Timeless Lessons from Chinua Achebeโs Things Fall Apart
Timeless Lessons from Chinua Achebeโs Things Fall Apart
Life insights condensed into proverbs and culture of Igbo people
The grotesque-looking line drawing of the bookโs hero on the cover was an initial put-off.
I didnโt know better in my teen years.
As I grow older, I increasingly value Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart with every reread. Now, I prefer that โput-offโ back cover on the edition I read in high school Literature in English class in 1981.
Things Fall Apart is indeed one of the greatest novels from Nigeria. And rightly so. Repeatedly, Iโve come across it listed on the web as one of the best 100 novels ever written. It is one of those โyou mustโ or โought toโ read at least once, titles.
Back in 1981, my Literature in English teacher called me on that day to read Chinua Achebeโs Things Fall Apart to the class.
While reading, I pronounced the sound of the gong as โgo-mareโ instead of its onomatopoetic โgomeโ sound. The entire class erupted in laughter.
Forty-two years later, some of my former classmates still recall and poke fun at my โgo-mareโ moment, to our common amusement.
Chinua Achebeโs Things Fall Apart tells the story of the protagonist, Okonkwo, who rises from poverty to become a heroic warrior and leader of Umuofia. European colonizers in the 19th century.
In the first part of this non-put-off-able novel, we see Okonkwoโs determination to rise in life and be everything opposite to his heritage of an indolent, poor father.
When Unoka died, he had taken no title at all, and he was heavily in debt. Any wonder then that his son Okonkwo was ashamed of him? Fortunately, among these people, a man was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father
And so although Okonkwo was still young, he was already one of the greatest men of his time. Age was respected among his people, but achievement was revered. As the elders said, if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings.
The flip side of Okonkwoโs aforementioned mindset also turned out to be his weakness. โHe was afraid of being called weakโ is a key to understanding Okonkwo and this novel.
Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children.
Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and of the forces of nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw.
Okonkwoโs fear was greater than these. It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father.
Afraid of being called weak, he was one of the killers of Ikemefuna, his home slave-boy who has grown accustomed to calling him โfatherโ.
Ogbuefi Ezeudu came in. Ezeudu was the oldest man in this quarter of Umuofia. He had been a great and fearless warrior in his time, and was now accorded great respect in all the clan. He refused to join in the meal, and asked Okonkwo to have a word with him outside.
And so they walked out together, the old man supporting himself with his stick. When they were out of earshot, he said to Okonkwo: โThat boy calls you father. Do not bear a hand in his death.โ
Okonkwo was surprised and was about to say something when the old man continued: โYes, Umuofia has decided to kill him. The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves has pronounced it.
They will take him outside Umuofia as is the custom and kill him there. But I want you to have nothing to do with it. He calls you his father.โ
Going against the warning of his more astute elder, Ogbuefi Ezeudu, Okonkwo committed this sacrilegious betrayal and evil.
As the man who had cleared his throat drew up and raised his machete, Okonkwo looked away. He heard the blow. The pot fell and broke in the sand. He heard Ikemefuna cry, โMy father, they have killed me!โ as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.
After this incident, Okonkwoโs previously seemingly unassailable influence began to wane. The old man, Ogbuefi Ezeudu, whose advice he rejected, died and was to be buried. At the burial ceremony, Okonkwoโs loaded gun accidentally discharged and killed the late chiefโs son.
As a punishment for this inadvertent crime, Okonkwo was banished from the clan. He fled from his fatherโs clan to live with his motherโs clan in exile for seven years. On returning to Umuofia, he discovered that his influence had diminished while he was away.ย
His brave people were being assailed by British colonizers while the ancient traditions were being overturned by Christian missionaries and their โgreat Godโ.
Okonkwo tried to rouse his people to fight against the colonizers but fell flat. To his question, โDoes the white man understand our custom about land?โ came the timeless reply of another elder.
โHow can he when he does not even speak our tongue? But he says that our customs are bad, and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad.
How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever.
He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.โ
The book, Things Fall Apart, is filled with numerous proverbs that help emphasize its lessons to the reader. Here are a few of my favourites.
You will have what is good for you and I will have what is good for me. Let the kite perch and let the eagle perch too. If one says no to the other, let his wing break.
The lizard that jumped from the high iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no one else did.
Eneke the bird says that since men have learned to shoot without missing, he has learned to fly without perching.
He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.โ
A man who calls his kinsmen to a feast does not do so to save them from starving. They all have food in their own homes. When we gather together in the moonlit village ground it is not because of the moon. Every man can see it in his own compound. We come together because it is good for kinsmen to do so.
ยฉChinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart, HeinemannโโโAfrican Writers Series, 1958
This article was originally published by the author in Medium.
If you enjoy this piece, support my writing by chipping in to buy me a Substack subscription, here.