Things Fall Apart

Things Fall Apart

In the book Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe is trying to give an explanation of
what it is like to live in an African society. The story is about a man named Okonkwo
who is a member of the Ibo tribe. Achebe is telling the story of Okonkwo from his
childhood till his death. Before I read this book I did not have a very good idea of how
people lived in Africa, and the ideas of I did have about life in traditional African societies
turned out to be untrue. Achebe did a very good job of illustrating a traditional African
society, and by reading this book I now have a much better idea of what life is like in a
non-western society. I think that this was Achebe's goal in writing this book, to educate
people about some of the struggles people have and life in traditional African societies.
The title Things Fall Apart is a good choice for a title of this book. The main
character, Okonkwo, did not like the way his father lived. He thought that a man should
be strong and do typical male tasks. But Okonkwo's father, Unoka, did not fit mold
according to Okonkwo. Okonkwo was ashamed of his father, and told himself that he
would make a better life for himself and his family. Okonkwo was able to do this, he
became very successful in the Ibo tribe and had gained a very high standing in the tribe. It
was his goal to become an elder in the tribe, and it looked like he was going to achieve
that goal. Okonkwo was banished form the tribe for seven years for killi...

Things Fall Apart

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