Things Fall Apart Analysis Essays

Things Fall Apart Analysis Essays Things Fall Apart Analysis Paper Things Fall Apart Analysis Paper Essay Topic: Things Fall apart Claire Stevenson HUM 211 Prof. C. Agatucci Things Fall Apart Novel Analysis 8 February 2010 Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Norton Critical Edition. Ed. Francis Abiola Irele. New York: Norton, 2000. A. ) How did things fall apart for Onkonwo and for the Igbo people? (*) Onkonkwo is a respected leader in the Igbo culture. At first he becomes very popular with his wrestling when he defeats Amalinze the Cat. This brings great honor to his village. Unlike his father, his goal is to gain titles for himself, and become a good man. He resents his father and wants to prove himself different. He controlls his wives and children greatly. Because he is looked up upon in their community, he is asked to take care of a young boy named â€Å"Ikemefuna. † (From Mbaino to avoid war). He becomes close to him. (especially Onkonwo’s son Nwoye). As the book goes on, Onkonkwo gets to the point where a lot of things disturb him. He goes against the Week of Peace when he beats one of his wives. Then he shoots a gun at his second wife named Ekwefi. When its time for Ikemefuna to be killed, Onkonkwo was not supposed to participate in the murder- and he did. When Nwoye realizes this, he is very sad and not happy with his father. Not feeling good for what he did, he goes to his best friend Obierika. Obierika basically tells Onkonkwo the earth goddess will seek renenge on him. During the funeral of Ezeudo, Onkonkwo’s gun goes off and kills Ezeudo’s son. This was a crime so Onkonkwo and his family had to move away. His old home is destroyed and burned down by come men in his village. While living in his new village, some missionaries come to talk about Christianity. Onkonkwo didn’t believe in it- and Nwoye did. The family ends up moving back to Umuofia and many things have changed and Onkonkwo doesn’t necessarily approve. Destruction arises due to the Igbo people not liking the extreme Christian convertion, and the problems the missionaries have brought upon the village. The leaders of the village, including Onkonkwo are thrown in jail and soon bailed out by the people of Umuofia. A meeting was held the next day and court messengers come to breat it up. Onkonkwo decapitates the leader of the group. No one tries to catch the messengers as they try to get away. Onkonkwo then is depressed again, and knows they will have to surrender for his actions. He commits suicide by hanging himself. B. ) Analyze at least one other aspect of the novel- character, setting, plot event, use of oral tradition, narrator, etc that you believe is significant to better understanding the novel. Be sure to develop and illustrate your points with specific examples from the novel and be sure to explain why you think this aspect of the novel is significant to notice and examine in helping us better understand and interpret the meaning of the novel. *) The character I am choosing to analyze is Onkonkwo- the protagonist in Things Fall Apart. He is a very powerful character in his novel, being respected by society, controlling his family, a leader of Umuofia, a great yam farmer.. etc. His major problem is he doesn’t want to fail in something and he doesn’t want to show he can’t do something. He does not display affection toward anyone- including his family and friends, even if he is thinking and feeling it. He is not very smart when it comes to certain things- and goes against his people’s traditions and his gods. Ex: He was not supposed to participate in the murder of Ikefemuna and he did because he didn’t want to be a weak man. He also lets his gun go off during the eldest man in the villages funeral and kills the dead mans son. He had to move away due to this action. Furthermore, he beats his wife during the Peace Week, which betrayed his people and gods. He was so strong minded that he was making the wrong decisions at times. Onkonkwo helped me better understand the meaning and significance of the novel because he made me realize how that African society worked. He linked together the people, the gods, and the beliefs of everyone in the book. It was also brought to my knowledge how important gods, and traditions were to African people. I also realized the consequences of certain actions, and how they didn’t beast around the bush at all. Everything was straightforward in their culture. Onkonkwo was a very legitimate example to me in terms of how this African society went about certain actions, traditions and beliefs. He was a character that had many good and bad aspects throughout the novel. I now better understand the ways of African culture and traditions.