Response to Things Fall Apart

Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is one of the most famous and critically acclaimed novels of African literature, rightfully so, as Achebe illustrates the African perspective of European colonialism through a unique narrative story. The novel is about the lives of the characters Okonkwo and his family in the late 1800s in Umoufia (a part of modern-day Nigeria), and their encounter with the European colonialists. Achebe has been criticized for writing the novel in English, and its use of a glossary as well as providing explanations of African, specifically Igbo, culture throughout the book, has lead to some critics condemning Achebe’s novel for catering to a Western and foreign audience. This aspect of the novel has especially been disapproved of by writers who are not from the west, mainly other African writers, who argue that western books never include explanations or a glossary that can help make reading an English or western book easier for them, so why did Achebe try to simplify the complexity of a small part of the African society? Another aspect of this novel that many readers found confusing was the narrative structure; how the European colonialists were only introduced at the end of the novel, and that they did not play a major role in the story. This left some readers, some of them being the students in our class, feeling puzzled about this since the novel was described as one that portrays and discusses the theme of colonialism as a central part of the story, so why did Achebe implement this narrative structure that introduces colonialism at the end of the story?

The narrative structure of the novel creates a realistic African perspective on colonialism to a western and foreign audience, especially ones who are ignorant to Igbo and African culture and society. Things Fall Apart focuses on Okonkwo and his family and their lives in Umoufia, and for most of the book, there was no major presence of the colonizers in the story. This focus on African society and culture delivers a new perspective on colonial history, one that does not center European involvement in African history. Often, the modern western perspective on European colonization does not defend or justify European colonialism, however, a lot of the time it erases the history of the colonized and centers European colonialism as a vital part of the area’s history. The novel emphasizes the presence of Igbo and African culture, thus, catering the novel towards a western and foreign audience plays an important part in exhibiting a different point of view about African culture and society. One way the novel illustrated a realistic view of African society was by revealing its flaws. Just like any other society, and in the case of Okonkwo, any other person, there are flaws that exist within, but they are often concealed by us as individuals and by society. A lot of stories about the colonized individuals and societies obscure the problematic flaws that exist, subsequently, in many of these stories the colonized are portrayed as completely blameless. Chinua Achebe does not bury the actuality of the Igbo society, rather he demonstrates it throughout the novel, especially through the main character. An example of this would be the presence of sexism in Igbo society; sexism is manifested as the fatal flaw of the character Okonkwo, who suffers due to his way of thinking and mindset about hegemonic masculinity. In the first part of the novel, Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna who Nwoye, Okonkwo’s son, looks up to, and refuses to show him mercy because of his fear of looking weak and effeminate. This sets up Nwoye’s anger towards his father, and causes him to later on join the Christian missionaries because he felt that the new religion helped him answer “the question of Ikemefuna” (Achebe, 1958, p. 147).  This shows how Okonkwo’s mindset led to him losing his son, and it also demonstrates what Obierika, Okonkwo’s friend,  describes as the cleverness of the white man who came “peaceably with his religion” and eventually “put a knife on things” that held the society together (Achebe, 1958, p. 176). Achebe shows how Okonkwo’s sexist mindset drove his son away, but it also shows how the European colonialists helped enlarge these issues and tear what was left of the society apart into pieces.

To conclude, the novel is a modern African classic that discusses several different themes and topics which accentuate the reality of African tribes and their societal and religious customs, as well as the way in which these societies were falling apart due to European colonialism. In Things Fall Apart,  Achebe chose to write the book in English, cater the novel to a western audience, and display the story in a unique narrative structure by introducing the Europeans at the end, all to highlight the theme of colonialism and provide a realistic African perspective on the European colonization of the tribes in Nigeria.

References

Achebe, C. (1958). Things Fall Apart. Penguin Books.