Things Fall Apart

When discussing African Literature, two separate time periods are often used; before Things Fall Apart, and after. Chinua Achebe, with a single book, shaped the literary future of an entire continent, and reached out to readers across seas with his timeless story addressing the conflict between classic and modern.

Things Fall Apart chronicles the life and struggles of Okonkwo, a great man with tragic flaws brewing beneath his skin. He developed within a poor family to become one of the leading citizens of his small, African village of Umuofia in Nigeria. However, his stubbornness and rash temper escalate when Christian missionaries arrive to spread not only their religion, but impose their culture upon the unwilling Umuofians.

Underneath the surface of the story, Achebe continues a common theme among most of his writing; the clash of cultures that occurs when tradition and innovation challenge each other. The struggle between the missionaries and Umuofians parallels many modern day conflicts we see around the world today, making this book as relevant now as it was 50 years ago. Achebe also addresses the hazard of any society possessing rigid gender standards, and the obsession with masculinity and femininity.

Through the use of Nigerian slang and emotional imagery, Achebe invites the entire world to look inside the history of African culture, and the troubles endured by African civilizations at the hands of overzealous nations with political agendas.

With such a literary accomplishment, it is no wonder that Achebe has won the Nigerian National Trophy for literature, and many other awards around the world for his monumental work. Naturally, this title is well deserved. Achebe wrote a novel about a very particular society that the entire world was able to relate to. Perhaps the greatest attribute of Things Fall Apart is the ability for every individual reader to take something different from the story, and grow from it.