Things Fall Apart 3
In Things Fall Apart, the author Chinua Achebe shows the struggles of a village strong man, Okonkwo to achieve eternal greatness and keep the traditions of his village, Umuofia, alive. Okonkwo is portrayed as a person who strongly believes in the importance of showing one's strength and masculinity, and brands 'feminine' and 'weak' anything that does not come up to his standard. As the book progresses, he develops a severe animosity for the Christian missionaries who instate the 'white man's' law in Nigeria, and cause deep rifts between the African people. Upon reading the novel, the reader gets a strong sense of how Achebe develops his story and characters, along the lines, of Irish Poet, ...
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hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
These lines form the epigraph of the novel, and are a conduit for expressing Achebe's main theme i.e. the destruction of one being by another. They also help in focusing the reader throughout the narrative to the underlying idea of the poem. However, before proceeding it is necessary to elaborate on the basic implication of the poem. The image that comes to mind upon reading the first sentence is that of an outward spiral formed by the falconer moving around the forest in search of his prey, the falcon. One can almost see the bird soaring high in the sky, and totally unaware of the hunter stalking it, waiting for the right moment to strike. Finally, when the killer does find his mark, the falcon is shaken from its blissful state. It finds itself involuntarily falling from the sky, and its world crashes around it. For the falcon, everything that it holds dear including itself has been destroyed, and therefore 'anarchy' prevails. Thus, ...
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among the people, making them go their separate ways, and as a result of which changed the culture (and people) beyond recognition.
But I fear for you young people because you do not understand how strong is the bond of kinship. You do not know what it is to speak with one voice. And what is the result? An abominable religion has settled among you. A man can now leave his father and his brothers. He can curse the gods of his fathers and his ancestors, like a hunter's dog that suddenly goes mad and turns on his master. I fear for you; I fear for the clan. (167)
The issue of the 'white man' impressing his own system, upon the Ibo, while clearly reflecting Achebe's main theme, also ...
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Things Fall Apart 3. (2005, September 6). Retrieved November 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Things-Fall-Apart-3/32850
"Things Fall Apart 3." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 6 Sep. 2005. Web. 23 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Things-Fall-Apart-3/32850>
"Things Fall Apart 3." Essayworld.com. September 6, 2005. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Things-Fall-Apart-3/32850.
"Things Fall Apart 3." Essayworld.com. September 6, 2005. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Things-Fall-Apart-3/32850.
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