Book Title:           Things Fall Apart

(Mass mkt paper back)

Author:                 Chinua Achebe

Publisher:             William Heinemann Limited

Place of Publishing:        New York, USA

Date of Publishing:         1958 (Reprinted overtime)

Pages:                             192pages

Price:                    N150 (Varies)

Reviewer:              Emmanuel Amolo

 

 "We cannot expect to stand still on shaky ground”. Thus Okonkwo, the protagonist, was doomed to fall from the start.

 Things Fall Apart is a 1958 English-language fictional novel by Chinua Achebe. The novel concerns the life of Okonkwo, a leader and local wrestling champion throughout the nine villages of the Igbo ethnic group of Umuofia, his three wives, his children (mainly concerning his oldest son Nwoye and his favorite daughter Ezinma), and the influences of British colonialism and Christian missionaries on his traditional Igbo in the late 19th century.

 The majority of the story takes place in the fictional village of Umuofia, located west of the actual Onitsha,

 Umuofia is a powerful clan, skilled in war and with a great population, with proud traditions and advanced social institutions. The culture depicted is similar to that of Achebe's birthplace of Ogidi, where Igbo-speaking people lived together in groups of independent villages ruled by titled elders, with whom Achebe was familiar.

 

 Most of the novel is depicted through Okonkwo's thoughts. Achebe begins the novel by providing the motive behind Okonkwo's apparent discrimination. Okonkwo has risen from nothing to a high position. His father, a lazy flute-player named Unoka, has many debts with people throughout the village. Unoka's life represents everything Okonkwo strives to overcome and be the opposite of. Okonkwo vowed to be everything his father was not and so he worked hard to attain material prosperity. He ensured that he had properties in land, yam, wives and children. He also had ambition to acquire the highest title of the land, which would have proved his so-called masculinity. Okonkwo also demonstrated his male vigor by terminating Amalinze's seven-year reign as wrestling victor. Okonkwo's prowess was reverberated throughout the land and this boosted his male ego considerably. Little wonder he was the opposite of his calm father; he was ruthless and egotistical.

 

 Through hard work, Okonkwo becomes a great man among his people. He takes three wives and his cultivation and harvest of yams, the staple crop is fruitful. He rules his family with an “iron fist”, struggling to overcome his father’s character of “laziness and weakness”.

 

 In a twist of fate, during a funeral for one of the great men of the clan, Okonkwo's gun explodes, killing a boy. In accordance with Umuofia's law, Okonkwo and his family must be exiled for seven years. He moves to his grandmother’s village, in Mbanta.

 

 During Okonkwo's exile, the white man comes to both Umuofia and Mbanta. The missionaries arrive first, preaching a religion that seemed mad to the Igbo people. They win converts though, generally men of low rank, outcasts and women. However, with time, the new religion gains momentum.

 

 Okonkwo was dumbfounded when he realizes that his own son Nwoye had joined solitude in the “White man’s church”. When Okonkwo learns of Nwoye's conversion, he beats the boy forcing him to leave home.

 

 Okonkwo returns to Umuofia to find the clan sadly changed. Okonkwo noted the visible changes that took place. One of the most obvious additions to the village was the white man. During Okonkwo's absence, the Europeans were able to establish their schools, their church and their government in Umofia.

The church had won some converts, some of whom are fanatical and disrespectful of clan custom. Worse, the white man's government has come to Umuofia. The clan is no longer free to judge its own; a District Commissioner judges cases in ignorance. He is backed by armed power.

 

 All these Okonkwo sees as disgusting and frowns at the manner in which the members of his community conformed in the same ideology as the “white man”. He feared this shift would pose a threat to his ambitions to achieve material greatness and attain the highest title of the land. Okonkwo, in this regard, wanted to purge the village of this evil element and re-establish Igbo tradition.

  His hope of eliminating the white man and his influence lowered as the Church followership expanded, especially in women and his son Nwoye. Its doctrines (i.e the church’s) were widely acceptable, especially in regards to the killing of twins, female abuses and ostracism.

 Okonkwo feared his reverences and his titles would soon mean nothing to the villagers, as “they were all equal in Jesus' eyes”. This is what tore Okonkwo apart.

 

 As a wrestling champion and fearless man, he plots to purge his village of these white men who had not only “come to steal our land, change our tradition, but also make us feel like slaves in our own kingdom”.

 His chance came when during a religious gathering; a convert unmasks one of the clan spirits. The offense is grave, and in response the clan decides that the church will no longer be allowed in Umuofia. They tear the building down. Soon afterward, the District Commissioner asks the leaders of the clan, Okonkwo among them, to come see him for a peaceful meeting. The leaders arrive, and are quickly seized. In prison, they are humiliated and beaten, and they are held until the clan pays a heavy fine.

 

 After the release of the men, the clan calls a meeting to decide whether they will fight or try to live peacefully with the whites. Okonkwo wants war. During the meeting, court messengers come to order the men to break up their gathering. The clan meetings are the heart of Umuofia's government; all decisions are reached democratically, and an interference with this institution means the end of Umuofia’s independence. Enraged, Okonkwo kills the court messenger.

 The other court messengers escape, and because the other people of his clan did not seize them, Okonkwo knows that his people will not choose war. His act of resistance will not be followed by others. Embittered and grieving for the destruction of his people's independence, and fearing the humiliation of dying under white law, Okonkwo returns home and hangs himself.

 

 The District Commissioner and his messengers arrive at Umuofia to see Okonkwo dead, and are asked to take down his body since Ibo mores forbid clan members to do this. The Commissioner considers writing a book about his experiences of undignified behavior in the area, with a chapter – or a reasonable paragraph – about Okonkwo's community. His book is titled The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger.

 

 Achebe has very well, done an applaudable job in this novel, taking into consideration, his diverse readers of various educational levels. Wide known for his word clarity and simple diction, Achebe’s work, although filled with “Igbo” quotations and speeches, conveys as much messages as any reader would require.

 The observation in the novel was appropriate conveyed in sublime and comprehensive manner, because of the language barrier. Achebe uses a number of Igbo words and phrases throughout the book (although with their meanings at the last pages of the book). Being told in a third-person narrative, the story allows the reader to understand what is going on at all times. Things Fall Apart has relatively limited dialogue, because the language is so different from English; in order to understand the whole plot the reader must know what the characters are thinking and their motives.

 It had been a companion book for the study of literary novels in schools throughout Africa, and is widely read and studied in English-speaking countries around the world.

 Achebe’s effort was globally recognized and acclaimed when this book became one of the first African novels written in English to receive global critical commendation. It had sold over 8 million copies worldwide since it first publication, and is still been recommended for young, aspiring writers. I rate it 9/10!