Story and History in Things Fall Apart.

Things Fall Apart, is a famous novel written by Chinua Achebe in 1958. This novel reflects different aspects of the African culture and traditions because the story is focused in how an African man called Okonkwo faces his everyday struggles in his clan and community. The literary era of this novel is the post-colonialism, where the most remarkable aspect is the dominance of the British over the indigenous people. Things Fall Apart is infused with this fact of the history, because this novel somehow addresses the problems and consequences of a territory, in this case, of Umuofia, after the arrival of the "white" race. 

Achebe exemplified through a tragic story, some of the cultural aspects and traditions of the African society before the British conquered the indigenous land. The story in Things Fall Apart relates the life of Okonkwo and his surroundings and how after the arrival of the first white men, his life completely changed. In Umuofia, the first man who tried to help the Africans was Mr Brown and his intentions towards them were beneficial for the clans because the education improved and the Christianity was spreading all over the village, in many cases, this religion helped the african people because it gave them hope in their future.

In addition, the second man who replaced Mr Brown was Mr Smith, the difference was that Mr Smith didn't like the African people and he was always rude to them. The attitude of this man towards the Africans is more related to the colonization of Africa. For example, when the British arrived to Africa, they were not interested in a social improvement in the african territories. Therefore, they were only interested in conquering those territories and the Africans were treated as a minority. 

In conclusion, story and history in Things Fall Apart have similarities and differences between both because one of the main purposes of Achebe was to create a story with many aspects from the African culture and traditions, but even though it may include things from what happened in reality, at the end it is just a novel that states Achebe's point of view about the influence of the white race towards the Africans. Nevertheless, the story is also influenced by the African history (colonization) that helped build the Africa that we know nowadays.

  

Things Fall Apart.- First Impressions.

Things Fall Apart- Chinua Achebe

My first impression of Okonkwo (personality, attributes and faults). 

  

Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian novelist who was highly admired by many other authors and readers because of his most famous novel, Things Fall Apart, where he includes different cultural aspects from the African society and literature. In this novel, Achebe achieves to create a different perspective about the African environment and also includes aspects such as the interaction between the africans as human beings, their beliefs and traditions. 

So far, the book has been about the everyday experiences of a man called Okonkwo whose life is a mere example of the African culture and beliefs.

Okonkwo has shown to be a strict man due to his good reputation in the community and because he is one of the most admired men in the village. He learned to be strong and brave because he hated the way he father was. His father was a very lazy man and everybody in the village disliked him because he wasn't productive in comparison with other men. Therefore, Okonkwo started to think that any men who didn't fight or participated in battles, wasn't men at all and he was also afraid to become like his father. This can be one explanation of his personality and behavior towards other people. 

Okonkwo's most important attribute is that because of his strong personality, he is capable to control his three wives, and he decides how he wants to raise his children. On the other hand, one of the biggest faults of Okonkwo is that sometimes he gets to be so rude that he hurts people without noticing it. He even hurts himself because he keeps all his feelings and emotions inside and do not express them, in other words, he keeps the guilt provoked by his actions inside himself and he can be seen by as a careless man. 

In conclusion, it is important to highlight that the African culture and beliefs are certainly exemplified in the novel, for example, the fact that despite Okonkwo showed to be brave, rude and mean, in the inside, he really cared about the others but the reason why he didn't express his feelings was because he wanted to prove to everyone that he was strong enough to be the "leader" and a good example of a "real man".