Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Reflection

"Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe

 (Reflection)

In this novel, the anti-colonialism is revealed by the author. The character and attitude of Okonkwo in the novel has a spirit of nationalism. He wanted to preserve there tradition and culture at the time when the whites wanted to invade their land. The character of Okonkwo is very traditional, a conservative one, characterized by violence, virility and fanaticism. In my view, the character in Things Fall Apart who best represents Achebe's voice of wisdom is Obierika who is great-hearted, generous of spirit, have a capacity for fellow-feeling, the mind/soul/heart of an individual, a group, a people as infinite in its potentialities.

The novel is a remarkably complex portrait of both traditional Ibo society and the changes brought about by white men intervention near the end of the 19th century as recorded in the history of Africa. It romanticizes neither one culture nor the other, but holds up a mirror that allows the reader to see himself or herself in relation to both. Profoundly and richly African, Things Fall Apart contains numerous biblical metaphors and has often been compared to great Greek tragedies. Like other classic works of literature, it both evokes and provokes, inviting the reader to return again and again to experience new delicacies of meaning.

As I read this novel, I feel that the author have an hidden messages to express in every events in the story. I thought that the author believes in nationalism, the need to protect one's cultural heritage. He is against colonialism and its attendant exploitation. He despises the invitation to throw away one's own identity in exchange for an alien one. But he is also aware that customs may change over time, that the best way to deal with changing times is not a obsessive devotion to culture alone.