Okonkwo: The Tragic Hero Okonkwo is a tragic hero. He is great. He is flawed. His flaw is fear. He is afraid of being like his father, Unoka, who was lazy and weak. He compensates by being harsh. He beats his wives. He kills Ikemefuna, a boy who calls him father. He cannot show love. He cannot show weakness. He is exiled for seven years. When he returns, the white men have come. He cannot adapt. He kills a white messenger. He hangs himself. The District Commissioner writes a paragraph about him. He calls him “one man who killed a messenger.” Okonkwo is erased. He is a hero. He is forgotten.
Igbo Culture: The Complex World Achebe wrote “Things Fall Apart” to show that Igbo culture was not primitive. It was complex. It had laws, rituals, and art. The Igbo had a democratic system. They had a rich oral literature. They had a sophisticated religion. Achebe describes the Week of Peace, the Feast of the New Yam, the wrestling matches, the egwugwu (masked spirits), and the trial by poison. He does not idealize Igbo culture. It has flaws. It allows the killing of twins. It allows the abandonment of Okonkwo’s son, Nwoye. But it is a culture. It deserves respect.
The Missionaries: The Destroyers The white missionaries arrive. They are led by Mr. Brown, a sympathetic figure. He learns Igbo. He respects the people. He builds a school and a hospital. He is replaced by Reverend Smith, a fanatic. He hates Igbo culture. He wants to destroy it. The converts are outcasts: the osu (slaves), the twins, and the weak. They are attracted to Christianity because it offers them dignity. They are also traitors. They help the colonial government destroy the village. The novel does not condemn Christianity. It condemns the way it was imposed.
Nwoye: The Convert Nwoye is Okonkwo’s son. He is sensitive. He likes his mother’s stories. Okonkwo despises him. He calls him a woman. Nwoye converts to Christianity. He changes his name to Isaac. He leaves his father. He is lost. Nwoye represents the generation that was caught between two worlds. He cannot go back. He cannot go forward. He is alone.
The Title: From Yeats The title comes from W.B. Yeats’s poem “The Second Coming”: “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.” The poem is about the end of European civilization. Achebe uses it to describe the end of Igbo civilization. The center did not hold. The falcon could not hear the falconer. The ceremony of innocence was drowned. The best lacked all conviction. The worst were full of passionate intensity. The novel is a tragedy. It is also a warning.
Conclusion: “Things Fall Apart” is a novel about colonialism. It is also a novel about fathers and sons. Okonkwo kills his son. His son leaves him. He is alone. He dies. Achebe wrote the novel to give Okonkwo a voice. The District Commissioner wanted to write a paragraph. Achebe wrote a book. He won.
