Major Themes of the Novel Things Fall Apart - 1062 Words

Introduction For many writers, the theme of a novel is the driving force of the book during its creation. Even if the author doesn t consciously identify an intended theme, the creative process is directed by at least one controlling idea — a concept or principle or belief or purpose significant to the author. The theme — often several themes — guides the author by controlling where the story goes, what the characters do, what mood is portrayed, what style evolves, and what emotional effects the story will create in the reader. Igbo Society Complexity From Achebe s own statements, we know that one of his themes is the complexity of Igbo society before the arrival of the Europeans. To support this theme, he includes detailed†¦show more content†¦Whatever the reason — perhaps a combination of these reasons — the British culture and its code of behavior, ambitious for its goals of native enlightenment as well as of British self-enrichment, begin to encroach upon the existing Igbo culture and its corresponding code of behavior. A factor that hastens the decline of the traditional Igbo society is their custom of marginalizing some of their people — allowing the existence of an outcast group and keeping women subservient in their household and community involvement, treating them as property, and accepting physical abuse of them somewhat lightly. When representatives of a foreign culture (beginning with Christian missionaries) enter Igbo territory and accept these marginalized people — including the twins — at their full human value, the Igbo s traditional shared leadership finds itself unable to control its whole population. The lack of a clear, sustaining center of authority in Igbo society may be the quality that decided Achebe to draw his title from the Yeats poem, The Second Coming. The key phrase of the poems reads, Things fall apart; the center cannot hold. Underlying the aforementioned cultural themes is a theme of fate, or destiny. This theme is also played at the individual and societal levels. In the story, readers are frequently reminded about this theme in references to chi, the individual s personal god asShow MoreRelatedCompare Things Fall Apart And The Second Coming805 Words   |  4 Pages The novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and the poem â€Å"The Second Coming† by W. B. Yeats are both highly praised pieces of literature. After reading the two works, one can come to the conclusion that there is a strong correlation amongst them, hence Achebe naming his novel after a line in the poem. Both pieces highlight a strong, stable society that is disturbed by change which comes with much chaos and confusion. In Things Fall Apart, one can interrupt that when you think things are perfectRead MoreThings Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and The Second Coming by Yeats1233 Words   |  5 Pages Things fall apart, this phrase being used in both the novel title Things Fall Apart and the poem written by Yeats, â€Å"The Second Coming† keeps us wondering how both are related. Achebe uses Yeats’ poem as an epigraph to foreshadow how the events in the novel later on might occur. Reading the epigraph, we come to understand that Yeats is referring to an image of disaster and to a society that is losing control. 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Eng3Uo. January 20Th,1433 Words   |  6 Pagesweakness and failure, that leads to his downfall. In a way he is considered a tragic hero. A tragic hero holds a position of power and prestige, chooses his course of action, possesses a tragic flaw, and gains awareness of circumstances that lead to his fall. Okonkwo s tragic flaw is his fear of weakness, failure and his refusal to accept change. He is demonstrated in the beginning as a cold hearted fear less man. But as the story moves on he slowly starts to break down, making him feel weak. This allRead MorePostcolonial Literature (Persepolis Things Fall Apart)1504 Words   |  7 Pagesthe value to be i n using a particular critical approach. ‘Things Fall Apart’ by Chinua Achebe and ‘Persepolis’ by Marjane Satrapi follow a postcolonial critical approach. Both books take place in a country considered politically inferior through western perspective and both texts, even though reinforce colonialists’ oppressive ideology, don’t stand completely against the colonialists and fault their own culture. They present the themes of dislocation on how western influences changes, religious