Things Fall Apart (1958) by Chinua Achebe — novel #256

An African Tale by an African author!

• by Chinua Achebe
• African literature, Nigerian novel
• Published: 1958
• Awards: Man Booker International Prize for lifetime achievement to Achebe
• My edition: Penguin Books (eBook)
• Setting: Colonial Nigeria, late 19th century

I’ll let Achebe introduce you to the main character Okonkwo.

Okonkwo was clearly cut out for great things. He was still young but he had won fame as the greatest wrestler in the nine villages. He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams, and had just married his third wife. To crown it all he had taken two titles and had shown incredible prowess in two inter-tribal wars. And so although Okonkwo was still young, he was already one of the greatest men of his time. Age was respected among his people, but achievement was revered. As the elders said, if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings. Okonkwo had clearly washed his hands and so he ate with kings and elders.

He is the exact opposite of his no-account father. Shame for his father is one of Okonkwo’s driving forces. Okonkwo clearly enjoys wealth and status, but he will not be satisfied until he is one of the top men of his clan. He knows what he wants and he knows how to get it.

 

And then a terrible accident, impossible to foresee or prevent, leaves a young clan boy dead and Okonkwo bearing the penalty: seven years banishment. This sentence is imposed with no hostility, just what clan law demanded. This felt like the end of Okonkwo’s aspirations, but to the indomitable Okonkwo it is merely a setback. He and his family leave their village, to live with Okonkwo’s maternal relations, some miles distant.

 

But during his absence, things begin to change, or perhaps—to fall apart. Okonkwo returns intent on reestablishing his standing, but there are new currents driving daily life in his village now: a new religion brought by white men, and new laws brought by colonial powers.

There were many men and women in Umuofia who did not feel as strongly as Okonkwo about the new dispensation. The white man had indeed brought a lunatic religion, but he had also built a trading store and for the first time palm-oil and kernel became things of great price, and much money flowed into Umuofia.

Okonkwo did not object to the new ways so much perhaps, as he did to the acquiescence of his clan.

He mourned for the clan, which he saw breaking up and falling apart, and he mourned for the warlike men of Umuofia, who had so unaccountably become soft like women.

But… 

Okonkwo was not a man of thought but of action.

This is a powerful story, told by one who ought to know. Prior to the publication of Things Fall Apart, most African Novels were written by Europeans or non-Africans. It was considered a milestone in that regard. I thought Achebe was conspicuously fair. He did not treat the missionaries as villains, nor the natives as enlightened sages. The colonial governors were treated more critically, but again, not unfairly. Achebe weaves themes of rigidity vs. cultural evolution in a tale replete with colorful folklore, customs and tradition.

 

Things Fall Apart is a little out of my normal comfort zone, which is good reason to read it. Fair warning: This depicts late 19th century Nigeria. Okonkwo and his clan are severely misogynistic. This is neither condemned nor condoned by Achebe, merely presented as historical reality.

 

I considered my own reading of African stories against the assertion that most African novels were written by non-Africans. This sample size is far too small to conclude anything, but the African novels I’ve read are consistent with the assertion. This does not imply they are unworthy works. 

• Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
• The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene
• The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles
• A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul
• The Covenant by James Michener (much later than Things Fall Apart)

 

My rating  3 ½ /5 stars

 

 

Title #25 of 50 for The Classics Club Challenge – Round IV

 

Things Fall Apart is part of a trilogy along with: No Longer at Ease and Arrow of God. Have you read the trilogy? Your thoughts? Other works by Achebe?

 

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