Chinua Achebe Born in 1930

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Chinua Achebe (Born in 1930)
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Chinua Achebe

• A poet and novelist, one of the most important
  living African writers. The father of modern
  African literature.

• Born in the Igbo (spelled Ibo) town of Ogidi in
  eastern Nigeria in 1930, the son of a missionary
  teacher who raised him as a Christian. Birth
  nameAlbert Chinualumogu (short for Chinua)
  Achebe.
• Thus, he received early education in English but
  grew up and surrounded by the complex blend of
  Igbo traditions the colonial legacy.

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Chinua Achebe

• At the university Achebe rejected his British
  name and took his indigenous name Chinua.
• Achebe left his career in radio in 1966 as a
  result of the political conflicts which would
  lead to Nigerian civil war, Biafran War, in 1967.
  
• A paraplegic from the waist down in a 1990
  automobile accident, Achebe has lived in the
  United States since, teaching at Bard College.

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Style of Chinua Achebe

• Achebe sought to convey a fuller understanding of
  one African culture and give voice to an
  under-represented and exploited colonial subject.
  (See Achebe's "An Image of Africa Racism in
  Conrad's Heart of Darkness")

• Mold the English language to the rhythm and
  lyrical quality of the Nigerian language This
  style, and the incorporation of the proverbs and
  idioms of African culture, combine to mark his
  stories as uniquely African.
• Achebe sees his role as a writer as one of
  social responsibility, since he believes that all
  good stories should have a purpose.

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Achebe Quote

• Let me first make one general point that is
  fundamental and essential to the appreciation of
  African issues by Americans. Africans are people
  in the same way that Americans, Europeans,
  Asians, and others are people. Africans are not
  some strange beings with unpronounceable names
  and impenetrable minds. Although the action of
  Things Fall Apart takes place in a setting with
  which most Americans are unfamiliar, the
  characters are normal people and their events are
  real human events.

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Things Fall Apart Introduction
Change is a part of life.
But when drastic changes transform the world you
knowhow do you deal with them?
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Things Fall Apart Background
Things Fall Apart is set during a period of
British colonial rule of Nigeria in the late
1800s.
Nigeria became a British colony in 1886.
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Theme

• Turning and turning in the widening gyre
• The falcon cannot hear the falconer
• Things fall apart the center cannot hold
• Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
• -- W.B.
  Yeats The Second Coming

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• Turning and turning in the widening gyre
• The falcon cannot hear the falconer
• Things fall apart the centre cannot hold
• Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
• The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
• The ceremony of innocence is drowned
• The best lack all conviction, while the worst
• Are full of passionate intensity.
• Surely some revelation is at hand
• Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
• William Butler Yeats, "The Second Coming"

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Theme

• Achebes Things Fall apart, written with an
  insiders understanding of the African world and
  its history, depicts the destruction of an
  individual, a family, and a culture at the
• moment of colonial incursion.
  
• (Norton p.2616, line 8 from the bottom)

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Theme

• Understanding of the African
• language of Igbo and many
• traditional customs
  
• A downfall of Okonkwo
• - masculine

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Theme

• The collapse of Okonkwos family
• - Unoka, Okonkwo his offspring
• The struggle between transition tradition
• -The tribesmen are caught between resisting
• and embracing change and they face the
• dilemma of trying to determine how best to
• adapt to the reality of change.

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Okonkwo (Oh-kawn-kwoh)

• The central character of Things Fall Apart. A
  young leader of the African Igbo community of
  Umuofia (Oo-moo-oh-fee-ah) he is known as a
  fierce warrior as well as a successful farmer. He
  is determined to overcome the stigma left by his
  fathers laziness and wastefulness.

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The Tragic Hero

• enjoys an exalted position in society either by
  birth or extraordinary achievements
• demonstrates wisdom, moral or philosophical
  greatness -- sometimes physical prowess
• 3. adheres to and exemplifies a code of conduct
  including reverence toward the laws of God and
  the universe, loyalty to the family, and respect
  for government
• 4. possesses a flaw in personality or psyche
  that ultimately brings about total destruction.

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Tragic Flaw

• The quality that ultimately defeats a noble hero.
• Who are some classic literary tragic heros? (any
  from S/F?)
• Okonkwos flaw
• Uncontrollable Anger
• Inflexibility

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• An epic hero, like Odysseus, is typically set
  apart from other characters by his capacity to
  endure many trials and tests. A tragic hero,
  like Oedipus, is typically a man of consequence
  brought down by an inner conflict, or through his
  own weakness.
• Is Okonkwo an epic hero, a tragic hero, or is he
  a hero at all?

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Things Fall Apart Background

• Christian missionaries arrived in Nigeria in the
  mid-1800s, and by the end of the century had
  begun a strong conversion campaign. They wanted
  the African people to embrace Christianity.

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Things Fall Apart Background

• Traditional Ibo religion was based on an earth
  goddess and a creator god. Other deities and
  spirits were also honored.
• Animals were used as sacrifices in religious
  ceremonies.

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Things Fall Apart Background
The Ibo were subsistence farmers, which means
they grew crops to survive.
Men grew the important yam crop. Women grew other
crops.
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Things Fall Apart Background

• An Ibo village was part of a clan network made up
  of about five thousand people that were
• led by a council of men that made decisions
  democratically
• shared a common market and meeting place

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Things Fall Apart Discussion Starters

• Discuss (1)
• Okonkwo believes that strength and toughness are
  more important than compassion and gentleness.
• In what circumstances might this attitude help a
  person succeed?
• When could it cause problems?

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Things Fall Apart Discussion Starters

• Discuss (2)
• The European missionaries want the Ibo to
  change their way of life.
• Why do some people want to impose their culture
  on another?
• Can one culture judge another by its own
  standards?
• When do you think its acceptable to encourage a
  group of people to change their way of life? When
  is it not acceptable?

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Introduction of Characters
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• Nwoye (Nuh-woh-yeh)    Okonkwos oldest son, age
  twelve at the books beginning. He is innately a
  sensitive young man.
• Ikemefuna (Ee-keh-meh-foo-nah)    A boy of
  fourteen who is given to Umuofia, a neighboring
  village, to avoid war. He is a clever,
  resourceful young man.
• Ezinma (Eh-zeen-mah)    Daughter of Ekwefi and
  Okonkwo Ekwefis only surviving child.

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• Obierika (Oh-bee-air-ee-kah)    Okonkwos best
  friend, who often represents the voice of reason.
  
• Mr. Brown    The first white Christian missionary
  in Umuofia and Mbanta. An understanding and
  accommodating man, he is inclined to listen to
  the Igbos.
• The Reverend James Smith    A strict,
  stereotypical white Christian missionary, who
  takes over the church after Mr. Browns
  departure.

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Conflicts

• Generational
• Okonkwo vs. Unoka
• Okonkwo vs. Nwoye
• Cultural
• Ibo vs. Western
• Tradition vs. Christianity
• Assimilation vs. purity
• Gender
• Okonkwo vs. his wives
• Inner
• Okonkwo vs. himself

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Igbo Customs in Things Fall Apart

• Week of Peace In Umuofia, a sacred week in which
  violence is prohibited.
• Bride-price money and property given to a
  prospective brides family by the prospective
  groom and his family.
• Ikenga-- a carved wooden figure kept by every man
  in his shrine to symbolize the strength of a
  mans right hand.
• Polygamy a man can marry more than one wife.

Nigerian yam-cult dance mask
Source
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• The Igbo week has four days Eke, Oye, Afo, and
  Nkwo.
• Osu a class of people in Igbo culture considered
  outcasts, not fit to associate with free-born
  members of the clan.
• Eating habits The man of the house eats
  separately in his central hut Yam is Igbos
  staple food.

Bronze plaque of Nigerian military figures.
Source