Things Fall Apart Essay -- essays research papers

Things Fall ApartBy Chinua Achebe Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.New York, New YorkCopyright 1959writer BiographyAlbert Chinualumogu Achebe, or Chinua Achebe, was born November 16, 1930, in Ogidi, Nigeria. His p atomic number 18nts were Janet N. Achebe, and Isaiah Okafo, a teacher in a missionary school. Mr. Achebe was educated at the University College of Ibadan, but also be Government College in 1944. He wrote his first novel, Things Fall Apart, in 1958. During the Biafran War, he was in the Biafran government service. After the war, Mr. Achebe taught at several universities, both in Nigeria and in the United States. In 1967 he cofounded a publishing fellowship with a fellow author, Christopher Okigbo. Mr. Achebes later works include No Longer at Ease, Arrow of God, and Anthills of the Savannah. A serious car chance left Mr. Achebe paralyzed from the waist down in 1990. The majority of his novels regale with Africans struggle to free themselves from European colon ial and political influences, due to his experiences in the Biafran War and the Nigerian Civil War. Main CharactersOkonkwo- Okonkwo is the main character in the novel. He is a distinguished man in the kindred, and has been since a small age, when he established himself as a s eat uped wrestler. He had a truly lazy father, and this was a source of much embarrassment to him, so to overcome this, he is an overbearing husband, and father. He feels that he always has to turf out that he is different than his father, which is eventually his downfall.Unoka- Unoka is Okonkwos father. He was a very lazy man and always an embarrassment to his family, especially his son. He is the intellectual that Okonkwo is so scared of failing.Nwoye- Nwoye is Okonkwos son, and he is lazy and complacent, like his grandfather. Okonkwos way of changing this is to be especially hard on him, which drives him encourage away, eventually to join the missionaries.Ezinma- Ezinma is Okonkwos daughter, and he is proud of her, even though he wont show this because he thinks that it is a weakness. She is trendy and pretty. Okonkwo wishes that she were a boy so that he could pass on his knowledge and fortune to her.Mr. Brown- Mr. Brown is the first missionary to arrive in Umuofia. He is nice enough to the clan, so they decide to let him stay, but shortly enough he brings others, both from the clan and from outside, into the c... ...alk to you.This is an important excerpt from the allow because it shows how the natives tried to negotiate with the white men peacefully. All they wanted was for the clan to return to the way it was before the white men came, and they even concur to let the white men stay and practice their religion as long as they didnt bother anyone. But the Christians had to have everything, so there was a conflict.5.Obierika is talking. Chapter Twenty FiveObierika, who had been gazing steadily at his stars dangling body, turned suddenly to the District Commissioner and sa id fiercely That man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself and now he will be buried like a dog. He could not say anymore. His voice trembled and choked his words.This iterate is significant because it shows the falling apart of the clan as a whole. Okonkwo was a one of the strongest men in Umuofia, both in physical posture and mental determination. His taking his own life is a sign that the natives are losing the battle against the stronger white men. If he is not strong enough to continue the white men, than it is obvious that no one else in Umuofia will death much longer.