Things Fall Apart

By Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe

Born November 16, 1930 From Nigeria Christian parents raised him in Igbo

village of Ogidi in southeastern Nigeria Called ‘the father of modern African

writing’ – What do you think this means?

Things Fall Apart

Originally published in 1958 Title comes from William Butler Yeats

poem “The Second Coming” Novel centers around Okonkwo, a

local tribal wrestler British colonialism is quite prevalent Novel captures culture of Igbo people

Things Fall Apart Characters

Okonkwo – protagonist, father Unoka – Okonkwo’s deceased father Ekwefi – Okonkwo’s second wife Nwoye – Okonkwo’s eldest son Obierika – friend of Okonkwo Mr. Brown – British missionary Rev. James Smith – Brown’s successor

Important ideas to think about…

To what does the title refer? Where does faith / Catholicism show up

within the novel? Is this book relevant today? Is it applicable

to today’s world? What writing conventions are used to

convey the story? At what point do we see the ‘beast’ released

within Okonkwo?