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Revision Notes for iGCSE English Literature "Things Fall Apart"
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Revision Notes for iGCSE English Literature "Things Fall Apart"
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iGCSE English LiteratureTHINGS FALL APART
The title of the book was taken from a poem called “The Second Coming” by W.B.
Yeats. The very first stanza of this intense work draws the reader in to a world of chaos,
which can be easily tied to the experience of Okonkwo and his tribe.
“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.” – W.B. Yeats
One of Chinua Achebe’s primary goals in writing this book was to present western
readers with a thriving, dynamic African society. Many other works at the time
presented Africa as a wild and primitive world that was completely different from our
own. Achebe worked to change the perceptions and assumptions about the place and its
people. The novel is a testimony of the cultural confrontation during the period of
British colonisation. In the Igbo culture the past exists concurrent with the present in
the tales told by parents to children, by elders to youngsters, through the egwugwn
processions where ancestral spirits preside over domestic disputes. It is therefore a
historical as well as a cultural novel.
The main themes include colonisation (the process of settling among and establishing control
over the indigenous people of an area); the action of appropriating a domain for one’s own),
family- mainly father and son relationships, religion, tradition (tradition suffers because of
change brought about by modern ways), language, masculinity, and fate and free will. Things
, Fall Apart follows Okonkwo, the novel's protagonist, as he navigates relationships with his
family, community, and culture all while his culture is being erased through colonization.
Okonkwo is the main character/ protagonist. He can be viewed as a tragic hero; a tragic hero is
where we see the demise of the protagonist normally because of a flaw in his character.
The narrative structure of Things Fall Apart follows a cyclical pattern that chronicles Okonkwo’s
youth in Umuofia, his seven-year exile in Mbanta, and his eventual return home. Each of the
novel’s three parts covers one of these periods of Okonkwo’s life. The novel’s three parts also
map onto a gendered narrative structure that follows Okonkwo from fatherland to motherland
back to fatherland. This gendered narrative structure functions in counterpoint with Okonkwo’s
ongoing obsession with his own masculinity. Despite every attempt to gain status and become
an exemplar of traditional Igbo masculinity, Okonkwo suffers from a feeling of relentless
emasculation. Okonkwo’s struggle to achieve recognition repeatedly draws him into conflict with
his community, eventually leading both to his own downfall and to that of Umuofia and the nine
villages.
‘The clan had undergone such profound change…’ How is change significant in
Things Fall Apart? You must consider the context of the novel in your answer.
• change is a significant theme in the novel, especially with the arrival of the white men.
Umuofia transforms over time and the characters react to this change
• Nwoye changes as he matures. He becomes manlier owing to Ikemefuna’s influence. When
Nwoye learns that Ikemefuna is dead, something changes within him as he feels devastated by
his loss. Nwoye recalls the time when he heard an abandoned baby crying in the forest and feels
lost without Ikemefuna. Nwoye converts to Christianity and changes his name to Isaac
• the arrival of the Christians challenges Igbo (Ibo in the novel) society. When the Christian
church is built, it divides families and society
• when Okonkwo returns to Umuofia after his seven-year exile in Mbanta, he discovers that the
village has changed significantly during his absence and he feels deeply unhappy. Their
competing religion and power structure promised a drastic reordering of societal hierarchy in
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