Okonkwo,is self made man. He becomes a lord of the Ibo clan by sheer effort and perseverance. Ironically, he suffers from "fear" fear of losing his importance, fear of being looked down by others.
He goes into exile as a punishment for killing a kinsman inadvertently.
On his return, he finds that his clan is losing its manly virtues and surrendering to the white man who just made inroads into tribal Africa.
Unable to imagine himself living in slavery, Okonkwo hangs himself which again is an act of irony. His culture considers suicide an abomination against earth and so strangers perform his last rites.

all thinking adults.

Theme, language and style.

share it with others because the author remains detached from the events and gives us an unbiased view of a colonial encounter.
It mirrors the native in a lucid style.

moved at the fate of a society. It made me think about the way cultures are destroyed due to external aggression and internal anarchy.

Mr. Chinua Achebe

it talks about the way things fall apart if the roots are not deep enough.

Besides the theme and characterization, the book is trend-setting in its transliteration of Ibo(eastern side of Nigeria)language rhythms and details that surround the clan's day-to-day existence into English.

Interested in buying this? Support Writing.Com by making your purchase of Things Fall Apart (African Writers Series)   from Amazon.Com!

Created Mar 29, 2011 at 2:41am • Submit your own review...