Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe

I recently encountered Chinua Achebe’s short story, Civil Peace, which describes post-conflict dynamics following the Nigerian Civil War and how various human beings respond to gain, loss, and sacrifice during painful times. I found the story very impactful, and decided to explore Achebe’s other literary works. Captivated by his restrained tone with powerful delivery, I ended up finishing his magnum opus Things Fall Apart. Here’s what I took away.

Achebe’s writing reflect deep insight regarding Nigerian precolonial and colonial social life, one that lies far beyond mere understanding or even firsthand experience. In his tale following the life of Okonkwo, our jingoistic warrior protagonist and an unflinching father, Achebe masterfully delivers the essence of what the social landscape and lifestyle in that very community would have felt like. His development of the plot goes beyond the fundamental personal experience – I would guess that many of the insights he leaves us were of lifelong consideration for Achebe himself.

Also, the novel surfaces cunning and uncomfortable questions on both Nigerian and colonialist practices. Sometimes his tone feels subtly critical, but Achebe deliberately keeps his judgement restrained and observing at most. As he calmly writes out the deliberate killing of twins, mutilation of stillborn children, marital violence and colonial expansion, the reader is left with a flurry of unresolved questions. How, as modern readers, should we interpret pre-colonial Nigeria? Are the colonialists justfied in their evangelization and eventual usurping of governance? How are Okonkwo’s oppressive nature in family dynamics tied to broader plot changes in the novel? The fascinating aspect of the novel is that Achebe sternly refuses to take a straightforward stance in his unique narrative voice.

And perhaps the novel’s essence lies in that very refusal to simply take sides. In describing a truly complex era of imperialism, Achebe’s unique narrative voice resurfaces the questions we bury beneath the convenience of the contemporary era. Things Fall Apart forces your mind out of the tempting mental comfort zone, and that is something I always look for in literature.