Book Reviews: Things Fall Apart

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Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe, New York: Anchor Books Edition, 1994

Worlds collide and all that is recognizable is undone.  This is the universal theme of Achebeʻs groundbreaking work set in what is now Nigeria on the eve of British colonial rule.  Okonkwo, the protagonist, struggles to establish himself as a man within the context of his own cultural construct.  Escaping the stigma of a weak and powerless father, Okonkwo rises to prominence in his village through his relentless desire to work and achieve.  Inevitable, Okonkwo and the surrounding villages meet the White missionaries and their accompanying political/social order that changes everything.

Initially published in 1958 on the cusp of Nigeriaʻs independence from British colonial rule, Things Fall Apart is the first book in Achebeʻs African Trilogy, with No Longer At Ease and Arrow of God being the other two subsequent books.  Achebe takes the time to craft an insiderʻs view of village life without offering a romanticized view of life's daily struggles.  This is not a garden of Eden view of west Africa.  Village life is filled with the same interpersonal human conflicts and the same desires to find meaning and prosperity that are common to all humanity.

Likewise, I believe that Achebe treats the British and their native partners even handedly.  There is not a sense that Black is good and White is evil.  There appears to be enough good and evil on both sides, but there is a sense that the relentless engine of change is finding its way through the village. The only question that remains is how will the native Africans, as symbolized, in part, by Okonkwo, react to this change.

While I am familiar with the overall theme of cultural conflict, this is my first exposure to African literature.  In this regard, Achebe brings a new kind of insight and voice to this discourse for me.  I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in the subjects of colonialism or African literature.

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