Downfall of Society-Things Fall Apart

1298 Words6 Pages
Would you be able to identify the signs of something going wrong in your society and protect your people? Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is about an honored warrior named Okonkwo who lives in Umuofia. Okonkwo is respected for his fearlessness and skill in battle. He has high status in his tribe and three wives. Chinua Achebe explains the traditions of the Ibo culture and the way of life in Umuofia. Achebe also shows how this society crumbles when the Christian missionaries come to Umuofia through Okonkwo’s eyes. Things Fall Apart is similar to “The Second Coming” by William Butler Yeats because both pieces of literature reflect a society that is falling apart. “The Second Coming” is a poem that symbolizes a society that falls apart through the use of biblical references and vivid imagery. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe more powerfully reflects a society than “The Second Coming” by William Butler Yeats because there is a main character, a clear setting, and it shows the society falling apart over a long period of time. One of the reasons Things Fall Apart more powerfully reflects a society falling apart is that there is a main character, Okonkwo. For example, in Things Fall Apart, "'That man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself; and now he will be buried like a dog...'"(208). This happened right after Okonkwo kills himself. His friend, Obierika, blames the District Commissioner for Okonkwo's death. This shows how the society has fallen apart because the main character, an honored man with three wives, has killed himself and he is to be buried in a disgraceful way. This strongly shows a society collapsing because the reader sees the society falls to pieces through the main character’s eyes. This builds strong emotions and then the reader sees the main character kill himself because he cannot live with the way his
Open Document