Chinua Achebe is a Nigerian-born postcolonial novelist, poet and professor. He was raised by Christian parents in the Igbo town of Ogidi. He later moved to Lagos to originally study medicine, but changed his focus to English, History and theology, thus losing his scholarship at the University of Ibadan but still graduating.
Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart and published the novel in 1958, where it became the most widely read book in modern African literature. He is currently a professor of African Studies at Brown University
Achebe is also an avid critic of Joseph Conrad, noting elements of racism in Heart of Darkness and other works.
Things Fall Apart is a staple novel in English programs throughout the United States, not only in colleges but in many high school curricula as well. The novel is set in the town of Umuofia and depicts the rise and fall of Okonkwo, a prominent member of the Igbo village primarly due to his wrestling win over Amilinze the Cat, who was the greatest wrestler in the region before his defeat. Okonkwo despises his father because he was severely in debt and obtained little to no titles in the village. This becomes an extremely vital part of the story because many critics believe it is Okonkwo's fear of becoming like his father that eventually leads to his downfall.
Besides the fear of failure, an extremely prominent theme is the process of colonialism through religion. When Mr. Brown (and later Mr. Smith) come to spread the word of God and the Christian belief to the Igbo villages, Okonkwo fiercefully resents, becoming what seems to be the only person left by the end of the novel who is still openly resisting the Christian presence. The novel ends tragically with Okonkwo's suicide. Hung from a tree, the Igbo refuse to touch him, as it is against their beliefs and customs to properly bury someone who has committed suicide.
I found the ending extremely interesting because, although Okonkwo feels that his people have abandoned their own culture and their own beliefs, they all still refuse to touch him. This shows that the cultural roots still remain, despite the seemingly apathetic attitudes toward the missionaries and colonists.
Although the climax of the novel occurs during Okonkwo's killing of a colonist, his series of tragedies occur much earlier. These tragedies are all extremely interesting because Okonkwo creates all of them, and thus retains total control of his actions and their consequences. From the death of Ikemefuna to the shot that exiled him from the village, and even later to the slaying of a colonist and his eventual suicide, Okonkwo puts every tragedy on himself. Many critics argue that the Christian missionaries eventually led Okonkwo to his ultimate downfall, but I firmly believe that Okonkwo was entering a series of self-induced tragedies long before the first church was built in his native village.
Some criticism exists in the fact that Achebe wrote and published the novel only in English. There is some belief that the novel should have also been originally written in the Igbo language, although I do understand the reasoning behind the decision to write and publish in English. After reading the novel, it is obvious that the intended audience is occidental. Achebe does a great job depicting the Igbo culture through the eyes of a prominent member, in a manner that allows an outsider to witness the pattern to colonialism in Western Africa.
