Chinua Achebe Isu Handout

Chinua Achebe
Author Biography
Chinua Achebe (pronounced Chee-no-ah Ah-chay-bay), born on November 16, 1930 is a Nigerian poet, professor, critic, and novelist. He was most notable for his first written novel in the 1950s named Things Fall Apart. Achebe was born in an Igbo town of Ogidi in Nigeria and was the fifth child of his parents. During the early life of Achebe, Nigeria was a part of the British colony and so he decided to learn English at eight years of age. Learning English at a relatively later age allowed Achebe to have a greater sense of cultural pride which became helpful to him as he applied this cultural sense into many of his novels using aspects such as tribalism. Things Fall Apart “Achebe succeeds brilliantly. He painfully and tragically depicts the tragedy that can result when the only way of life a man has ever known begins to crumble.” – Skylar Burris from goodreads.com

"He had no patience with unsuccessful men. He had no patience with his father." – Quote in Chapter 1 Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe creates a compelling protagonist (Okonkwo) who avoids living in the shadows of his unsuccessful, poor, and lazy father. Okonkwo is depicted as a well respected man in the village of Umuofia because of his athletic achievements. However, things turn tragic, and the protagonist falls from grace. Achebe will truly captivate readers by the protagonist’s journey throughout the novel Things Fall Apart. “Achebe's novel shows that it's too difficult to view Africa from one perspective, and the story will remain a powerful force in African literature.” – Kevin Eagan from blogcritics.org