Background
Information
•
Born 1930 in Nigeria
•
Writes about the
breakdown of traditional
African Culture in the face
of European Colonization
in the 1800s.
•
Sought to educate his
fellow Nigerians about
their culture and
traditions.
•
Achebe, his wife and four
children now live in New
York. He and his wife
both teach at Bard College.
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His first novel, Things Fall Apart, depicts the
confrontation between the Igbo people of Southeast
Nigeria and the British who came to colonize them.
“Achebe tells the story from an African point of view,
showing that the Igbo were not "savages” needing to
be civilized, as the European conquerors believed, but
intelligent human beings with a stable, ordered society
and rich tradition.”
Achebe’s Style

Achebe blends a formal European style of writing (the novel)
with African story-telling (folktales)
• The Igbo people live in
the eastern region –
where Things Fall
Apart is set – near
town of Onitsha.
• The Yoruba live in the
west and the HausaFulani, an Islamic
people, live in the
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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.
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.
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Traditional Ibo religion was based on an earth
goddess and a creator god. Other deities and
spirits were also honored.
Animals were used as sacrifices in religious
ceremonies.
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The Ibo were subsistence farmers, which means
they grew crops to survive.
Men grew the important yam crop. Women
grew other crops.
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Live in southeastern part of country in tropical
rain forests (deal with rainy season and dry
winds)
Subsistence farmers – raise their own crops:
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Yam, cassava, taro, corn, etc.
Palm trees for oil and fiber
Crafts and manual labor also
provide income
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It is a patriarchal society. Decision making
involves males only
Men grow yams and women grow other crops
Live in villages based on male lineage – male
heads of household all related on father’s side
(approximately 5,000 people per clan)
Women go to live with husbands; prosperous
men have 2 or 3 wives

Each wife lives in her own hut in the family
compound
Traditional
Obi – hut or
family compound
under construction
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An Ibo village was
part of a clan network
made up of about five
thousand people that
were
led by a council of
men that made
decisions
democratically
shared a common
market and meeting
place
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No single leader, elders lead
Social mobility: Titles earned (not inherited).
High value placed on individual acheivement.
Hospitality very important
Some Igbos owned slaves captured in war or as
payment for debt.
Proximity to West African ports means many
Igbo were taken in slave trade
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Chukwu – supreme god, creator of world
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The will of gods was revealed through oracles.
Each clan, village, and household had protective
ancestral spirits
•
Chi – personal guardian spirit – affects one’s
destiny, can be influenced through individual
actions and rituals.
•
Egwugwu – masked, ancestral spirits of the
clan who appear during certain rituals.
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Okonkwo is a member of the Ibo people in the
African country of Nigeria in the late 1800s.
Okonkwo is a wealthy farmer and is well
respected in his clan.
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Okonkwo has a big family that follows the
traditions of the Ibo people.
He has three wives;
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a son, Nwoye;
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and two daughters, Obiageli and Ezinma.
He also cares for a young boy, Ikemefuma,
who has been brought to the village as a
hostage.
Okonkwo believes in the Ibo traditions.
He values strength and hard work and looks down
on gentleness and compassion.
Okonkwo will do anything to be different from his
father, who was considered weak and died in
disgrace.
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Okonkwo believes that strength and toughness are more
important than compassion and gentleness.
• In what circumstances might this attitude help a person
succeed?
• When could it cause problems?
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http://www.slideshare.net/anobles/things-fallapart-powerpoint
highlandsr.spps.org/uploads/an_introduction_to_tfa_revi
sed.ppt