| First published: 1958 Time of Plot: 1880's Locale: Ibo tribal village of Umuofia in what is modern day Nigeria Keywords: Achebe, Things Fall Apart, Igbo(Ibo), Nigeria, Imperialism, Colonialism, African culture, African rituals, African nationalism |
 Librarian talk about Getting
Started! Selecting what you want to write about is the most important thing you will do. Do a little background reading in reference books of criticisms professionals have written about Things Fall Apart. Consider keywords that will help you find the information you need. These can be names of people, events, or broader identifying terms. Use these keywords for locating information in the library catalog, electronic databases, and on the internet. |
| Colonialism |
Children in the Ibo culture |
Contrast of religious beliefs |
|
Characterization |
Missionaries in Africa |
Symbolism of names |
| Conflicting cultural mores |
Comparison with Burrough's Tarzan of the Apes |
Inability to adapt to change |
| Meaning of the title |
The mask as a symbol |
Use of the English language in African writing |
| Women in the Ibo culture |
Comparison with Conrad's Heart of Darkness |
Lessons learned during exile |
Chinua Achebe was born on November 16, 1930 in Ogidi, an Igbo village near the Niger River in a Nigeria under British rule. His parents were devout Christians, and his father worked as a teacher of the Church Missionary Society. As a child Mr. Achebe was taught to look down on his fellow tribe members who practiced the traditional faith. Nonetheless, he was fascinated with the customs and traditions of his non-Christian neighbors and went to their ceremonies and festivals despite the fact his parents forbid him to do so.
Achebe attended a government-run secondary school where he learned to love and appreciate British literature. He enjoyed the authors such as Joseph Conrad and their tales of Africa but came to realize "that these writers had pulled a fast one on me! I was not on Marlowe’s boat steaming up the Congo in Heart of Darkness. I was one of those strange beings jumping up and down on the river bank, making horrid faces." He decided that he could write a more realistic portrayal of his culture and began by writing articles for his college campus newspaper. Then in 1958 he published his first novel, Things Fall Apart. He had gone to work for the Nigerian Broadcasting company in 1953 and rose to the position of director of the Voice of Nigeria by 1961. That same year he married and settled down to a comfortable life in a suburb of the capital city of Lagos. This all came to an end when a coup by Igbo army officers was met with a countercoup of predominately Muslim officers. There ensued one of the worst massacres ever on the African continent, with as many as 30,000 Igbo tribesmen murdered. Achebe fled to the Igbo region of Nigeria, which later declared itself an independent country, the Republic of Biafra. The new country suffered much misery, but he supported the new republic, using his energies to begin a new publishing firm and to seek aid for the children in Biafra. When Biafra lost the fight for independence, Achebe worked as a research fellow at the University of Nigeria. He took an active interest in the publishing industry in Africa, helped promote the careers of young African writers, and divided his time between teaching posts in Nigeria and the United States. Since 1991 Mr. Achebe has taught at Bard College in Annandale, New York.|
Okonkwo - Respected village leader | Ekwefi - Okonkwo's wife number 2 who has only one child, a daughter | Ezinma - Ekwefi's only child | Nwoye - Okonkwo's oldest son | Obierika - a friend of Okonkwo | Ikemefuma - a boy given to the clan by a neighboring village and raised in Okonkwo's household | Mr. Brown - a Christian missionary who is tolerant of the Igbo traditions | Reverend James Smith - the Christian missionary who succeeds Mr. Brown |
The Nigerian Ibo village of Umofia is
the home of Okonkwo, a man, who through very hard work and his athletic
and warrior abilities, has attained a place of prominence. He is
driven by the desire to live down the reputation of his indolent, music-
loving father. When he accidentally kills a young member of his
tribe, he must go into exile for seven years. He lives in the village
where his mother was born and prospers there. However, he only wishes
to return to Umofia and regain his position of respect and authority.
During Okonkwo's seven year exile, the village is changed by its contact
with European culture and the Christian religion. Okonkwo's son
Nwoye converts to the white man's religion. Okonkwo is unable to
adjust to the changes and tries to fight the new ways. He is sent
to jail and, on his release, he kills a messenger from the British authorities.
Okonkwo then commits suicide, a crime worse than any other in the Ibo
culture. |
Librarian
Talk about Books!
|
REF PN523 .M29 |
Magill's Survey of World Literature |
Evaluates the novel's place in its time |
| REF PN523 .W67 | World Literature Criticism | Similar to CLC, this book has excellent information for background reading. |
| REF PN771 .C59 |
Contemporary Literary Criticism | CLC contains excerpts from critical essays in books and journals. Use these volumes to 1) select a topic or theme, 2) find the full article or essay in the library, and 3) locate other articles and books from the "Further Reading" section. |
| REF PR106 .S7 |
Reference Guide to English Literature | A critical analysis of the plot of the novel. |
| REF PR9387.9.A3 |
The Chinua Achebe Encyclopedia |
Encyclopedia articles pertaining to Achebe and his works. |
| PR9387.9.A3 T52397 2003 |
Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart A Casebook |
Essays of criticism on Things Fall Apart |
|
From home, use your library card to login to these online journal databases. If you are one of our students, call if you don't have your card. |
Literature Resource Center
Find articles, work overviews, and critical essays from this electronic
database from Gale.
ProQuest Research Library
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a number of literary journals are indexed and some are available full text.
Evaluate what you find to be certain the journal is scholarly. Ask
your instructor or the librarians if you're not sure.
Academic Search Complete
Articles from journals, many full text. Limit your search to "scholarly
journals."
INTERNET SITES
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Citing Sources
Using the Library MLA Style Guide | Lone Star College - Kingwood Library guide. Examples of both paper and electronic citations.
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Copyright © 1999 [Lone Star College-Kingwood Library]
Written by: Bettye Sutton. Revised pwhitley
6/07
