Paper 2 Introductory Practice

   During the late 19th century, England began their colonization of Africa. During this conquest, England "civilized" the African residents living there. Chinua Achebe's novel, "Things Fall Apart" follows the colonization of Africa; more specifically, the land that later became Nigeria. Achebe's novel follows the Igbo people, his not-so-distant ancestors and their transition into Christianity, including his parents. His novel shows the original complexities of the Igbo people before the English. Due to Achebe's personal experiences of belittlement of cultures that weren't Christian and the very recent loss of his mother culture, Things Fall Apart focuses on showing the values of the Igbo people. His family history influences his writing and characterization of certain attributes in his environment such as the character Mr. Smith, who represents the person who converted Achebe's father to Christianity.

3 Topic Sentences:

The Igbo were a complex group with varying values between them. An example of this concept is Achebe's depiction of Okonkwo and his acceptance of English change.

Okonkwo's Charactarization

Okonkwo is a significant character to the TFA novel because he is the tragic hero followed throughout the story. Okonkwo serves as the symbol of rebellious souls. Rebellion against their own culture and against the expansion of colonial forces in Africa in the late 1800's. Igbo culture values balance: no one having too much of one thing. However Okonkwo is a character having no balance between feminine and masculine traits. Many of the tribes didn't mind the English colonies and many of them were quite friendly. Okonkwo, on the other hand, was very opposed to them as their very arrival was an extreme change that he wasn't willing to accept. A lot of literature depicts the African people as savages who were only civilized after being "tamed" by the colonizers. Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart shows that this isn't true. Achebe writes his book based on the Igbo's way of life before and during the English people's occupancy. We follow Okonkwo, the stubborn protagonist and see that the Igbo people had already developed a civilization on their own and we learn about the different ethnic groups and their indigenous cultures. The English turned tribes against each other and encouraged people to convert to Christianity via missionaries. This began to push authentic traditions into obsolescence. Okonkwo is a significant character in the novel as he is used as a symbol of the rebellion against authentic traditions dying out and the change in their culture. He stays true to this attribute as to the very end. In the end of the novel, when English influence settles and the lifestyle changes, Okonkwo commits suicide, resorting to the greatest sin of their culture. He'd rather die than allow for himself to be changed by foreign influence. What's so magnificent about this is that Achebe puts this event at the end and after our constant building of Okonkwo's character, can't see this as a disgrace to his values. In the end Okonkwo won in his own sick way. He was never changed or influenced by the English missionaries and stayed true to his values to the bitter end.