Unit: Things Fall Apart
by Chinua Achebe
Historical Background
Western Africa
West African History
 1800’s: European scramble for Africa
 Reasons:
– Wanted to “civilize” the savages
– Natural resources ($)
– Expose the Africans to Christianity.
 Lasted until late 1800’s when countries started to
gain independence
Early Exploration
 Nations claiming ownership: Portugal,
Spain, Dutch, France, Netherlands, England
and others soon followed…
 Main commodities: slaves, gold, ivory,
rubber plants, diamonds and spices
Africa Divided
European Views of Africa
 During this time, most Europeans thought
that Africa was a dangerous country, full of
cannibals. Explorers brought back stories of
strange traditions, people and customs.
 Africa was known as the
“dark continent”
The Dark Continent
 Considered Dark for several reasons:
– The skin color of the people
– Dark in jungle areas (due to overgrowth, trees,
etc.
– Dark because customs seemed barbaric.
– Dark because lack of Christianity (Showing
them the “light” of God”
Heart of Darkness
 Short novel, written by Polish born writer,
Joseph Conrad
 Fiction, but based on
his travels through
Africa on the Congo
river
Summary
 Published in 1902, the story follows Charles
Marlow, a ferry boat captain who was hired
by a Belgian trading company to travel into
the Congo in an attempt to transport ivory
downriver.
Summary Cont.
 On his journey, he is also responsible for
finding a large supply of ivory that the
previous captain is holding captive.
 As he continues to travel down the Congo
river, Conrad instills fear in the reader by
describing the Africans and their customs.
Summary Cont.
 As Marlow travels down the Congo river, he
gives details of how the native people live.
 He creates an atmosphere of fear and
mystery while describing various stories
along the way.
Summary Cont.
 Marlow eventually discovers that Kurtz has
found power in leading the Africans, rather
than taking their ivory. They look to him as a
God, and he finds himself battling his
European views and the realities of traveling
through Africa.
Dark Continent
 Conrad spends a lot of time discussing how
dark the Africans were, how dark their
customs were, the barbarism of the African
ways and hints to the fact that some of this
might be because they are not Christians.
Quote:
 It was unearthly, and the men were—No,
they were not inhuman. Well, you know, that
was the worst of it—the suspicion of their
not being inhuman. It would come slowly to
one. They howled and leaped, and spun,
and made horrid faces; but what thrilled you
was just the thought of their humanity—like
yours—the thought of your remote kinship
with this wild and passionate uproar. Ugly.
Publication
 Heart of Darkness was very popular when
first published.
 Many European countries sent missionaries
to Africa.
 The novel confirmed their ideas of what
Africa and Africans were like.
Chinua Achebe
 Born in Nigeria in 1930
 Worked as a radio producer
 Awarded over 25 honorary doctorates from
Universities throughout the world.
Chinua Achabe
 Achabe, felt that Heart of Darkness is a
racist novel and that it’s author, Joseph
Conrad was a racist.
 He wrote Things Fall Apart (1959) in an
attempt to show that what Europeans
thought was strange, actually had meaning
and importance.
Today
 Things Fall Apart is read worldwide in high
schools and colleges.
 It’s story of a man who “falls apart” as his
culture is destroyed by the views and ways
of white settlers.
Setting
 Nigeria
 End of 1800s, right before the arrival of
white men
 Centers around the Ibo tribe.
 Told in 3 parts:
Style
 Simple sentences: simplicity of life
 Imagery: metaphors and similes
 Proverbs: used to comment on human
behavior, importance of oral communication.
 Folk Tales: show values of society
Religious Beliefs
 Different than Christianity:
– Supreme God: Chukwu
 Represented by many minor gods
– Personal Gods: Chi
 In control of personal destiny
– Ancestors
 Represented by masked men at social gatherings.
Highly respected and worshipped, provides
interaction between the worlds of living and dead