Things Fall Apart

Rating:
Summary: Things Fall Apart - Dave Traf - Mr. Argento - B.C. High
Review: I enjoyed Chinua Achebe's, Things Fall Apart, and would recommend it to anyone. Chinua Achebe is a great author and shows it in his books. I think when he was writing this book he wanted people to learn about other cultures in the world. The way that these people live and react to their problems is much different than what I see in my life. He writes about a man named Okonkwo, who faces fear and anger when missionaries come to his homeland, in Nigeria. In one part of the book, Okonkwo is forced out of his home and sent to live in his motherland because he accidentally shoots and kills another man. Later he comes home and tries to win back his old neighbors and friends who are now followers of the Christian faith. Also, the men in the clan are to raise strong boys into men. This may be a problem for Okonkwo as his son withdraws into the Christians. One of the most exciting parts of the book is when the tribe gathers together to have wrestling matches. The men, women, and children go against each other like wild animals and it is very exciting. Next, Okonkwo faces one of his hardest tasks when he must kill a young man he has been caring for. Okonkwo could never forgive himself but it was something that the tribe leaders ordered. Okonkwo finally loses control of himself and makes the ultimate sacrifice fearing that the missionaries from Britain would gain too much control. I liked this book because in my life I don't get to see or hear about how people such as Okonkwo had to face their troubles. This book teaches a valuable lesson about Western imperialism and shows how the Western countries influenced the African tribes.

Rating:
Summary: Things Fall Apaprt:Simple Folktale, Complex Message
Review: Things Fall Apart is an excellent book that introduces the reader to both the African Ibo culture and the struggles of one individual. This novel opens with the despcription of simple daily life in the village of Umuofia educating the reader of the primitive daily life in Nigeria at the turn of the century. The novel describes the village life as it was before the white man at all times making the reader aware that their simple village life is about to change. The main chracter Okonkwo is a strong warrior whom possesses all of the villages most repsected attributes. However, he is man that struggles with the fear of failiure and uncontrollable anger. Throughout this novel we see how these qualities lead to self-destruction in the face of a changing world. The end of the novel most clearly shows how severe Okonkwo's destructive nature has become in an unexpected way. When I first began to read Things Fall Apart I did not understand the importance of the novel. As I easily read along I was not understanding many of the deeper messages that the book was communicating. I was simply enjoying the folklore and the simple stories that were told within the novel. However, this changed when the novel took a turn from describing less of the village life and more of Okonkwo's struggles. It was here that I began to see all the issues that an African villager might have been facing and understanding Achebe's message. Okonkwo was a man that was faced with the changes brought about with the white man. Okonkwo feared the impact that these men might have on future genrations and questioned whether village life would ever be the same again. I saw this message as valid for not only historical analysis but also present day analysis. We live in a world, and I live in a country that sees the need for further colonization and development in foreign countries to offer the natives a better way of life. However, this novel clearly presented that although a foreign country might have good intentions they are not always what it best for the country. The reason is that the outsiders are never truely understanding of the culture that existed prior to their arrival and therefore can never offer what is best for the culture. In this novel we see that although the Ibo life was imperfect, with the arrival of the white man, a war zone of ideologies was created in which neither culture lived peacefully. I thoroughly enjoyed my read of Things Fall Apart and would recommend it to any reader interested in the African culture and history. I recommend that, even if some of the descriptions seem rather dry, stick with it and you will find Achebe's messsage thought provoking and powerful.

Rating:
Summary: Things Fall Apart Review
Review: Throughout China Achebe's book, Things Fall Apart, there is one main theme that all events foreshadow. This theme is that the tribes of Africa and their settlements, such as Umuofia, were already civilized and orderly before Western influence. The main point of this book was to eliminate stereotypes about African culture being prehistoric and barbaric. Okonkwo, the main character, shows the pride of a noble race. He is defeated, just as African culture was, by surprise and stealth. Nwoye represents tribesmen who believe in the Western missionaries. He was converted to Christianity, as were many other Africans at that period. This book shows the chaos of the situation when a foriegn culture interferes with years of tradition.

The wrestling events were the most exciting time in the village. The people worked themselves into a frenzy. They became so excited for their tribesmen, fighting for honor. The drummers became possessed with the spirit of the drums, playing the beat wildly. The crowd became extremely excited, with the men dancing around striving to throw each other to the ground. The men who kept order had to run around with palm fronds and beat the ground or the legs and feet of the crowd to keep them back. The crowd would burst into a thunderous roar at the conclusion of a match. These matches were so exciting that even the stoic elders had trouble hiding their excitement. The murder of Ikemefuna was a tense scene that ended in a fury of confusion and excitement. The men of Umuofia had deceived Ikemefuna into thinking that they were taking him to his native land, and were leading him through the woods. As they were walking, Ikemefuna became suspicious of the men, after a man growled at him to keep going, sending cold fear down his spine. He wondered why his adoptive father, Okonkwo, had fallen towards the back of the procession. Finally, a man drew his machete and struck him, as Okonkwo looked away. Ikemefuna cried out "My father, they have killed me!" as Okonkwo ran to him. Then, for fear of being weak, Okonkwo cut him down with his machete. The death of the white messenger happens very fast, with Okonkwo reacting instinctively. As soon as Okonkwo hears, "The white man...has ordered this meeting to stop", he draws his machete. He then chops twice at the messenger, decapitating him. He then wipes his machete in the sand and walks away, disappointed in his tribe, knowing they will not fight the white men as he would.

I believe that this book was a good example of how imperialism can destroy cultures and traditions. This book showed that Western imperialists' impression of African natives was totally wrong. I feel that this book taught a valuable lesson by describing the village of Umuofia and the prud tribesman Okonkwo before and after the imperialists influenced their culture. This was not particularly interesting to me, but on an educational level, it did provide another point of view to the common stereotype of the African natives before they were "enlightened" by Western culture. My recommendation for this book would be: choose another book if you want easy, enjoyable reading, but if you would like to learn the truth about a noble culture

Rating:
Summary: Things Fall Apart, review
Review: Chinua tells a tale about Okonkwo, a strong-willed man. Chinua shows how people, like Okonkwo, can "fall apart" through the pressure of change, especially by force. Okonkwo a native African tries to defeat white settlers from changing his nation's cultures and religion, which was deemed inferior to the white settlers. It is an eye opening book with a sense of what reality really is.

There are many struggles, conflicts, and mini-plots as well. This made the story interesting. The wrestling match with Okafo and Ikezue was exciting and the image of the fight was clear and graphic. Or times of sadness and a point of disgust, when many of Okonkwo's children had died and the medicine man accused the children as evil. He then mutliated one of the dead children and took him away, something that would seem cruel and stupid today, a very serious crime. Or when Okonkwo commits suicide through despair because he was unable to drive his opponents away and to bring back his religion to his people.

A story that can be so powerful that can bring both moods of excitement and joy to disgust and despair is a very rare one indeed. It brings a sense of reality while being entertaining at the same time. A very well-written book.

Rating:
Summary: Book was alright
Review: I feel that Chinua Achebe's purpose fr writing the book was ti show the world what really happened during the time period when the Enflish settled in Africa. He captured how life really was before the intrusion into the tribes with thenew strange faith of Cristianity. Lastly it shows how the tribes in Afric were not savages like the white settlers made them out to be. They were civilized people who ha tough morals to live by. Three scintillating events to me that hapened in the book would first be when the gun explodedin Okonkwo's hands and killed the boy. A second event was when Okonkwo and his fellow tribes men were face to face with the messengers and he chopped one of their heads off. The last event would be when Obierika showed the comisioner Okonkwo's body hanging behimd his hut. I feel that the quality of the book was excellant, because it was captivating reading which stirred you and made you want to read more. Another reason why I like the book was it showed the real things that went on in tribes and the social ways through the eyes of a great man like Okonkwo.

Rating:
Summary: THE ABSOLUTE WORST BOOK I EVER READ
Review: DOES THIS GUY EVEN KNOW WHAT THE FUDGE HE IS TALKING ABOUT!

Rating:
Summary: Things Fall Apart Review
Review: The author Chinua Achebe wrote a classic best-selling book called Things Fall Apart. Basically the story was about an African tribe that lived in an African village called Umuofia. They had their own beliefs. It was another normal day in the village of Umuofia until the white missionaries came to African villages with their own beliefs, that the Africans didn't necessarily believe in. An African man named Okonkwo lived in Umuofia and dissented strongly with the white missionaries. Okonkwo was a great warrior that had much respect from the people who he lived with because of his religious beliefs. White missionaries came and disproved the African religion along with Okonkwo's beliefs as well. Okonkwo said that this "new" religion had taken away all the dignity the people had in the African villages, and Okonkwo began to call the men in the villages women. Really what I think Achebe was trying to say was that Okonkwo's self-dignity had been taken away and Okonkwo also knew that he wouldn't be so powerful once people went along with the new religion because the missionaries didn't believe that anybody was better than anybody else. Okonkwo's life and beliefs had been falling apart, and Okonkwo knew that things wouldn't stay the way they were for long, and people wouldn't think of him as much as they may have before. Eventually, Okonkwo hangs himself, and the story ends.

There were some exciting events that happen in this story. One of the events was the time when Okonkwo was at a funeral and shot a 16-year-old boy and killed him. As a result of that, Okonkwo was exiled to his motherland of Mbata for seven years. During Okonkwo's exile, the missionaries had come in and started to convert Africans to Christianity. Also, I liked the time when the missionaries built their church in the evil forests of Africa. All the Africans thought that the missionaries would die in a few days, which was supposed to happen according to their religion. Then when the missionaries were in the veil forest for a couple weeks, nothing happened to them and the Africans were proved wrong. One other exciting event I like in this book was the conflict between Okonkwo and his son, Nwoke. Nwoke decided to follow the ways of the Christians, even though he knew his father Okonkwo would not concur with that decision. Nwoke did go with the missionaries and left his father, which was upsetting to Okonkwo, who was appalled when Nwoke left his father. Those are some of the exciting events in the story Things Fall Apart.

Overall, I like the book Things Fall Apart. I think it is an interesting tale. I think that because it told a lot about how Africans live and what they believe, which I personally thought were false beliefs. The story tells a lot about how Africans live without getting too boring, and uses a lot of description about everything. Then when the missionaries came to Africa and started to preach their OWN beliefs that went against most of the African beliefs. That is my favorite part of the book Things Fall Apart. I never came across a part in this story that was not addicting. I always wanted to keep reading this. Chinua Achebe made a strong point that everything has the potential to "fall apart". If you like something in your life it may not last forever even if you won't admire the change to come. Even those who are powerful at a certain time, may eventually lose power to new changes that happen. That wraps up my review on Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.

Rating:
Summary: THINGS FALL APART
Review: THINGS FALL APART

SUMMARY:

Chinua Achebe's book, Things Fall Apart reveals the unique life of a Nigerian man, which is dominated by fear and anger. The main character Okonkwo is a traditional man who is opposed to change. He adheres to the old ways of going about daily activities, fighting wars, to practicing faith. Throughout the book, Okonkwo experiences many tragic losses such as losing the child, Ikemefuna, and being banished from his home, Umuofia.This book not only shows the positive aspects but it reveals the hardships of life and eventually ends with Okonkwo committing suicide. I believe that Chinua Achebe wrote this book to share his knowlege about Nigerian life, that not many people know about or are familiar with. I think Achebe felt it was important for everybody to learn about African cultureand foreign customs before they can begin to appreciate them.

EXCITING EVENTS:

1.) I thought that the time when Okonkwo was removed from Umuofia was an exciting event. I looked forward to find out how he would react to this problem and the change in his surroundings.

2.) I also thought that the part when Ikemefuna was sent to live with Okokwo was exciting and interesting. I enjoyed reading about how Ikemefuna and Okonkwo's family bonded, matured, and developed relationships and how the family was affected when Ikemefuna had to be killed.

3.) The wrestling matches and festivals around it also caught my attention. It was interesting to learn what cultures do for fun and what they take pride in. In Okonkwo's culture, wrestling is one way to put yourself on the map and make a decent name for yourself.

EVALUATION:

Things Fall Apart was a decent book, but especially if you are interested in African culture It should be recommended for this purpose. The book used a few too many foreign words that became hard to understand. There could have been a little more action, tension, or war scenes involved, but life isn't always dramatic and exciting. I did like it because I find it helpful and useful to read different kinds of literature coming from different view points and perspectives. A little change once and a while can really open up the mind. Overall Things Fall Apart wasn't my favorite book but I appreciated what it had to say. I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Things Fall Apart
Review: The book Things Fall Apart is about the clash between the European and the culture of the Igbo people. It also portrays what the Igbo culture was like before it came into contact with the European. And that when the cultures are not willing to communicate, beliefs about superiority and inferiority are enevitable.

I really enjoyed this book. There were a few really good parts that I found considerably interesting. The first was Ekwefi and the ogbanje. I liked that segment of the book because it gave a detailed look upon a part of the Igbo culture that I did not expect to see in the book. Also the part of the book when Ezeudu's sixteen-year-old son is killed. This intrigued me because it was clearly an accident and Okonkwo's punishment was so severe. He was exiled for seven years and all his posessions were burned or killed. The difference between Mr. Brown and Reverend James Smith tactics when handling the Igbo was an interesting part of the book. Mr. Brown was understanding and talked more with the Igbo trying to learn they're religion not just change it. Reverend James Smith was more drastic and wanted things to change right away and everyone had to be strictly catholic and all remains of the old religion had to be gone.

Rating:
Summary: Things Fall Apart
Review: Things Fall Apart is by Chinua Achebe on an Ibo/s Clan in Africa. It was all based on the main character of the book, Okonkwo. He lived in Umuofia with his family and all his fellow clansmen. He was a great man and respected by many people. Okonkwo wanted to achieve lots of fame and wealth, which he has, so that he doesn't turn out like his father Unoka. During the book Okonkwo and his family prepare like they always do every year for the time of rains and for the harvesting of the yams. But these next few years were filled with many changes. For one thing a new member was added to Okonkwos household, this young man was called Ikemefuna. At first Ikemefuna was just another person filled with work by Okonkwo. He later was admired by Okonkwos children and even became Okonkwos "adopted son." But due to the order of the High Priestess he was sent to his death. Even with this tragic moment the story goes on. The harvesting came and went as the time went by. One day Okonkwo broke the rules of the Clan and was exiled along with his family! It was a bad time for Okonkwo because it destroyed most of his plans for gaining more titles. Okonkwo and his family left Umuofia to their "motherland" Mbanta. Here they began their lives again. With the help of Okonkwos family they built a compound and planted yams. Time went by and Okonkwo and his family couldn't go back to their "fatherland" until the time of seven years have passed. During those times in Mbanta the whitemen came to Africa. The Catholic Missionaries went from city to city spreading their faith and preaching of God. The clan was being split in two, converts went with the whitemen and their way of life and faith, and the other half made up of the still standing clansmen from this "invasion". Laws were made to support the life of the newcomers and the clan's couldn't do much else. This is the type of land Okonkwo and his family returned to, the once great Umuofia feared by other clans, was now becoming just like "women". Okonkwo was a man of war and only wanted to rid his land by force! But his clan didn't support him, so enraged with anger Okonkwo killed an official and then it lead to his own suicide.

I personally enjoyed this book! It was interesting to read of African Culture and their way of life before it was changed. It was an in depth book and was something I couldn't stop reading until I reached the end! It's a must read!