Things Fall Apart

The book “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe has many important sociological perspectives. Many of the characters in the book play important roles in order to create a society. Towards the end of the book, the “white men” begin to move into the village, bringing the religion of Christianity with them. Although the villagers have a current religion that believes in multiple gods, the white men begin to convince people to convert. This in result causes uproar in the village because some members convert, while others push the white men away and decide to be faithful to their current religion. One example of downward mobility in the group is Okonkwo’s banishment. Since Okonkwo accidently pulled the trigger of a gun, killing Ezeudu, he was exiled from his village. Okonkwo was seen as a noble man, and a courageous soldier in his village. He was mainly focusing on becoming the head soldier, when he unfortunately killed Ezeudu. After he was banished, he was forced to go to another village where he was gladly taken in by his uncle Unchendu. In this village, Okonkwo had to start over by rebuilding a farm of yams, from which his uncle donated to him. Okonkwo’s exile from his village is an efficient example of downward mobility because it shows how Okonkwo went from having everything to nothing. Okonkwo was a noble member of his tribe with multiple wives, huts, and a farm that brought him much need income. However, after his exile, he showed downward mobility because he had to start over in a new village. Luckily, Okonkwo had an uncle who was willing to help, but still he only had one hut, and a farm that he had to start from scratch. After finishing the book, one is able to realize why Chinua Achebe named his book “Things Fall Apart”. Once the white men come into the villages, bringing their faith of Christianity with them, this causes many different issues for the community. One major challenge it brought was creating a community between two extremes of religion.