twentieth century western culture. The message we experience repeatedly tells us that our achievement will lead us to power and to happiness. The reality, as disclosed in Okonkwo's story, is that achievement does not create connection. Only the willingness to be vulnerable, to let another see into one's private spaces, will build the community and connection which can heal shame.
Book Review: Thins Fall Apart Review
Summary: 3 Stars
Things Fall Apart was an okay book. It had an interesting point, though most certainly a biased one and it presented its underlying theme well. The writing style was a little bit simplistic at times, but that was okay. On the other hand though, the book was clearly hard for me to connect with at times, seeing as it's about the "Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger" as told not from the colonist's point of view, but from those that are being colonized.
The book moved quickly. This was especially nice for me as I came to the sudden realization the day before the book was due that I'd accidentally been reading Things They Carried, my bad. So I was able to sit and read the bulk of it in three hours. This was made possible by its simplicity, both in its not so hidden meaning, easy to understand description, and sentence structure. A simple sentence structure can either speed the book up, as it did in this case, or it can slow the book way down much like it did with Hemmingway in almost all of his works. I think the disparity that exists between the two here relies solely upon underlying complexity. With Achebe in Things Fall Apart, the book can be read once, can be looked back upon, and then understood. No ifs ands or buts about it. On the other hand with Hemmingway, there are many layers within the writing requiring a slow and careful reading and re-reading style. Given the choice between the two, I'd go with Achebe.
The content of the book was clearly something that the author could relate too although I have my doubts that this is an unbiased source. In future journals I'll discuss specifics of this but for now I'm going to leave the statement as is. His point comes across, and while I certainly don't think that his novel should have spent equal time examining the colonization from the white man's point of view, in not doing so he does show a bias.
Despite the bias, which I didn't necessarily find bad, I found Things Fall Apart to be an enjoyable quick read that actually had a point to it, a rarity in this day and age.