Chinua Achebe's Novel, Things Fall

Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart, is about more a tribe in African. It is a novel about the nature of man. The novel focuses on the Igbo tribe but the most fascinating aspect of this study is that it could be about any group of people at any moment in time. The Igbo are nothing if they are prefect representations of people responding in disturbing, stressful circumstances. The Igbo tribe needs to face the truth that they are not perfect.

It is human to believe in oneself and it is human to resist change. They stifle Okonkwo instead of listening to him. They allow themselves to be persuaded even though we know resistance, in this case, was futile. The Igbo represent tough lessons about humanity and their situation illustrates how difficult it is to find the truth sometimes. The Igbo tribe also should have faced that fact that Okonkwo had a place and a voice.

He deserves to be heard and, to some degree, the tribe owed him some amount of respect. Achebe paints Okonkwo with realistic strokes. He is by no means a perfect man but he is real. He feels passionate about honoring the past but his passion gets him into trouble. He is always ready for a fight and many see him as "brusque" (26) and he used his fists when he could not communicate precisely what he wanted to say. He is very much a man of his own mind.

He does not like being told what to do and he also has his pride. For example, he justified killing Ikemefuna because "he was afraid of being thought weak" (Achebe 61). He operates within a code established within the community and within his own mind. Regardless of his imperfections, the Igbo tribe should have listened to Okonkwo carefully. His strong will does not bend as easily as others in the tribe and maybe they could learn from him but they choose not to do so.

Instead, they welcome change and gradually accept new ways. We see this with Mr. Brown, whom the community respects because of his non-preachy ways. He begins to "have an effect" (181) on the community and their beliefs. A school and trading posts emerge and Okonkwo regrets what he sees. Reverend Smith is different from Brown and believes the tribe is "ignorant" (190). For a moment, after the church is burned down, things seem right. The tribe experiences conflict from within and without and there is no safe place to hide.

The Igbo tribe is easily persuaded. This is another fact about mankind that is difficult to face. On the one hand, we have the tribe feeling resentful toward the missionaries but some of them convert. These converts become zealots and actually kill the village's sacred python. We read no one believed "such a thing could happen" (158). The violence shocks some in the community but not in the way we might expect. Okonkwo wants to chase the missionaries away but the clan overrules his idea is overruled and ostracizes him.

This is interesting human behavior. Some clansmen are opposed and others are not and we can only chalk it up to the imperceptible differences of man as to why. In addition, membership to the church continues to grow as the old ways of the clan are seemingly left behind. The Igbo tribe was beginning to blend new ideas with old ones. Their changing attitude toward the missionaries is interesting to study. Their resistance wanes over time and we must ask if this is simply human nature.

Like overwhelmed, tired parents, the Igbo tribe finally broke down and gave in. They are no different from people in a supposedly more advanced civilization in this respect. The truth is that people are weaker than they would like to believe. Real strength and courage takes guts and, at times, it is difficult. Okonkwo felt compelled to remain true to his beliefs but his actions were not praised. Instead, his fellow tribesmen saw him as a troublemaker.

At one point, Okonkwo believes "real men are no more" (200) and he is right to think this. After all, he has witnessed the destruction of his community. The conflict between the "right" thing to do is not that simple because change is inevitable. In our society, we would like to.