Things Fall Apart (Macmillan Reader) by Chinua Achebe, John Davey Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Things Fall Apart (Macmillan Reader)
Book Review: Balanced Response to Colonialism
Summary: 5 Stars
Achebe's first novel, this is perhaps the most famous post-colonial text, dealing as it does with the moment of the European's arrival in Africa. The novel details the effects of the arrival of white missionaries and white administration on the Ibo community, centred around the character who epitomises Ibo values, Okonkwo. In the first half of the novel Achebe plunges the reader into Ibo society, so that when the white men arrive, it is they who seem foreign. Achebe's careful, almost artless prose keeps authorial perspective in the background.
Achebe said that the writing of Things Fall Apart was "an act of atonement with my past, the ritual return and homage of a prodigal son... It's that fascination with the scraps and pieces of information I could gather about my ancestors that developed into a desire to write my story. Colonial education was saying that there was nothing worth much in my society, and I was beginning to question that, to see there were things that were beautiful even in the `heathen'." He added "I must not make this story look nicer than it was. I went out of my way to gather all the negative things, to describe them as I think they were -- good and bad -- and ordinary human beings as neither demons nor angels."
It is this sense of balance, considering who was responsible for things falling apart, which makes the book so fascinating.
Book Review: A Cultural Awakening
Summary: 5 Stars
Okonkwo epitomized a die-hard African traditionalist with a firm conviction in the destiny of his people, yet a man who failed to accept the inevitable changes in his world. Things fall apart exposes us to the culture of the Ibo people of Nigeria and brings out the characters to the understandable to the reader. In our own little ways, we are like Okonkwo, caught in a world where we have little influence. The lesson is that No matter how powerful we are, we should not impose our wills on others, especially a will that reflects our egos and not the interest of humanity. Clash of cultures is what this book tells us about. Just as in THE USURPER AND OTHER STORIES, NO LONGER AT EASE,THE OLD MAN AND THE MEDAL, TRIPLE AGENT DOUBLE CROSS, one gets a better idea of what Africans and other native peoples went through after being left with no choice but to accept the values and laws of the foreign powers that came into their lives.
Book Review: Interesting
Summary: 4 Stars
Aside from the obvious philosophical topics this book raises regarding the influence of the white man on African life and the changes wrought by missionaries etc, but there are several questions I need to answer myself such as:
What is the Kola Nut that is eaten when guests arrive? How do they make palm wine? What exactly if foo-foo?
This book tells in a concise manner the routine of life for these Nigerian villagers who live solely on the land around them. Bravery is highly prized as well as adherance to beliefs in Gods. A man who cannot fight or provide for his wives and children is not a man and so on. I love some of the details such as how on moonless nights everyone stays indoors terrified of the dark and that even the word 'snake' cannot be uttered, instead the word 'string' must be used.
Not a long book and although written in 1958 it is timeless. A good and interesting read about African society prior to colonialism.
Book Review: Things fall apart
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a beautiful book following a tribal member as he lives his life and tries to look after himself and his family. It is written extremely well and although the language is poetic and beautiful, I have to say it didn't move me or emotionally involve me in the story as much as I anticipated (hence the 4 stars). Never the less it is a perfectly pleasant read and kept me engrossed for a few days and the ending was perfectly in character and a fitting conclusion. You feel anger and shame at how African nations were treated by colonial powers and it is interesting to explore it from the Africans point of view rather than from a historical or political analysis angle. Overall a good read and worth the time it took to read.Book Review: Of Interest for Creating a Culture before Colonization
Summary: 3 Stars
This novel is set in the Igbo homeland in what is now southeastern Nigeria in the late 1800s/early 1900s. I read about three-quarters of the book before I could begin to appreciate it.
Up to then I'd disliked the main character, Okonkwo, an important person in the village whose major traits were harsh anger, pride and inflexibility, finding him one-sided and uninteresting. I felt the description was plodding and little of importance was happening, and wasn't greatly interested in the village life. Much of the novel was concerned mainly with his point of view, and his interactions with the other, relatively minor characters were unexciting. When a dramatic event occurred, such as an accidental shooting of a villager that led to exile, it was described in a flat, undramatic tone that seemed inappropriate and puzzled me.
I couldn't help comparing this novel unfavorably with another I happened to be reading, Palace Walk, by Naguib Mahfouz, with its complex, many-sided protagonist, the many other strongly developed people in his family, the dramatic interaction between them, and the rich world around them that was reasonably familiar.
It was only after reading some background material that I could begin to understand how Achebe's novel aimed to recreate a vibrant culture that had existed before colonization on its own terms, with its oral tradition, rituals and taboos, and guardian spirits, and show what had been lost. The focus on a period before colonization and the depiction of the whites as interlopers has been called innovative for its time. Likewise the use of language in the words of the villagers, instead of pidgin.
A scholar of African lit, Bernth Lindfors, has described the book like this: "Instead of representing Africa as a barbarous wilderness where savages lived in a permanent state of anarchy until the white man came bringing peace, law, order, religion, and a 'higher' form of civilization, Achebe showed how Africans led decent, moral lives in well-regulated societies that placed strict legal and religious constraints on human behavior. Indeed, according to Achebe, things did not fall apart in Africa until Europe intruded and set everything off balance by introducing alien codes which Africans were then told to live by. Europe did not bring light and peace . . . it brought chaos and confusion" (quoted from the preface to the Anchor Book of Modern African Short Stories).
At the same time, Achebe showed how some elements from outside the traditional culture, such as Christianity, weren't merely imposed from above but appealed strongly to some of the Igbo, especially those at the bottom of the society, and those who felt the new religion was more powerful. And he showed that the traditional society had its own internal problems and was ready for change. Achebe himself has been quoted as saying, "My sympathies were not entirely with Okonkwo . . . . Life just has to go on and if you refuse to accept changes, then, tragic though it may be, you are swept aside" (quoted from Under African Skies: Modern African Stories).
The conventional action came almost entirely in the last quarter of the novel, when the encroaching missionaries, together with the trading culture and the colonizers' threat of force, began to overwhelm the village. Although I can't say I identified with the main character even at the end, by then I could better appreciate the loss of the village culture.