Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe Notes

What is the role of the narrator?
Things Fall Apart takes a third-person omniscient perspective, which means that the narrator
knows and communicates the thoughts and feelings of all the characters. The narrator refuses
to judge characters or their actions. The narrator presents them objectively. At many points,
the narrator inserts commentary to explain certain elements of Igbo culture. Take one example
from early in the novel, when the skilled orator Okoye asks Unoka to repay a debt: “Among
the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with
which words are eaten.” Instead of presenting the exact proverbs Okoye uses to request that
Unoka pay him back, the narrator simply informs the reader about the cultural importance of
such rhetoric. The reader learns that proverbs function to diminish the impact of difficult
conversations and can then apply this lesson when encountering other proverbs later in the
story. Achebe provides no evidence that the reader should distrust the narrator, whose only
embellishments tend to be explanatory, commenting on certain cultural practices that may be
foreign to non-Igbo readers. The apparent reliability of the narrator plays a significant role in
the novel. The tone allows Achebe to present a view of a dynamic and complex cultural world
that fully supports the social, religious, and political life of its inhabitants.
The novel ends with a shift from an African to a European perspective. In the novel’s final
two pages, the District Commissioner reflects on how he will depict the events surrounding
Okonkwo’s death in the book he’s working on, titled The Pacification of the Tribes of the
Lower Niger.
Language
Language is an important theme in Things Fall Apart on several levels. In demonstrating the
imaginative, often formal language of the Igbo, Achebe emphasizes that Africa is not the
silent or incomprehensible continent that books such as Heart of Darkness made it out to be.
Rather, by peppering the novel with Igbo words, Achebe shows that the Igbo language is too
complex for direct translation into English.
His goal was to critique and emend the portrait of Africa that was painted by so many writers
of the colonial period. Doing so required the use of English, the language of those colonial
writers. Through his inclusion of proverbs, folktales, and songs translated from the Igbo
language, Achebe managed to capture and convey the rhythms, structures, cadences, and
beauty of the Igbo language.
Storytelling
Traditions of oral storytelling have extensive histories in many cultures around the world and
often involve origin stories or narratives about past generations. When expressed aloud, these
tales take on a personal quality which works to establish a sense of shared identity and
humanity among listeners. The fact that characters like Okonkwo and Obierika remember
songs and stories of their childhood, such as the “silly” mosquito story in Chapter 9, speaks to
effectiveness of oral storytelling in terms of establishing a collective cultural consciousness.
Within the complex oral culture of the Igbo, elaborate storytelling is a prized art form as well
as a crucial social tool. Children learn their families’ history through their mothers’ fireside
tales, and clan members absorb communal values through stories told over and over again at
clan gatherings.
For the Igbo, the storytellers that attract you and the stories that resonate for you indicate your
values. Nwoye, for example, prefers to listen to his mother’s stories rather than his father’s,
setting him apart from the other Igbo men. Later, Nwoye’s love of the Christians’ hymns and
simple stories compel him to reject his own clan and convert, one of the first incidents of the
clan’s disintegration. Nwoye is lured away from Igbo culture and toward Christianity by the
affecting quality of the missionaries’ songs and tales, which speak to him more powerfully
than the stories he grew up with. By choosing new stories to believe in, Nwoye in effect
chooses a new society to belong to.
Okonkwo’s death
This conflict reaches its climax following the most emasculating event Okonkwo experiences
in the novel, when the British arrest him and several other villagers. For Okonkwo the arrest
is the last straw, and he wants the villages go to war. But when Okonkwo draws first blood by
killing a British messenger, Okonkwo’s peers reject the act, signaling that Okonkwo and his
values are no longer relevant. Sensing his final defeat, Okonkwo takes his own life.
The novel’s second tragedy occurs on the broader level of history. Achebe signals this second
tragedy by ending the novel with a shift from an African to a European perspective. In the
novel’s final two pages, the District Commissioner reflects on how he will depict the events
surrounding Okonkwo’s death in the book he’s working on, titled The Pacification of the
Tribes of the Lower Niger. The District Commissioner threatens to erase the specificity of
Okonkwo’s tragedy by removing the events from their context and simplifying them into a
tale meant to entertain his readers: “The story of this man who had killed a messenger and
hanged himself would make interesting reading.” Even more troubling, the District
Commissioner threatens to reduce Okonkwo’s story to a fleeting anecdote in the European
history of conquest: “One could almost write a whole chapter on [this man]. Perhaps not a
whole chapter but a reasonable paragraph, at any rate.” Decontextualized and stripped of all
complexity and nuance, Okonkwo’s story will be tragically lost to history.
Ezinma and Okonkwo
Although Okonkwo is generally misogynistic, his favorite child is his daughter Ezinma. Of all
Okonkwo’s children, Ezinma best understands how to handle her father’s anger. One example
of her sensitivity to his needs is her comforting of him after he has killed Ikemefuna. Ezinma
can tell that Okonkwo is depressed but, not wanting to upset him, she doesn’t address his
sorrow directly. Instead, she brings him food and urges him to eat. His frequent remarks that
he wishes Ezinma were his son because she has the “right spirit” suggest that he desires an
affectionate attachment with his sons, so long as it is not openly shown or acknowledged. He
values Ezinma not because she exhibits desirable masculine traits but because of their tacit
bond of sympathy and understanding.

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What is the role of the narrator?

Ezinma and Okonkwo

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