Achebe, C. (1958). Things fall apart. Ibadan, Nigeria: Heinemann Educational Books (Nigeria) Ltd.

I was chatting with a friend about some of the books on Africa and the Middle East. She suggested that I try reading some African literature as a way to gain a better understanding of the lives and cultures of the African people. She recommended that I read Achebe’s book, Things Fall Apart. This novel was translated in to 45 languages and has sold millions of copies.

When I looked at the book for the first time, I realized that I had heard the author’s name somewhere before. In fact, Achebe was mentioned several times in another book that I read earlier this year, The Fate of Africa: A History of Fifty Years of Independence. Achebe, educated in medicine and literature, grew up in an Anglican missionary family in Nigeria. He witnessed the horrors of the Biafran War. Some felt that his novel, A Man of the People, “implicated him in Nigeria’s first military coup” (preface). 

As I do not want to spoil the story for anyone who has not yet read the novel, I will not recount the plot here. However, I will say that the novel paints a rich picture of African life—more so than any of the other books that I have read. (Admittedly, most of my reading has been about history and politics with a smattering here and there of travel novels.) Achebe’s tale describes agricultural practices, the struggle to survive through rainy and dry seasons, the world-defining mythology, clan structure, and gender roles.  Achebe’s work deals with issues of infanticide, human interaction, and culture-clashes in the colonial era. The reader is introduced to marriage ceremonies, initiation rites, punishment associated with taboo, and the value of social inter-dependence. Though the main character comes to a tragic end, the story is fascinating. Reading this novel, one cannot help but to feel a sense of helplessness in the face of the changing world during the arrival of the colonialists.

In light of my recent blogs on Western philosophy, in particular Greek and Christian faiths this novel illustrated some similar themes. One can see, for example, the “universal” appeal of Christianity. Things Fall Apart describes how some of the clansmen and women were attracted to the new faith, seeking acceptance from culturally defined roles and practices of exclusion. Further, as the world became less predictable and strange new aggressors appeared in the land, the Igbo people sought new answers through the strengthening of traditions or adoption of new faith—as did the Ancient Greeks and Early Christians.