Things Fall Apart (Masterplots II: British and Commonwealth Fiction Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Chinua Achebe
- First Published: 1958
- Type of Work: Social chronicle
- Time of Work: Late nineteenth century
- Setting: The Igbo villages of Umuofia and Mbanta in southeastern Nigeria
- Principal Characters: Okonkwo, Nwoye, Ikemefuna, Ezeudu, Obierika, Uchendu, Enoch, Chielo, Mr. Brown, The Reverend James Smith
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism, Postcolonial literature
- Subjects: Culture, Africa or Africans, Tradition, Politics, Colonies or colonization, Race, Suicide, Nineteenth century, Exile or expatriates, Missions or missionaries, Religion, Villages, Law or legislation, Christianity, Death or dying, Rulers, Egypt or Egyptians, Government, Modernization
- Locales: Nile River, Umuofia, Africa
The Novel
Things Fall Apart tells the tragic story of Okonkwo, a middle-aged leader of the Igbo community of Umuofia. The three parts of the novel relate Okonkwo’s struggle to attain status in his community, his humbling exile, and his return to a much-changed Umuofia after seven years.
Part 1 briefly describes Okonkwo’s childhood and his determined effort to overcome the example of his lazy and imprudent father, Unoka, and to make himself a successful and admired member of the clan. The flexibility of Igbo society permits Okonkwo to elevate himself through...
[The entire page is 2004 words long]
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