Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe - 901 Words

Things Fall Apart Africa is the most diverse continent on this planet, linguistically speaking. There are thousands of languages spoken within many different cultures of people in Africa. Although most of Africa received freedom in mid-late 20th century, it has a very rich history and a strong background on which it is built. After colonization of Africa by the Europeans, the Europeans and their writings looked at Africa as having no diversity or culture in its colonized stage. Things Fall Apart was written as an argument to those writings and the Europeans proving that Africa is diverse. Chinua Achebe, the author of Things Fall Apart, was a Nigerian. As back of the book states, he lived in Nigeria for most of his life. He has the first†¦show more content†¦Europeans wanted them to separate from these traditional views of worshipping to multiple gods and other indigenous values. Religion was huge to the people of Igbo society. Gods were always connected to the nature like the goddess of earth. Things connected to the nature were sacred to them like kola nut, alligator pepper or goatskin. They also believed highly in magic. To the Europeans, that seemed ludicrous. Family is also another factor connected to indigenous religious beliefs. Families stayed together in Igbo culture. They farmed together and carried out traditional duties of the society together like respecting the leader and what he wants. Okonkwo was the leader of the Umuofia clan. He was well known for his fierceness and strong will to be a leader. To him, being a leader was everything because of the household he grew up in. His father was weak and Okonkwo never looked up to him. He rejected the Europeans trying to convert the societies. He feared that he might lose his reputation of being strong willed. People of Igbo lived a peaceful life, as assumed by the reader, before the Europeans and started to drift away the people of their traditions and religious beliefs. Another theme that Achebe conveys throughout the novel is the theme of fear. Fear was everywhere in the novel. It ranged from small things like the magic to the big things Europeans