Things Fall Apart

Village life is compared to what we might call "civilized" life in the novel, and village life is seen as better. Achebe understands the plight of the men and women in the village and uses his direct knowledge of that world to create the story of Okonkwo and his family. Okonkwo's story does differ from that of the author in many respects, of course, especially for Achebe, who left village life behind and achieved much more through education and his own ability than Okonkwo ever will. The picture Achebe paints of Okonkwo is of a man beset by fear and lashing out at the world with frustration and anger, beginning with the women in his own household:

Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little chil

. . .
and then administered the country through a policy of divide-and-rule. In the north, the British bolstered the Muslim majority and virtually excluded Christian missionaries, while in the south, the rulers encouraged Christianity and helped education spread rapidly. Nigeria achieved independence in 1960. At the time, the Federal Republic of Nigeria was composed of three states -- the Northern Region, the Western region, and the Igbo Eastern Region. Conflicts erupted early among these three regions, and this would lead in 1966 to a crisis after the military overthrow of the first civilian government. After the coup, the army divided itself along ethnic lines, leading to a violent power struggle. Tensions culminated in the massacre of up to 30,000 Igbos living in the north. The Eastern region then declared its independence as Biafra, leading to a civil war between Biafran partisans and federal forces that lasted three years and cost some two million lives. Military rule lasted until 1979 (Ramsay 55). It is against this history of violence and disruption that Achebe sets his novel. Achebe opposed the European view of Africa as a land without its own culture, and he was particularly perturbed by the depictions of Africa foun
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Approximate Word count = 1611
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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