Things Fall Apart

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Things Fall Apart

• By Chinua Achebe

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About the Author

• Born November 15, 1930 in Ogidi, Nigeria
• Family belonged to the Igbo tribe
• He was the fifth of six children
• His parents were convinced by the British
  controlling Nigeria to give up their tribal
  religion and become Christians
• He grew up a Christian, too, but was curious
  about the more traditional Nigerian faiths

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About the Author

• He wrote five novels, of which Things Fall Apart
  is the most famous
• He became involved in politics and actively
  crusaded for help for those in his country
  suffering
• He was involved in a car accident in 1990 and is
  now paralyzed from the waist down

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About the Author

• He was unhappy with books written about Africa by
  the British (like Heart of Darkness and Mister
  Johnson) because they were inaccurate and
  insulting
• He wrote Things Fall Apart to combat this image.
  It is about a traditional warrior hero, Okonkwo,
  who is unable to adapt to the changing conditions
  under British rule.

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About the Book

• Published in 1959, written in English
• The title comes from a poem by W.B. Yeats, The
  Second Coming
• The language is simple, but dignified
• The book questions both the tribal traditions of
  the Igbo and the influence of the white man in
  Nigeria

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• The white man has put a knife in the things that
  held us together and we have fallen apart.