After following Okonkwo’s staunch perspective throughout the entirety of the tale, Chinua Achebe’s classic debut novel Things Fall Apart provocatively ends by narrowing in on the white District Commissioner’s perception of the final scene. Indeed, after Okonkwo hangs himself, the Commissioner thinks to himself: “The story of this man who had killed a messenger and…
The white European colonists gradually undermine the traditional Igbo culture and eventually take control of Umuofia and the surrounding tribes. Okonkwo is portrayed as a callous, obdurate man, who supports traditional Igbo customs and is completely opposed to the spread of European culture in the region. During Okonkwo’s exile, the Europeans establish schools, stores, churches,…
Okonkwo is a pillar of strength and stability in his village. He is one of the most industrious members of his community and has amassed a great deal of things: wives, children and yams. He holds wrestling titles and is one of the most respected “high achievers” in the village. However, as a tragic hero,…
In Chinua Achebe’s debut novel “Things Fall Apart”, the protagonist Okonkwo is presented as a strong warrior who is occupied with living up to his own lofty masculine standards of success and fulfillment. Part of his masculine posturing manifests itself in his outwardly courageous, warrior nature. He is determined to be an effective warrior, and…
In Chinua Achebe’s debut novel “Things Fall Apart”, everything begins to become chaotic and enter a major state of flux for Okonkwo and the rest of the Igbo culture when colonial influence makes its considerable presence felt in the region. Western colonisers enter the region and inject their own norms and values into the culture,…
The reason the leaders of Umuofia were not suspicious was because they had been lulled into complacence by the lack of repercussions for the burning of Mr. Smith’s church and Enoch’s compound. Two days had been allowed to pass with no substantial response to the egwugwu’s furious onslaught; even though every man in Umuofia had…
Okonkwo and the other leaders of the tribe are seized and arrested deceitfully and then forced to face European justice, which is in stark contrast to the kind of justice that was part of their culture, where the villagers are shown to bring their disagreements before a kind of spiritual entity who then pronounces their…
The District Commissioner convinces the Igbo leaders to meet with him by sending his “sweet-tongued messenger” to ask them to come meet with him a few days after Mr. Brown’s church is burned down. The commissioner helps to persuade the Igbo leaders to meet with him by waiting several days and not reacting immediately to…
Mr. Smith begins his posting in Okonkwo’s village, taking over from the much more moderate Mr. Brown. The narrator makes it clear that Mr. Smith was far more zealous and radical than Mr. Brown had been, and that the followers of this new faith who found Mr. Brown’s policy of gentle acceptance annoying were able…