Losing A Culture In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Things Fall Apart illustrates the beauty and fragile nature of the Igbo clan, and the tragic downfall of their entire culture. The title, Things Fall Apart, has a deep meaning that brings the unfortunate situation of Umuofia to light. The Second Coming, and Things Fall Apart, have striking similarities in their themes, and the ideas present in both of the pieces, making them seem as if they are written by the same person, or are somehow connected. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe chose the title of his book to illustrate the tragedy of losing a culture to the destruction of evil. William Yeats’ poem The Second Coming reveals a great deal about the evils of war, and the corruption of the human mind. Although the poems true meaning disguises
As the reader learns in the later parts of the novel, “the worst [people] are full of passionate intensity” (Yeats). Take Reverend Smith for example; he leads the Christians in Umuofia with a passionate rage and a heavy fist, and he was a ruthless man with no acceptance for the traditional Igbo culture. This part of the poem is very provocative and requires some thought to understand what Yeats is trying to say. There are many good people in today’s world and in the past that rule passionately, such as Malcom X, who fought for the rights of black people. But there are many more people that rule intensely, such as Hitler, and Kim Jong Un. This excerpt of the poem reveals Yeats beliefs that people are innately evil. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe selects the title of his novel to express the chaos of destruction, and the innately evil human behavior. The Second Coming gives the reader a new understanding of Things Fall Apart due to their undeniable connections. As the reader learns in both pieces, people that are blinded by their passion about the things they do can become evil, and achieve bad things. Some will say that things fell apart in the novel, but there are always two sides to each