Things Fall Apart

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Things Fall Apart

Things Fall Apart is a novel written by Chinua Achebe and is primarily set in the Igbo village of Umuofa in Eastern Nigeria. The novel is an attack on a perspective held almost universally in the West, and to some extend in Africa, that the pre- colonial era was a time of unsophisticated savagery. By focusing on the life of Okonkwo, in a story of the collapse of traditional life, Achebe is able to give readers a personal and meaningful insight into the richness of life in the Igbo society before the arrival of the British.

The narrative of Things Fall Apart is separated into three parts and concentrates to a very large degree on the fortunes of its main character, Okonkwo. Through mainly this character, every chapter within this novel enables the reader to learn a different/ new aspect of the Igbo society. In Chapter thirteen, which concludes part one of the novel, the reader learns about funeral rites as one of their clansmen die and also about local laws and punishment as Okonkwo accidentally kills one of their clansmen.

This chapter begins with the ekwe talking to the clansmen and awakens the village with the news that one of their most senior clansmen, Ezeudu, has died. It was the same old man who had warned Okonkwo earlier about harming Ikemefuna 'bear no hand in death.' Since Ezeudu was a great man, he was buried in all honours with the participation of the entire village. The funeral is very messy with people going berserk, slashing at trees, killing animals and threatening the villages. Guns were fired as part of the ceremony and speeches were made to celebrate the life of Ezeudu. 'The ancient drums of death beat, guns and cannon were fired, and men dashed about in frenzy, cutting down every tree or animal they saw, jumping over walls and dancing on the roof. It was a warrior's funeral' (p. 8). This demonstrates that the communal spirit is clearly involved.

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Later in this chapter we witness the very beginning of Okonkwo's downfall. In the last salute of gun and cannons in the funeral, 'Okonkwo's gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy's heart' (p. 108). Nothing like this has ever happened in Umoufa before and although this incident was an accident but the reader cannot help associating it with Okonkwo's warrior qualities. It seemed to be like some sort of curse. Earlier Okonkwo had committed the sin of killing Ikemefuna who called Okonkwo 'father', despite Ezeudu's warning and now Okonkwo inadvertently kills the dead man's son. If there was a curse involved, it may be because Okonkwo is warlike and aggressive.

From this incident, the reader learns that in Umoufa murder within the clan leads to exile. There was also a distinction between the punishment for deliberate murder and accidental murder which the village classified as two kinds, male and female. Okonkwo had committed the female kind because the murder had been inadvertent therefore is banished for seven years, after which time he could return. Okonkwo and his family leave, fleeing to Mbanta, the land from which Okonkwo's mother came.

Although the female characters in the novel are merely background characters whose presence is referred to but not detailed in any important way, the importance of women in Africa is seen as Okonkwo flees to his mother's land. Achebe presents Mother Africa as nurturing, long suffering and forgiving. The day to day experiences of women have been discounted or ignored… that is until real trouble starts. This is seen as Okonkwo returns to his motherland; women become the bedrock of strength and stability. The view of women was one of the many issues that Achebe was writing against, as back then, African women had a very specific image in the colonial imagination. To the western society, tribal women were just seen as the very lower class of society and symbols of negative sexuality. The women just represented metaphoric images of the continent which quietly waited to be conquered, raped and dominated. Therefore Achebe demonstrated to the world how wrong the western world's views were.

Therefore under the covers of darkness, Okonkwo and his family leave the village. At dawn, tribal warriors arrive and destroy Okonkwo's compound and kills all his animals. This was not an act of hate but simply cleansing the land that Okonkwo had polluted with the blood of a clansman. This demonstrates to readers another ritual that had to be undertaken as a result of the crime committed. The Igbo society was highly sophisticated with ancient, complex rituals and a complicated and highly extensive judicial system.

The most significant aspect of Okonkwo's exile is the soul searching it causes Okonkwo's close friend, Obierika. He is left to ponder the complexities of custom 'Why should a man suffer so grievously for an offence he had committed so advertently' (p. 1) he asks himself as he is no longer satisfied with traditional answers. The traditional answers no longer seem adequate. He further remembers about his twin children whom he had to abandon in the evil forest. This being another ritual of the tribe. Obierika was a thinker, he had a reforming mind. It is in his character that the readers see that the traditional African world was not necessarily an unchanging one; rather it was dynamic and progressive with the ability to generate change.

Chapter thirteen, with Okonkwo's exile, concludes part one of the novel. Although it is only one chapter within this complex novel but it shows readers many different aspects of the life in Umoufa like funeral rites, and also law and punishment. It is also in this chapter that the beginning of Okonkwo's downfall is seen (although things begin to fall apart for him after he kills Ikemefuna.). Although, as seen in the accidental killing of Ezeudu's son, Okonkwo was unable to stop things falling apart, but Achebe has successfully given readers a more in depth knowledge of the value of those 'things'.

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