Summary Things Fall Apart, ISBN: 9780241357088 Eng
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Course
Eng
Institution
Fatima Jinnah Women University
Book
Things Fall Apart
Written by Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart is a poignant novel which chronicles the struggles of Okonkwo, a leader in the Igbo community, as his traditional village becomes colonized. The novel sheds light on the social and political changes taking place in late 19th century Africa...
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Introduction of the Writer
1930-2013 Nigerian novelist, short story writer, essayist, editor and writer of children’s
literature. Achebe grew up in Igbo (Ibo) a town in Ogidi, Nigeria. After studying English
and literature at University College, Ibadan, Achebe taught for a short time before
joining the staff of the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation in Lagos, where he served as
director of external broadcasting in 1961–66.
Achebe maintained the strong influences of his native Igbo culture through his work,
enlisting its rich, centuries-long history and traditions and commenting both on the
politics of British colonialism in the region and on its lasting legacies in postcolonial
Nigeria. During the Nigerian-Biafran War of 1967–1970, Achebe, a strong supporter of
Biafran independence, acted as an ambassador for the new nation across the world.
Following the war, Achebe attempted to return to politics in the newly reunited nation-
state, but he soon resigned from public life due to frustration over corruption. Though
Achebe lived in the United States for several years, he returned permanently to the
country only in 1990, following a debilitating car accident in Nigeria that left him partially
paralyzed. From 1990 to 2009, Achebe served as the Charles P. Stevenson Professor
of Languages and Literature at Bard College in New York, where he founded the
influential, if short-lived, journal African Commentary. From 2009 till his death, Achebe
served as a Professor at David and Marianna Fisher University and as a Professor of
Africana Studies at Brown University in Rhode Island.
Achebe’s war experience is astringently expressed in BEWARE, SOUL BROTHER
(1971) and CHRISTMAS in BIAFRA and OTHER POEMS in the USA (1972).
He won the 2007 Man Booker International Prize, and is considered the most influential
author of African literature in English of the modern era. Often credited as the father of
African literature, Achebe is the author of five novels, four children’s books, six
collections of essays, and several volumes of poetry and short stories. His novels and
essays, in particular, have been the subject of critical praise and commercial success.
Achebe’s first novel, Things Fall Apart, published in 1958 by William Heinemann,
remains the most widely read and studied African novel in history and has been
translated into more than fifty languages. In 1962 the novel was published as the first
volume in Heinemann’s African Writers Series, of which Achebe served as general
editor until 1972.
Achebe’s influence as a writer, critic, professor, and statesman is unparalleled; to date,
some fifty monographs, edited collections, and special journal issues have been
devoted to his work, with scholarly essays and articles numbering well into the
hundreds. Achebe’s work is notable for its shaping of language and creation of new
, idioms for expressing African experience in English. Politics, history, colonialism,
masculinity, family, gender, the individuals in society, are among the many themes that
run through his work.
During the 1983 Nigerian Elections he was elected Deputy National President of the
People’s Redemption Party and wrote a political statement, whereas THE TROUBLE
with NIGERIA. ANTHILLS OF THE SAVANNAH (1987) is a novel about the failures of
contemporary African politicians and intellectuals.
Sociopolitical Background
Contemporary African fiction has been able to establish a tradition and aesthetic of its
own in a short span of time. The last couple of decades have witnessed a phenomenal
growth and interest in African writing. The dominant theme of African literature is the
political and cultural emancipation of its people aiming at a reassertion, reinforcement
and reinvigoration of the African character and identity. Almost as a rule the new African
literature is a literature of protest, of disillusion, of tension and agony and deferred hope,
of self-introspection and self-assertion.
Colonial and postcolonial African literature is the product of the effect of encounter with
European culture in general and European literature in particular. This was especially
true for the African writers who had received European education in the educational
institutions established by European imperial powers. The educational institutions were
set up by the European colonizers in the guise of civilizing mission but only to mute the
native tongue and to curb the native resistance. The African predicament in this sense
is closely related to the Indian predicament.
European invasion in Africa caused fragmentation of African society and Africans were
mentally colonized to the core. They blindly imitated their European predecessors in all
walks of life. The colonization of the tribal people fragmented socio-cultural, political and
traditional life of the natives that resulted into polarization (A division into two conflicting
or contrasting groups). In the postcolonial African fiction the plight of Africans is largely
explored. Contemporary African writing thus, constitutes a significant part of the
postcolonial literary discourse. It has quickly established its presence and reputation in
the last quarter of the twentieth century. The socio-political change to which Africa has
been subjected since colonization find expression in the contemporary African fiction.
The African novel dramatizes the tensions and conflicts that result from the effect of
socio-political changes on the individual as well as on the community as a whole.
The fundamental concern of African literature is the reclamation of the past and
recreation of African history. The contemporary African literature has been able to
capture and express African sensibility in its true color. The African writer has been
influenced by politics, probably due to the fact that African intellectual is an integral part
of the political elite. Thus, African literature intends to reflect the numerous political
phases of the continent.
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