Things Fall Apart

Here are a few questions and suggestions for your essay on Things Fall Apart.  The due date for the essay is Friday, April 20.  Your review should be approximately three pages in length, typed, and double-spaced.

 

Things Fall Apart is a standard and, some would consider, classic novel dealing with life, power, and the consequences of imperialism in a small Ibo village located in West Africa.   While we are not given a definite time period for the book, we may assume that it takes place roughly one century ago.  As a work of “traditional fiction”, Achebe’s portrayal is both critical of and sympathetic to the society he once knew.  When reading Things Fall Apart one should look for the larger implications of the novel, not every last detail.  In short, a question you should always have in your mind when you read this novel (and any realistic novel) is the following: “What is author trying to relate to me about this town, time, and events?”  While many authors write to amuse or employ themselves, others write with a specific purpose.  What is the major theme, or themes, of the work?

 

You may review Chapter 17 (particularly pages 608-609 and 619-629) in Worlds Together for background information on European Imperialism and Africa.

 

For many of the words that appear in italics, a glossary is supplied to give meaning to the Ibo words and phrases presented in the novel.  This glossary appears at the end of the book.

 

Some possible ideas for your essays:

 

1. In broad terms describe the society found in the village of Umofia. How is it similar and different to the society we live within today?  What is his societal position within         the village?  How does this position change over time?

 

2. How might Things Fall Apart be seen as a universal story? What themes of history

does the novel reflect?

 

3. What aspects of European civilization attract members of Umofia? What

aspects of European civilization repel the members of Umofia?

 

4. What does the novel state about the dangers and possibilities of cultural contact?

Does this message have any contemporary relevance?

 

5. The title, Things Fall Apart, comes from this verse of a poem by W.B. Yeats:

 

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things Fall Apart; the center cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.

 

What is the significance of this title?