Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe Poet, novelist, professor, editor, journalist Published over 20 books Born in 1930 in Ogidi, Nigeria Ibo ethnic/cultural background Father was early Christian convert among Ibo people 1970s & 80s: Professor of English at several American universities

Things Fall Apart Published in 1958 (Achebe’s first novel) and set in 1890s, before and during first arrival of white men Loosely BASED on events among the Ibo people that took place in the time of Achebe’s grandfather – does NOT recreate actual events or historical figures Viewed as THE essential novel about colonization of Africa, written from the point of view of the indigenous African Shows an objective view of what happens to a culture when it is attacked by another

Style Uses mostly simple sentences, as it would be told by a member of the Ibo tribe Uses PROVERBS – wise sayings that comments on human behavior Uses FOLK TALES – stories that teach important lessons that reflect the values of a society

Religion Chukwu – supreme God Chi – personal Gods that control one’s destiny Gods closely tied to nature – reflects agricultural society with reliance on seasons and nature Ancestors – greatly respected and worshipped

Family Women were the weaker sex, but also worthy of worship, largely because they could bare children. Mother’s duty to add to family line and please husband Unity and reverence of ancestors very important Father is the provider, defender of honor, and teacher of sons.

Respect & Reputation VERY IMPORTANT Reputation denoted by ankle bracelets signifying titles Earned through: Bravery in battle Skill in wrestling Hard work yielding large yam harvest

History Nigeria: British colony from 1890s – 1960 Britain just selected a chunk of West Africa that contained hundreds of ethnic groups One of the three major ethnic groups were the Ibo 1967-1970: Biafran War (Ibo secession) Ibo people tried to secede from Nigeria as Biafra as a result of political and cultural tensions. War broke out, oil was involved (so many nations across the world got involved) and in the end, they were unsuccessful.

Setting

Achebe’s Motivations 2004 – Achebe rejects National Award from Nigerian gov’t and Pres. Obasanja “Receiving awards is not the important thing. The important thing is for things to change.” “Nigeria has disappointed me and has disappointed many Nigerians and I feel that the situation is getting worse and worse. I thought I should draw attention to this, (a wake up call) because people are losing patience and losing confidence. And Nigeria is losing its position in Africa and in the Black world and in the world as a whole. The situation in Nigeria is far below expectation.” (BBC interview, November 1, 2004 Monday All Africa News)

Achebe’s Motivations "The last four or five hundred years of European contact with Africa produced a body of literature that presented Africa in a very bad light and Africans in very lurid terms. The reason for this had to do with the need to justify the slave trade and slavery. ... This continued until the Africans themselves, in the middle of the twentieth century, took into their own hands the telling of their story." (Chinua Achebe, "An African Voice", The Atlantic)