ch a reader will independently realize Achebe's message: whatever their unique cultural realities, the Africans had found a way to live with one another and with the land, and that way was based on traditional beliefs and values which permeated the society. Unlike a non-fictional work, the novel in Achebe's hands is able to tell a complex story of both the internal and external "reality" of the Ibo people. As a result, their traditional beliefs and values--and their deterioration in the face of the white onslaught--are presented in a more compelling way than they would have been in a more objective and scholarly work which would be bound by the historical facts.
Okonkwo is at the heart of the novelistic portrayal of the Ibo people. He is a hero, but a flawed hero. Again, the novel form allows Achebe to shape his character to embody exactly what he wants--a sympathetic character who lives according to Ibo principles but not so perfectly that we cannot identify with him. African soc
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