Rigid social structure ; which isolates and sequesters the OSU, those whom the Igbo society cannot contain within its , ‘system of classification ’ The further fragmentation of the igbo community, , owing to the rigid demarcation between a man’s and a woman's role in the tribe They go wrestle, celebrate festivals , go to war, while women stay at home The overconfidence of the tribal in his attitude toward the new religion “EVANGELCAL CHRISTIANITY ” The lack of unity in tribal’s response to threat posed by the new order and religion

1. Things fall apart Theme
and character.
presented by
BHUNGANI CHINTAVANKUMAR N.
M.A. (SEM -4)
Paper no:- 13:- THE AFRICAN LITERATURE
Roll no:- 6
Enrollment no:-PG15101006
Email id:- cnbhungani7484@gmail.com
Submitted To
Smt. S. B. GARDI DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
MAHARAJA KRUSHANAKUMARSINHJI
BHAVNAGAR UNIVERSITY

2. About Author
• Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian
novelist, poet, professor, and critic.
His first novel Things Fall Apart, often
considered his best, is the most
widely read book in modern African
literature. Wikipedia
• Born: 16 November 1930, Ogidi,
Anambra
• Died: 21 March 2013, Boston,
Massachusetts, United States
• Nationality: Nigerian
• Awards: Man Booker International
Prize, Peace Prize of the German Book
Trade, St. Louis Literary Award

3. • The actual title is taken from W.B. Yeats' poem "The
Second Coming."
• The poem refers to the increasing pressure to maintain a
stable situation
• The novel's title refers to the increasing pressure on the
Umuofian culture and inhabitants of the villages
represented in the novel to hold onto their way of life as
the Christian missionaries infiltrate their world
• "The center cannot hold and things fall apart." This line
from the poem reflects Okonkwo's grasp on his own life,
family and power in his community and it's slow
slippage away from him.

4. Okonkwo
clan
leader in
Umuofia
Unoka - father
Ekwefi -
second wife
Obierika -
close friend
Nwoye -
oldest son
Ojiugo - third
and youngest
wife
Obiageli - The
daughter of
Okonkwo’s first wife

5. Okonkwo
clan leader
in Umuofia
Nkechi –
Daughter of Ojiugo
Ezinma - The only
child of Okonkwo’s
second wife, Ekwefi
Uchendu -
Okonkwo’s
maternal Uncle
second wife, Ekwefi
Ikemefuna -
A gift from the
neighboring village.

6. Okonkwo
• Becomes productive, wealthy, thrifty, brave,
violent, and adamantly opposed to music and
anything else that he perceives to be “soft,” such
as conversation and emotion. He is stoic to a
fault.
• Achieves great social and financial success
• Marries three women and fathers several
children.

7. Okonkwo
• Although he is a superior character, his tragic flaw—the equation of
manliness with rashness, anger, and violence—brings about his own
destruction.
• Okonkwo is gruff, at times, and usually unable to express his
feelings
• But we see he has an emotional, caring side which he tries to hide
• Okonkwo secretly follows Ekwefi into the forest in pursuit of
Ezinma, for example—and thus allows us to see the tender, worried
father beneath the seemingly indifferent exterior.

8. Characterization- Nwoye
• Struggles in the shadow of his powerful, successful,
and demanding father.
• His interests are different from Okonkwo’s and
resemble more closely those of Unoka, his grandfather
• Ikemefuna, who becomes like an older brother and
teaches him a gentler form of successful masculinity
• he makes a show of scorning feminine things in order
to please his father, he misses his mother’s stories.

9. Characterization- Ezinma
• Ezinma, Okonkwo’s favorite daughter and the only child of Ekwefi, is
bold in the way that she approaches—and even sometimes
contradicts—her father.
• Okonkwo remarks to himself multiple times that he wishes she had
been born a boy, since he considers her to have such a masculine
spirit.
• Ezinma alone seems to win Okonkwo’s full attention, affection, and,
ironically, respect. She and he are allied spirits, which boosts her
confidence. She grows into a beautiful young woman who sensibly
agrees to put off marriage until her family returns from exile.
• In doing so, she shows an approach similar to that of Okonkwo: she
puts strategy ahead of emotion.

10. Things Fall Apart Theme of Gender
• Much of the traditional Igbo life presented in this novel revolves
around structured gender roles. Essentially all of Igbo life is gendered,
from the crops that men and women grow, to characterization of
crimes. In Igbo culture, women are the weaker sex, but are also
endowed with qualities that make them worthy of worship, like the
ability to bear children. The dominant role for women is: first, to
make a pure bride for an honorable man, second, to be a submissive
wife, and third, to bear many children. The ideal man provides for his
family materially and has prowess on the battlefield. The protagonist
in the novel is extremely concerned with being hyper-masculine and
devalues everything feminine, leaving him rather unbalanced. Much
of the gender theme in the book centers around the idea of balance
between masculine and feminine forces – body and mind/soul,
emotionality and rationality, mother and father. If one is in
imbalance, it makes the whole system haywire.

11. Things Fall Apart Theme of Religion
• The Igbo gods are mostly manifestations of nature and its
elements, which makes sense because they are an agricultural
society that depends on the regularity of seasons and natural
phenomena to survive. They worship the goddess of the earth
and are always careful to avoid committing sins against her for
fear of vengeance that might wipe out an entire generation.
The Igbo ancestors also take on a divine nature to some
extent. Family plays such a central role in Igbo life that the
spirits of their ancestors are consulted for almost every
decision and even serve as judges in legal trials (in the form of
masked elders). The Igbo emphasis on numerous gods
associated with nature and also on ancestors and somewhat
divine contrasts sharply with the single God of Christianity
which seems far less directly relevant to the Igbo lifestyle.

12. Things Fall Apart Theme of Family
• For the Igbo, there are a few key ideas that form the
basis of an ideal family: mutual respect for each other,
a reverence for all past fathers, and unity. The father is
not only the provider for the family, but defender of its
honor and teacher of his sons. The mother’s main duty
is to add to the family line by bearing healthy children
and also to please her husband. Children are the
inheritors of the future and are raised to continue the
values of the older generation. This family unit is the
most fundamental unit of society and its structure can
be expanded to fit a whole community or even a
pantheon of gods.

13. Things Fall Apart Theme of Traditions
and Customs
• Igbo lifestyle is highly stylized, from its ritual speech to
the actions performed for certain ceremonies. Most of
these formalized interactions occur in an attempt to
show respect to some external being – another man,
an ancestral spirit, or a god. Respect and knowledge of
one’s role in society is very important in determining
such customs. Another institution that rituals address
and honor is the family unit. Stylized language, in
particular, seeks to hold the family together by means
of promises.

14. Things Fall Apart Theme of Fear
• Many of the characters suffer from fear of some sort.
Okonkwo fears becoming like his lazy, shameful father, Ekwefi
fears losing her daughter, and Nwoye fears his father’s wrath.
While most characters fear events that are outside of their
control, Okonkwo is consumed by a terrible internal worry
about himself and his identity. Rather than mastering his fear,
he allows it to dominate him and drive his actions. Fear leads
him to lash out in some pretty nasty ways: beating his wives,
abusing and alienating his oldest son, partaking in the murder
of his adoptive son, etc. Overall, fear in this novel leads
characters to behave in negative ways that can bring the
wrath of the gods, guilt, and the community disapproval upon
them.

15. Wind up :-Reason of fall down
• Rigid social structure ; which isolates and sequesters the
OSU, those whom the Igbo society cannot contain within its
, ‘system of classification ’
• The further fragmentation of the igbo community, , owing to
the rigid demarcation between a man’s and a woman's role
in the tribe
• They go wrestle, celebrate festivals , go to war, while women
stay at home
• The overconfidence of the tribal in his attitude toward the
new religion “EVANGELCAL CHRISTIANITY ”
• The lack of unity in tribal’s response to threat posed by the
new order and religion

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