Things Fall Apart Literary Analysis

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Things Fall Apart Essay The novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe contains the literary technique of characterization. All books in literature contain characters, a literary element, but the author’s choice to incorporate characterization helps to build the characters. Achebe uses the technique of characterization to aid the readers in understanding the main characters in his novel. Characterization is important because it shows a character’s true feeling and personality. The characters Okonkwo, Ekwefi, and the clan as a whole are developed in Things Fall Apart by the literary technique of characterization. The main character, Okonkwo, is portrayed throughout the novel as a round character. A round character is one who encounters conflict and is changed by it. To create this type of round character, Achebe first reveals Okonkwo as a strong, unemotional, wealth driven man. Okonkwo is characterized as being selfish because he only strives to be the opposite of his father, who was weak. Okonkwo will do anything so he will not be seen as weak, fearful, or powerless. Achebe shows Okonkwo’s fear of being weak in the quote, “Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.” (Achebe 61). Okonkwo is characterized in this quote as being the type of person who will do anything so that others will not think of him as weak. Even though it meant killing someone who was like a son to him, Okonkwo cared more about himself then someone…show more content…
Characterization is the author’s means of conveying the personality, values, and attributes of a character to a reader. Achebe uses characterization to reveal to the reader the characters of his book. Also, Achebe uses the characterization to address different bias. The literary technique of characterization is used to develop the characters Okonkwo, Ekwefi, and the clan as a whole in Things Fall

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