Things Fall Apart Critical Review

Things Fall Apart Critical Review

            Chinua Achebe wrote the book Things Fall Apart in the year 1958 as a work of historical fiction which has currently become an essential consultation in ethnographic surveys of the Igbo people. The author clearly describes the experience he was involved in as one of the members of the Igbo people in the text. The author aims at giving a rich description of the African society, its people, its structure as a reminiscent of the tragedy of the Greeks and similarly creating a reflection of the similarities between Igbo and western cultures creating a confrontation between the content as well as the style. Also, he seeks to bring forth the central theme of the entire book of how things fall apart in the end (Aggarwal, 22). To make the text accessible to broader audiences, the author employs Igbo descriptions as well as words to give the story some language music. Through a perfect description of the food, paintings, clothes as well as the myths and legends, he successfully manages to marry the cultures that never met in the story (Karanwal, 6). This paper aims at determining the main arguments in the text; issues analyzed as well as establishing how the author manages to use evidence in support of his arguments. Finally, it also reviews the impact of the book in historiography as well as literature fields.

From a report of an analysis of the book review, it remains evident that the main arguments in the text does not only cover the political well-being of the Igbo but rather a reflection of their social status, economic activities as well as their religious nature based on the myths and legends retold to the young by the old. The author clearly states that the society of the Igbo suffered from draught which was surprising and suppressing despite the dense rain forest in Igboland (Achebe, 56). The community itself had an administration of justice which could easily be described or viewed as tit for tat. Through this mechanism, the poor were able to receive attention as well as ethical considerations from the affluent members of the society as there was no poverty. It is also evident that the female gender was significantly protected (Karanwal, 6). This conclusion is drawn from the censuring of Okonkwo by one of the priests for wife battery during the peace week.

In the text, Achebe also analyzed the issue of marriage in which he uses Akueke’s marriage to bring out the picture as well as the idea of the Igbo marriage ceremonies. A bride price is given and received as a blessing in which the bride is blessed to be a mother of many just as those who preceded her (Achebe, 32). In his description, the author takes into account the Igbo’s funeral. Okonkwo fled into exile for several years for accidentally shooting and killing a Kinsman. During the period of the exile, the ‘white man” invaded the Igbo land (Aggarwal, 22). Through this invasion, the soldiers used adequate force to break down the societal setup of the people while the missionaries pacified it further through the introduction of the mission schools. As Christianity spread to the vast edges of the Igbo society, more of the locals converted into the new religion, and upon the rise of issues, nothing seemed to be comfortable anymore as some of the ‘enemy’ were now part of the entire family (Karanwal, 8). Besides, upon the attack of the invaders, their retribution exceeded the violence of the commoners such as Okonkwo.

In his quest to sustain his evidence and assertion, the author employs, the experiences of Okonkwo to bring out his position as a compelling protagonist through the embodiment of the need for masculinity in society as well as the necessary emphasis on ancestral heritage. In his text, the story tells, giving a perfect description of the Igbo people’s lives, their hopes, and dreams, their land as well as their families (Aggarwal, 22). He also brings forth the evidence of how the colonizers view the locals as a sentence in a book concerning their pacification. Considering logic, the method and evidence presentation of evidence and arguments in the text is logical (Achebe, 49). This is because the author presents the book as an answer to the issue of clashing cultures by taking adequate time to understand, respect the beliefs as well as share knowledge without which all that is in existence is violence and death.

In conclusion, from various reviews, the book has been proven to bring about a significant contribution in the fields of historiography as well as literature in multiple ways. The text aptly snaps the trajectory of the response of the Igbo society or their unresponsiveness to the invaders, recording various vital aspects of culture, life as well as religion. In doing so, it gives a hint of how society suffers upon the loss or is in search of its identity. Although the book is mainly based on change, life as well as death, it’s also a warm, lyrical tale and amusing allowing the audience to drift into an entirely different perspective through the beautiful imagery employed by the author.