Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Background  Born in Nigeria in  His father was an early Christian convert among the Ibo people.  He received a British education.  Working for the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation provided him with the opportunity to travel throughout Nigeria.  Material for his novel about the history of the Ibo people stemmed from his travel.

Continued Career  Things Fall Apart was written in  Achebe states, that the writing of the novel “was an act of atonement with my past.”  The massacre of the Ibos in Northern Nigeria in 1966 and the resulting civil war led him into politics and later as a university lecturer in Nigeria and the U.S.  He has also published other novels, short stories and poetry.

Structure of Novel:  Divided into three parts: 1. life of Ibo people before the white people. 2. Exile of Okonkwo and arrival of colonial culture. 3. The effect of the white people’s arrival on the Ibo culture. Overall colonization of Africa.

Names and places:  Okonkwo-protagonist and son of Unoka  Unoka-Okonkwo’s father  Rival village of Mbaino-rival of Umofia  Ikemefuna-male hostage  Nwoye-Okonkwo’s eldest son  Ekwefi-second wife of Okonkwo  Mbanta-native village of Okonkwo’s mother  Umofia-village of Okonkwo

Continued names/places.  Oberieka-best friend of Okonkwo

Background of Nigeria  Christianity did not become a major part of the Nigerian life until British Anglican missionaries arrived in  Official British control began in 1861 with the annexation of the port of Lagos.  In 1886 Nigeria became a separate British colony.  Nigeria became one territory when the British united three colonial administrations into one in  Nigeria gained independence on October 1, 1960 when the British Parliament made the nation a member of the British Commonwealth.

The Ibo  The Ibo are the third most populous ethnic group in Nigeria.  They live mostly in the southeastern part of the country, a tropical rainforest.  Most rural Ibo are subsistence farmers.