Things Fall Apart
Background and Vocabulary
“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
William Butler Yeats, "The Second Coming"
So, what do
we expect?
Chinua Achebe- The Author
Chinua Achebe
» Born in 1930 in Southern Nigeria
» Brought up by a pioneer Christian
family in the large village of Ogidi
» Early center of Anglican missionary
work
» Attended a primary school run by
Church Missionary Society
Chinua Achebe
 1944 Attended Government College in
Umuahia
 1953 Received his B.A. from the
University College of Ibadan
 1954 Joined the Nigerian Broadcasting
Company in Lagos
 1958 He wrote Things Fall Apart
Achebe
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHF_w0gkyiI
Map of Africa
Nigeria
Located in Western
Africa
Twice the size of
California
Natural Resources:
natural gas, petroleum,
tin, iron ore, coal,
limestone, niobium,
lead, zinc, arable land
Nigeria
Most populous country
in Africa
Composed of more
than 250 ethnic groups
Official Language:
English
Others are: Hausa,
Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo),
Fulani
Linguistic Groups
Historical Background
 Christian missionaries arrived in Nigeria in the mid-1800s,
and by the end of the century had begun a strong
conversion campaign. They wanted the African people to
embrace Christianity.
Historical Background
 Things Fall Apart is set during a period of British colonial
rule of Nigeria in the late 1800s.
 Nigeria became a British colony in 1886.
Culture and Religion
 Traditional Ibo religion
was based on an earth
goddess and a creator god.
 Other deities and spirits
were also honored.
Themes of the Novel
 Human Response to Change
 Gender Relationships
 Parent/Child Relationships
 Irrational Fears
Structure of the Novel
Part One
Exposition
-Character
-Setting
-Culture
Part Two
The Exile
Part Three
The Return