Things Fall Apart A novel written by Chinua Achebe

1. THINGS FALL
APART
Presented by
Uzma Shaukat
Research Scholar

2. Title
The Second Coming
William Butler Yeats
“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
Chapter 20 pg 182
chapter 21pg 185

3. AS A RESPONSE TO HEART OF
DARKNESS
AND JOYCE CARRY’S MR JOHNSON
 Written in English
 Abrogation (rejection of a normative concept of
standard English by post colonial writers)
 Appropriation (post colonial writers take those
aspects of imperial culture i.e. language through
which they can express their own social and
cultural identities in order to capture widest
possible audience

4. APPROPRIATION
(i) Glossing (obi)
(ii)Parenthetical devices (efulefu, worthless)
(iii)translation

5. AFRICAN LITERATURE
Chinua Achebe presents
native African culture in his
stunning work, Things Fall
Apart.

6. SETTING OF THE NOVEL
 Published in 1958
 Setting is in late 1890’s Ibo society
 By 1952, the period of colonial rule in Nigeria
was entering its final phase after almost 100
years of colonial rule
 Nigeria was decolonized in 1960

7. THEME
 Clash between Ibo/Igbo culture and British
colonialism
 Okonkwo……representative of Ibo culture
 Struggled hard to maintain cultural integrity of
his people, against the over-whelming power of
colonial rule
 Committed suicide

8. Things Fall Apart,
deals with the clash
of cultures and the
violent transitions in
life and values
brought about by the
onset of British
colonialism in
Nigeria at the end of
the nineteenth
century.

9. PACE OF THE NOVEL
 Early experience with colonialism from first
contact with the British to the widespread
British administration, trading post, court of law,
school

10. MAIN CHARACTER
OOkkoonnkkwwoo
FFiirrsstt
WWiiffee
EEkkwweeffii OOjjiiuuggoo
NNwwooyyee OObbiiaaggeellii SSoonn EEzziinnmmaa
NNkkeecchhii

11. IIBBOO VVIILLLLAAGGEE IINN TTHHEE 11880000SS..

12. IBO CULTURE
Why did the writer give
a detailed account of
Ibo culture?

13. PEPPERED WITH PROVERBS
 Things Fall Apart combines Western linguistic
forms and literary traditions with Igbo (or Ibo)
words and phrases, proverbs, fables, tales, and other
elements of African oral and communal storytelling
traditions.
 This helps record and preserve African traditions as
well as to overcome the colonialist language and
culture.

14. AFRICAN LITERATURE
 African literature develops from their extremely oral
culture
 Oral culture takes many forms: proverbs and
riddles, epic narratives, praise poetry and
songs, chants and rituals, stories, legends and
folk tales.

16. EEggwwuuggwwuu ((cchhaapptteerr 1100))

17. EKWE- TYPE OF
DRUM
Oge- type of
bell

18. DDrruummss wweerree aa
vveerryy iimmppoorrttaanntt
ppaarrtt ooff eevveerryyddaayy
lliiffee.. TThheeyy wweerree
ppaarrtt ooff rreelliiggiioouuss
cceerreemmoonniieess
aanndd rriittuuaallss..

19. YAMS ARE A STAPLE CROP.

20. Village
Customs
Life in Umuofia was very structured and daily life
had many important rituals.
There were important traditions for welcoming
visitors, for attaining and respecting social status, for
treatment of women, for going to war, getting
married, and for settling disputes..

21. KKOOLLAA NNUUTT
Kola nut was
mixed with
alligator pepper
and eaten.
This was served
as an appetizer
as part of the
welcoming
ritual.

22. KKOOLLAA BBOOWWLL
KKOOLLAA WWAASS MMIIXXEEDD AANNDD SSEERRVVEEDD IINN
TTHHIISS TTYYPPEE OOFF BBOOWWLL..
WWhheenn aa gguueesstt aarrrriivveedd,, tthhee
hhoosstt wwoouulldd aasskk tthhee gguueesstt
ttoo bbrreeaakk tthhee kkoollaa nnuutt..
TThheeyy wwoouulldd ppoolliitteellyy aarrgguuee
aabboouutt wwhhoo sshhoouulldd sseerrvvee
tthhee kkoollaa.. FFiinnaallllyy,, tthhee hhoosstt
wwoouulldd sseerrvvee iitt..
TThhee gguueesstt wwoouulldd ddrraaww cchhaallkk
lliinneess oonn tthhee fflloooorr aanndd ppaaiinntt
hhiiss bbiigg ttooee wwhhiittee wwiitthh tthhee
cchhaallkk..

23. RReelliiggiioouuss CCeerreemmoonniieess
The people of Umuofia believed in many gods,
ghosts, ancestral spirits, and even believed certain
animals were sacred.
They prayed to their ancestors and also had a chi
or personal god.
They revered the python as the most sacred animal
and called a rainbow the python of the sky.

24. CCEERREEMMOONNIIAALL
MMAASSKKSS
 The egwugwu were the leaders of
the community.
 The women would be afraid of the
egwugwu, even though they knew
their men were had to be the
egwugwu.
 Evil Forest was the lead egwugwu
in Things Fall Apart.

25. AANN EELLDDEERR MMEEEETTIINNGG
TTHHEE EEGGWWUUGGWWUU AARREE IINN
MMAASSKKSS

26. EEGGWWUUGGWWUU WWEEAARRIINNGG
CCEERREEMMOONNIIAALL MMAASSKKSS
 TThheeyy wwoouulldd
mmaakkee
ccoommmmuunnaall
ddeecciissiioonnss ffoorr tthhee
IIbboo ppeeooppllee ssuucchh
aass::
sseettttlliinngg
pprrooppeerrttyy
ddiissppuutteess
ddeecciiddiinngg
wwhheetthheerr ttoo ggoo ttoo
wwaarr

27. DRINKING PALM WINE FROM A HUMAN
SKULL WAS PART OF RELIGIOUS
CEREMONIES
OKONKWO HAD FIVE SKULLS TO HIS CREDIT

28. VViillllaaggee LLiiffee
TThhee vviillllaaggeerrss wweerree wwaarrrriioorrss,, ffaarrmmeerrss,, aanndd
ccrraaffttssmmeenn..
TThhee mmeenn’’ss ccrroopp wwaass yyaamm,, tthhee kkiinngg ooff ccrrooppss..
WWoommeenn’’ss ccrrooppss wweerree ccooccoo--yyaammss,, bbeeaannss,, aanndd
ccaassssaavvaa..

29. OBI
IIbboo HHuuttss

30. BELIEF SYSTEM
Before Christianity belief system revolved around
one particular god, named Chukwu
Chukwu was all powerful and omnipresent God
and representations, symbols and sanctuaries for
him can be found almost anywhere.
Also believed in many smaller deities that would
compete among themselves
CHI was a god seen as individually personalized
by its followers.
The people believed strongly in ones ability to
improve status in the present world through
change.

31. CCoowwrryy sshheellllss wweerree uusseedd aass
mmoonneeyy iinn AAffrriiccaa..
TThheeyy wweerree ssmmaallll eennoouugghh
ttoo ccaarrrryy aanndd wweerree ssccaarrccee
eennoouugghh ttoo bbee vvaalluuaabbllee..
2255 bbaaggss ooff ccoowwrryy sshheellllss
wweerree ppaaiidd aass bbrriiddee pprriiccee
dduurriinngg tthhee eennggaaggeemmeenntt
cceerreemmoonnyy iinn tthhee nnoovveell..
CCOOWWRRYY SSHHEELLLLSS

32. ""PPRROOVVEERRBBSS AARREE TTHHEE
PPAALLMM--OOIILL WWIITTHH WWHHIICCHH
WWOORRDDSS AARREE EEAATTEENN..""
Among the Ibo people, the art of
conversation was very highly regarded.
They received their news from the town
crier.
 Proverbs were very important to the Ibo
people.

33. With the period of Colonization, African
traditions and culture came under serious
threat from outside sources.
Europeans, justifying themselves with the
Christian ethics, tried to destroy the
"primitive" culture of the Africans, to
make them more pliable slaves.

34. LLOOCCUUSSTTSS
 Locusts are related to
grasshoppers. They
swarm and can destroy
whole fields and crops.
 The Umuofians
considered them to be
a delicacy.
 They gathered them in
baskets and then
roasted them and ate
them.

35. PPoouunnddiinngg YYaammss

36. PATRIARCHY
 Androcentric world where man is everything and
woman nothing
 Crops were manly and womanly
 Sins were male and female
 Due to their marginalized role, they were easily
attracted by new religion
 However, their roles changed towards the end of
the novel

37. WOMENFOLK
 Rural work force
 Life giving power
 Nneka… mother is supreme, said by Uchendu
(chapter 13, pg 157)
 Women know the secret of life, since they are the
source of life
 A child belongs to his father ……(chapter 13,
page 157)

38. VARYING INTERPRETATION OF
MASCULINITY
 Manliness judged by the ability to grow yams.
 His father’s life shapes much of his violent
nature
 He thought of his father as weak and effeminate
 Fear of failure
 Agbala--- man with no title or a woman
 He associates manliness with aggression
 Men became “fearful women”
 His idea of manliness is his own, not the clan’s
(chapter 10. evil forest says, it is not bravery when
a man fights with a woman)

39. STRUGGLE BETWEEN CULTURE AND
CHANGE. WHO RESISTED AND WHO
EMBRACED?
 Okonkwo resists as he thinks they are not manly
 He himself will not be manly
 Fear of losing societal status
 His sense of self worth is dependent upon the
traditional standards by which society judges
him
 He aspires to win the fourth title, which would be
denied to him with the new trends in society

40. OUTCASTS EMBRACED THE NEW
RELIGION
 They were enjoying a more elevated status
 They found a refuge in Christian value system
 Women also embraced the new values

41. LANGUAGE AS A SIGN OF CULTURE
 Traditions are based on story telling and
language
 How quickly the abandonment of Igbo language
for English could lead to eradication of these
traditions
 Peppered with Igbo words to show superiority of
African language
 Igbo language is too complex for direct
translation into English
 Achebe intended it to be read by the West, than
his fellow Nigerians

42. SYMBOLS
 Locusts chapter 7 page 109
 Achebe depicts the locusts that descend upon the
village in highly allegorical terms that prefigure
the arrival of white settlers, who will eat on and
exploit the resources of the Igbo
 The fact that Ibo people eat them shows how
harmless they take them to be
 Harbinger to survey the land pg 110
 They “SETTLED” page 111
 whites compared with locusts chapter 15 page
160

43. SYMBOL OF FIRE CHAPTER 17
PAGE 169
 Roaring flame
 Flaming fire
 Living fire begets cold, impotent ash

44. OKONKWO: PHYSICALLY AND
EMOTIONALLY DESTRUCTIVE
 Physically:
(i) kills Ikemefuna
(ii)Ezeudu’s son
(iii)Head messenger
(iv)Himself
o Emotionally
o (i) suppresses his fondness for Ikemefuna and
Ezinma, in favor of a colder and masculine aura

45. IMPORTANCE OF KINSHIP
 Which things fall apart?
 Chapter 15 page 159
 Chapter 19 pg 176
 Pg 177

46. DEPICTION OF WHITE MEN
 Piece of chalk + leprosy. Page 121 (two instances)
 Albino Page 159 (last lines)
 Locusts Page 160
 Green men Page 162

47. CHI
 If a man says yes, his Chi says yes
 A man cannot rise above the status of his Chi

48. ANIMAL IMAGERY
 Animal anecdotes
 Love for python

49. CONFLICTS
Generational:O
konkwo vs. Unoka
Okonkwo vs. Nwoye
Cultural
Ibo vs. Western
Tradition vs. Christianity
Assimilation vs. purity
Gender
Okonkwo vs. his wives
Inner
Okonkwo vs. himself

50. CLASH WITH HIS OWN CULTURE HE
SO DEARLY LOVES
 Beat Ojiugo during week of peace
 Killed Ikemefuna
 Killed messenger
 Suicide despite his culture’s admonition against
this act

51. THE TRAGIC HERO
1. enjoys an exalted position in society
either by birth or extraordinary
achievements
2. demonstrates wisdom, moral or
philosophical greatness -- sometimes
physical prowess
3. adheres to and exemplifies a code of
conduct including reverence toward the
laws of God
4. possesses a flaw in personality or
psyche that ultimately brings about
total destruction.

52. TRAGIC FLAW
 The quality that ultimately defeats a noble hero.
 Okonkwo’s flaw:
Uncontrollable Anger
Inflexibility
Rash behaviour

53. An epic hero, like Odysseus, is typically set
apart from other characters by his capacity
to endure many trials and tests.
 A tragic hero, like Oedipus, is typically a
man of consequence brought down by an
inner conflict, or through his own weakness.
 Is Okonkwo an epic hero, a tragic hero, or
is he a hero at all?
?

54. Thanks for
your attention
and patience