Thinking Activity : " Things Fall Apart "

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Welcome to my blog. This blog  is related to the thinking activity  on  " Things Fall Apart " 

• Here are some questions on"Things Fall Apart"

1. What is historical context of Things Fall Apart?  

Things Fall Apart is set in the 1890s and portrays the clash between Nigeria’s white colonial government and the traditional culture of the indigenous Igbo people. Achebe’s novel shatters the stereotypical European portraits of native Africans. He is careful to portray the complex, advanced social institutions and artistic traditions of Igbo culture prior to its contact with Europeans. Yet he is just as careful not to stereotype the Europeans; he offers varying depictions of the white man, such as the mostly benevolent Mr. Brown, the zealous Reverend Smith, and the ruthlessly calculating District Commissioner.

The  historical and cultural context of the publication of Things Fall Apart (1958) by Chinua Achebe. Before the release of this work by Achebe, the vast majority of literary writings on Africa and its inhabitants were produced by Western writers who offered a distorted view of the black continent and of its inhabitants. In response to this misrepresentation of Africa and Africans in colonial novels, Chinua Achebe and other African writers stood out as the voice of a self-centered narrative of Africa and its inhabitants, narrated from an African perspective. These committed African nationalist writers committed themselves to the deconstruction of the primal, ape image of Africa and Africans. This analysis aims to show that by presenting a false image of Africa, the colonial novels had the merit of making Africans aware of the need to write their own history, thus triggering the publication of Things Fall Apart and the other literary productions of the time that started the fight for real recognition of African culture and traditions in the rest of the world. In a critical postcolonial approach, the study positions an unsatisfied Chinua Achebe at the heart of the battle for the acknowledgement of Igbo / African culture and traditions. It interprets Things Fall Apart as an Afro-centric image offered to the European reader for a change of outlook on African culture and traditions.Achebe’s education in English and exposure to European customs have allowed him to capture both the European and the African perspectives on colonial expansion, religion, race, and culture. His decision to write Things Fall Apart in English is an important one. Achebe wanted this novel to respond to earlier colonial accounts of Africa; his choice of language was thus political. Unlike some later African authors who chose to revitalize native languages as a form of resistance to colonial culture, Achebe wanted to achieve cultural revitalization within and through English. Nevertheless, he manages to capture the rhythm of the Igbo language and he integrates Igbo vocabulary into the narrative.Achebe has become renowned throughout the world as a father of modern African literature, essayist, and professor of English literature at Bard College in New York. But Achebe’s achievements are most concretely reflected by his prominence in Nigeria’s academic culture and in its literary and political institutions. He worked for the Nigerian Broadcasting Company for over a decade and later became an English professor at the University of Nigeria. He has also been quite influential in the publication of new Nigerian writers. In 1967, he co-founded a publishing company with a Nigerian poet named Christopher Okigbo and in 1971, he began editing Okike, a respected journal of Nigerian writing. In 1984, he founded Uwa ndi Igbo, a bilingual magazine containing a great deal of information about Igbo culture. He has been active in Nigerian politics since the 1960s, and many of his novels address the post-colonial social and political problems that Nigeria still faces

2. What is the significant of the title?

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a novel whose title bears the central massage of the work. The very title ‘Things Fall Apart’ foreshadows the tragedy which takes place at the end of the novel. The novel depicts the tragedy of an individual as well as the tragedy of a society. The protagonist of the novel Okonkwo who was rich and respectable at the beginning of the novel meets a tragic fate at the end of the novel. Achebe portrays how an ambitious, well known, and respected African Okonkwo’s life falls apart. But when he suffers, his whole tribe also suffers. At the beginning of the novel, the Ibo society was a peaceful, organic society, but at the end of the novel it falls into pieces. Thus, the novel records not only falling apart of Okonkwo’s life but also his whole society.The phrase "things fall apart" is taken from the poem, “The Second Coming” by W.B Yeats, which Achebe quotes more extensively in the epigraph. Achebe’s literary allusion to Yeats’ poem might deepen or extend by comparison and/or contrast the meaning of Achebe’s title and his novel.  The beginning four lines of the poem are referred to as a preface of the novel.

“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,”

 

"Things fall apart" can be said when something we believed would last forever, comes to an end. The title Things Fall Apart refers to the fact that without proper balance, things do fall apart. The notion of balance in the novel is an important theme throughout the book. Beginning with the excerpt from Yeats' poem, the concept of balance is stressed as important; for without balance, order is lost. In the novel, there is a system of balance, which the Igbo culture seems but at the end of the novel the society people can not listen to the leader, so a chaotic situation is created.At the beginning of the novel we see Okonkwo as a prosperous leader of the Igbo people. But the novel ends with his tragic end. Thus, we can say that the novel Things Fall Apart  depicts how Okonkwo’s life falls apart. Okonkwo is definitely a man of importance for his society. He is a well-known person throughout the nine villages and beyond. He is a warrior and wrestler who gains respect through his athletics. He is a fierce-free individual. He hasn’t lost one fight or any battles. And for this the people of the village love him. He is also respected because of his wealth.

3. Write a brief note on the concept of 'Chi' in Things Fall Apart?

Okonkwo's shifting beliefs about the chi are important in understanding the end of the novel. Okonkwo at various times blames his chi for bad luck, but at other times he claims personal credit for his good luck. When Okonkwo commits suicide at the end of Things Fall Apart, his bad chi could be faulted.The Igbo believe that an individual's fate and abilities for the coming life are assigned to the chi, and each individual is given a chi by the Creator (Chukwu) at the moment of conception.Interpret this proverb, spoken of Okonkwo: “When a man says yes his chi says yes also. ” What role does Okonkwo's chi play in shaping his destiny? ... There is an African proverb that says, “When a man says yes his chi says yes also.The concept of chi is that it is the basic component of all things that exists. Chi provides energy or power similar to a fresh breath of air which is considered as life in all living things. Qi or chi is the main reason for the existence of human life and a proponent that dictates the quality of health of the human body.The ideology of Chi originated in ancient China. It is also adopted in some Asian countries such as Japan and called “ki” while in Korea it is referred to as “gi”. The spelling of the word may differ from one culture to another but the meaning stays the same. Chi is referred to the flow of energy which pertains to all living things such as trees, plants, humans and animals. Relatively synonymous to ‘life force’ is the ultimate principle being carried out in ancient Chinese traditional medicine and in Martial Arts. Another interpretation of the word “qi” or “chi” is breath or air which is the literal meaning of the word.The concept of chi is that it is the basic component of all things that exists. Chi provides energy or power similar to a fresh breath of air which is considered as life in all living things. Qi or chi is the main reason for the existence of human life and a proponent that dictates the quality of health of the human body. It is believed that there is a healthy balance of chi in every one of us and health is determined by harmonious flow of chi. It is important not only for physical health but of one’s mental faculty as well. Chi is the life force energy known as the joy of being alive or the breath of life.

The concept of chi is discussed at various points throughout the novel and is important to our understanding of Okonkwo as a tragic hero. The chi is an individual’s personal god, whose merit is determined by the individual’s good fortune or lack thereof. Along the lines of this interpretation, one can explain Okonkwo’s tragic fate as the result of a problematic chi a thought that occurs to Okonkwo at several points in the novel. For the clan believes, as the narrator tells us in Chapter 14, a “man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi.”

But there is another understanding of chi that conflicts with this definition. In Chapter 4, the narrator relates, according to an Igbo proverb, that “when a man says yes his chi says yes also.” According to this understanding, individuals will have their own destinies. Thus, depending upon our interpretation of chi, Okonkwo seems either more or less responsible for his own tragic death. Okonkwo himself shifts between these poles: when things are going well for him, he perceives himself as master and maker of his own destiny; when things go badly, however, he automatically disavows responsibility and asks why he should be so ill-fated.

4. What do you think about the incident of Ikemefuna? How does it help to understand the Ibo culture in more specific ways?

Ikemefuna comes to Umuofia early in the book, as settlement for a dispute with a nearby village. Not knowing what else to do with him, Okonkwo lets Ikemefuna live with his first wife. Ikemefuna quickly becomes a well-loved member of the family. He serves as a role model for Okonkwo’s eldest son, Nwoye, and over time he also earns Okonkwo’s respect. But more important than the role he plays in Okonkwo’s family is the effect his death has on the unfolding events of the novel.

When the village elders decide the time has come to kill Ikemefuna and finally settle the dispute with the neighboring village, Okonkwo insists on taking part in the execution, despite the fact that the boy calls him “father.” Okonkwo ends up killing Ikemefuna himself out of fear that his failure to take responsibility would make him look weak. Ikefuma’s death irreversibly harms the relationship between Okonkwo and Nwoye. His death is also a bad omen that has a symbolic connection to Okonkwo’s later exiled from Umuofia. In this sense, the death of Ikemefuna signals the start of things falling apart.Ikemefuna's death irreversibly harms the relationship between Okonkwo and Nwoye. His death is also a bad omen that has a symbolic connection to Okonkwo's later exile from Umuofia. In this sense, the death of Ikemefuna signals the start of things falling apart.

5. Write a brief note on Ibo people's belief in the world of spirits.

Throughout the book Achebe gives his characters names with hidden meanings; for example, Okonkwo's name implies male pride and stubbornness. When Achebe adds British characters, he gives two of them common and unremarkable British names, Brown and Smith. His third British character, the District Commissioner, is known only by his title. The choice of names, and lack thereof, is in itself a commentary by Achebe on the incoming faceless strangers.

Achebe portrays Mr. Smith as a stereotype of the inflexible Christian missionary in Africa. He is a fire-and-brimstone type of preacher, who likens Igbo religion to the pagan prophets of Baal of the Old Testament and brands traditional Igbo beliefs as the work of the devil. Achebe suggests that the issue between Mr. Smith and the local people may be more than one of religion: "[Mr. Smith] saw things as black and white. And black was evil."

Mr. Smith preaches an uncompromising interpretation of the scriptures. He suspends a woman convert who allows an old Igbo belief about the ogbanje to contaminate her new Christian way of life. He labels this incident as "pouring new wine into old bottles," an act prohibited in the New Testament of the Christian Bible "Neither do men put new wine into old bottles"The reference to the Mother of Spirits is another foreshadowing of the decline of the Umuofians. Her wailing and crying signals the death of "the very soul of the tribe." Enoch's unmasking of the egwugwu and the subsequent destruction of the church by the Igbo represent the climax of confrontation between traditional Igbo religious beliefs and British colonial Christianity, and, to a great extent, these events symbolize the broader cultural confrontation. Even the egwugwu leader acknowledges the cultural standoff between them: "We say he [Mr. Smith] is foolish because he does not know our ways, and perhaps he says we are foolish because we do not know him." Such an acknowledgment seems an indication that the Igbo are becoming resigned to their "new dispensation" that they are moving toward a collective surrender to becoming civilized under the onslaught of forces far more organized and powerful than themselves.

6. How is the difference between the father land and the mother land is described in Things Fall Apart?

Things Fall Apart takes place sometime in the final decade of the nineteenth century in Igboland, which occupies the southeastern portion of what is now known as Nigeria. Most of the action unfolds prior to the arrival of European missionaries. Accordingly, the geography of the novel is dictated by pre colonial norms of political and social organization. In Igboland, clusters of villages band together to protect each other and guarantee their own safety. The action of Things Fall Apart centers on the fictional village of Umuofia, which is part of a larger political entity made up by the so-called “nine villages.”

In Igboland, geography takes on gendered aspects depending on where a person’s parents were born. For instance, Umuofia is Okonkwo’s father’s home village, which makes it Okonkwo’s fatherland. When Okonkwo gets exiled for the crime of manslaughter, he and his family travel to another of the nine villages, Mbanta, which is Okonkwo’s motherland, that is, the village where his mother was born. The gendering of geography plays an important symbolic role in the novel, since Okonkwo sees his seven-year exile in the motherland as an emasculating threat to his reputation.

Just as geography has meaning in Things Fall Apart, so too does time. The novel is set in the 1890s, at the beginning of the British colonial incursion into Igboland. The story takes place in a moment of rupture, as the old ways of the precolonial period come under threat from and eventually buckle under the weight of pressure from Europeans. The novel dramatizes the very beginnings of British imperialism in the region, which started not with guns but with Bibles. As Achebe depicts in the book, it was missionaries who arrived first, paving the way for the civil servants who would eventually wrest political control at the point of a pen or, if need be, a gun.

Although Achebe shows very little direct violence being perpetrated against the Igbo people, he implies the violence to come at the novel’s end, when the District Commissioner contemplates his book in progress, titled The Pacification of the Tribes of the Lower Niger. As any reader with a knowledge of Nigerian history will know, this “pacification” would be achieved with a great deal of bloodshed and heartache.

7. Write a brief note on the concept of Nativism and Native identity in Things Fall Apart.

Nativism is the political policy of promoting the interests of native inhabitants against those of immigrants including the support of immigration-restriction measures.

In scholarly studies, nativism is a standard technical term, although those who hold this political view do not typically accept the label. Oezguer Dindar wrote, "do not consider themselves [to be] nativists. For them it is a negative term and they rather consider themselves as 'Patriots'

8. Point out the important points of Things Fall Apart which can be compared with Kanthapura by Raja Rao.

Raja Rao and Chinua Achebe through the depiction of the respective philosophies in their novels Kanthapura and '' Things Fall Apart brings out the perception of social, cultural and traditional aspects of Nigerian village Umuofiaand Indian village of Kanthapura. Moreover, both the authors through these philosophies put light on the issue of colonization which the African natives and Indian natives suffered at the hands of white missionaries andBritishers. Rao who was an ardent follower of Mahatma Gandhi, paid respect to him by writing and adopting about the Civil Disobedience Movement and Non Violence Movement that Gandhi implemented against the ruling colonial government in his novel Kanthapura. Similarly, Achebe also adopted the philosophy of Igbo culture, their traditions, their festivals and folklores. He as a true religious believer of his culture and social practices wrote about the Igbo community and cosmological dimensions of the Nigerian lives in his novel Things Fall Apart. Both The author wrote for their respective nations and highlighted the major issues in the novel through these thematic philosophy of Gandhian Ideology treasured by Rao in Kanthapura and Igbo life philosophy by Achebe in Things Fall Apart.The centrality and the plot of the novel Kanthapura revolves around the Gandhian Philosophy which illustrate the commencement of Indian Freedom Struggle by Mahatma Gandhi in the early 20th century which left a great impact on the people of India and Rao is one of them who used it to aware its reader worldwide. GandhianPhilosophy is very well depicted in the novel which in reality impacted and affected many villages and parts ofIndia. Similarly, Achebe in his first novel Things Fall Apart portrayed the cosmological and cultural philosophy ofIgbo life. He wanted to emphasize in his novel mainly about the homegrown people of Umaro who caught themselves in the clutches of high functioning of the western culture, who not only captured their religious beliefs but also being in the minority they somehow dominated the majority natives of Africa. As Edward said quotes,“what I left out of Orientalism was that response to western dominance which culminated in the great movement of decolonization all across the Third World'' Therefore, things started to fall when the westernculture through their ways of life forced the lives of Igbo hence distorted their cultural and religious belief altogether which created the major destruction within the community by ruining their peace. So, the commonality in both the novels lies with the dominance of the western world over the eastern world which is portrayed by adapting the major issues of philosophy by both Rao and Achebe intelligently in the respective novels.Mahatma Gandhi through his ideology of non-violence, non-cooperation, peace, truth and love inspired many writers like Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx as well as Indian writers. And all these writers through their immense inspiration and passion made their readers think persistently about the issues and protest that Gandhi made in real life during Indian Freedom Struggle. He aroused the devotion and belief of many Indians for the independence through his ideologies to fight for freedom not with a war but with a protest. A well-known criticK.R. Srinivasa Iyengar declared this period of freedom struggle against Britishers as the “Gandhian Age”. Not onlyThat writer, Munshi Premchand, left his job to join hands with Mahatma in his protest of Non-Violence. Inin many novels, Gandhiji is projected as an individual or as a mysterious presence. In Rao’s Kanthapura, the presence of Gandhiji is seen in the character of Moorthy, he is considered as his replica who in the village ofKanthapura performed satyagraha and motivated other villagers to follow the path of freedom struggle against the Britishers. Gandhi in Kanthapura is also seen as the presence of God for the village kanthapura where not only he is the replica of Moorthy but many other characters as well displayed through philosophy of life and political struggle. Gandhi is also seen as an embodiment of The Epic Ramayan’s characters of Ram, Sita and Ravanthat is, Lord Rama as the one who is sent for the protection of the nation India which is “sita” from the rule ofBritish slavery which is regarded as Ravana. Moreover Gandhi in the whole novel, felt like an invisible presencewho poured his thought of ideologies throughout the entire book. In the novel itself we see that the protagonist Moorthy, at a very young age, got highly influenced by the teachings of Gandhi which he preached to the villagers. He asked the villagers to discard all the clothes made by Britishers and wear khadi dresses to follow the path of Non-violence, truth and peace. The ideology of Gandhian Philosophy is introduced by Rao in the character of Moorthy. He taught the villagers about Mahatma Gandhi’s sayings “spinning is as purifying as praying.” to follow the path of Non-Violence. So the villagers started rebelling against the British Raj and would gather near the temples to sing songs, to pay respect and love for Mahatma Gandhi:“Our King, he was born on a wattle-mat,He’s not the King of the velvet bed,He’s small and he’s round and he’s bright and he is sacred O, Mahatma you’re our King and we are your slaves”.Therefore, Rao gave us the vivid picture of how the impact of ideologies helped the villagers to overthrow theBritish Empire away from India.Not only Moorthy but there are several other characters in the novel that followed Gandhi’s path of teachings and beliefs. The character of Jayaramchar who expressed the ideas of Gandhi in the following lines “Fight, says he, butharms no soul. Love all, says he, Hindu, Mohammedan, Christian or Pariah, for all are equal before God. Don’t be attached to riches, says he, for riches create passions, and passions create attachment and attachment hides the face of truth. Truth must you tell, he says, for the Truth is God and, verily, it is the only God I know.” through these lines he wanted the villagers to take the path of truth to fight against the controlling human behavior of British Rule. The teachings of Gandhian philosophy made the villagers go crazy for the protest and in the novel we see preaching of many slogans like “Vande Matram, Mahatma Gandhi ki Jai, InquilabZindabad”Patriotism aroused among the people of Kanthapura which signifies the importance of freedom struggle and they declared the rule of “Government of the Mahatma.”  rather than the dominance and rule of Britishers.

Hence the English Government intertwined during the protest which resulted in the destruction of the village kanthapura. Despite all the dominance, rule and authority they still fought back for freedom. Gandhian Philosophy taught by Moorthy to the people of Kanthapura did one good thing which is to stand united by resolving their inner issues of untouchability, casteism, poverty and subjugation of the woman characters in the novel.Chinua Achebe as an African writer wanted to bring back the dignity of his native people who got into the hands of the European imperialists in the colonial era. He wanted to restore the dehumanized black people as he quotes in one of his articles The Role Of The Writer: “African people did not hear of culture for the first time fromEuropeans…their societies were not mindless but frequently has a philosophy of great depth and beauty…they had poetry and above all, they had dignity. It is this dignity that many African people all but lost during the colonial period and it is this that they must now regain…the writer’s duty is to help them regain it by showing them inhuman terms what happened to them, what they lost” This is why Achebe uses the philosophy of Igbolife to restore the nativity of his people away from the clutches of the Europeans that is missionaries in his first novel Things Fall Apart. Achebe during his college days saw the growing nationalism among his fellow natives which motivated him to write and adapt the philosophy of Igbo life and bring about the awareness to the less educated. He wanted to bring peace, love and unity among the Igbo people so that they can fight against the missionaries. But that remained as a dream as the missionaries being in minority distorted the lives and peaceful environment of the village Umuofia. Achebe wanted to bring the realistic approach through his novel Things Fall Apart where he gave the vivid picture of Igbo people and its culture through the medium of issues of Igbo life philosophy. He has the utmost knowledge of his Igbo cultural milieu, their tradition and customs.

Okonkwo who is the protagonist of the novel portrayed how he confronted and handled the rule, dominance and control of the westerners that is Christian missionaries in Umuofia. Achebe also brings out the side of Okonkwowhere he wanted to unite its people against missionaries by making them remind of their God, rituals, customs and beliefs. But he couldn’t achieve all of this and killed himself in despair of his culture in the end of the novel.God as the Supreme Being and of utmost importance in Igbo culture is severely rooted in all aspects of Igbo life philosophy. Moreover, the treatment of women in Nigeria is also highlighted by Achebe. Okonkwo beat his youngest wife in the week of peace because he was agitated by the rebuked villagers for disrespecting the YamFestival. Thus he got the wrath by the priest of Goddess Ani, where she says “You are not a stranger in Umuofia.You know as well as our forefathers ordained that before we plant any crops in the earth we should observe a week in which a man does not say a harsh word to his neighbor. We live in peace with our fellows to honor our great Goddess of the earth without whose blessings our crops won’t grow. You have committed a great evil”

The other tradition of man and woman being one in Igbo society which maintained the harmony among the clans got distorted and disturbed when colonizers came and colonized the village of Umuofia. Achebe feels that Igbolife was a money-oriented society in the pre-colonial era but at the same time the strong spiritual belief balanced the whole situation “unfair rivalry and bellicose materialism” . Not only had this but Igbo life and culture had respect and right to life. Therefore a man plays a crucial role for himself and his family or the clan. That is why it is considered as a great sin to kill one of the members of their clan which we see in the novel when Ezeudu Warn Okonkwo not to kill Ikemefuna, which is considered as a heinous crime for the society who strongly believes in culture and religion “It is the kind of action for which the goddess wipes out whole families…but of oracle said that my son should be killed I neither would dispute it nor be the one to do it''Gandhian philosophy in Kanthapura and Igbo life philosophy in Things Fall Apart have the common ground of issues which both Rao and Achebe portrayed through their writings. Both Moorthy and Okonkwo being the central characters in the respective novels fought against the dominance in different ways but with a one motto that is to bring about the unity and religious belief in their natives to fight off the missionaries. Yet one thing differs, in Kanthapura we saw the path of freedom is achieved through Non-violence but in Things Fall Apart, we see many incidents in the novel where the path of violence is seen like killing among the clan, suicide, agitationcaused by missionaries resulting in anger. Therefore, Rao brings the idea of life in respect with Gandhi’s vision inKanthapura. Whereas, Achebe through his African customs, portrayed the way of life to present the Igbo culture in his novel Things Fall Apart.

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