Chinua Achebe from the Book "Thingsfall Apart"

Kaitlyn Benage
Chinua Achebe

The book things fall apart successfully expresses how Chinua Achebe had succeeded in writing a different story. It pointed out the conflict of one’s self, the traditional beliefs, and the religious matters of the Africans. Throughout the book Chinua Achebe used simple words and unlike other books he also included some flash backs to make the book more interesting. Things fall apart was about a man named Okonkwo, who was always struggling with his inner fear although he was known for being a very strong, powerful, and fearless warrior.
For colonialists, Christianity was used as an effective wedge between the Ibo and their land. They knew that without infiltration from the inside, the people from Umofia and surrounding villages would continue creating conflict amongst the natives they were able to gain a foothold into the psyches of the tribe’s people. Converted Christians having been ostracized by the rest of their communities were forced to rely on British for support. The presents of natives loyal to the queen gave the British blanket jurisdiction over the entire village and the royal administration and judicial system could now enforce British law over the Ibo.
There was not only agriculture that Chinua Achebe mentioned in the story but the role of women at the time was also an important factor. When a man wanted to marry a woman, he had to pay the bride price to her relatives if they accepted him. Each day, the wives had to prepare their own dishes for their husbands and would have to obey them for whatever reason. Although their order might go against their wives, they could not question their husbands because it was against the cultural traditions. When a child was born it belonged to its father and his family instead of the mothers because the man was the head of the family and the wife was always supposed to obey his command. But when a man was in exile he would have to return to his mother’s kinsmen until the period of exile was over. Furthermore when a woman died she was taken home to burry with her own kinsmen and not with her own husband. Chinua Achebe described these customs because they revealed the distinctness of the ibo women at that time and these traditions made the story more appealing to the readers.