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?