Things Fall Apart Analytical Essay

Things Fall Apart Analytical Essay
Chinua Achebe’s novel “Things Fall Apart” is the story of the Igbo culture on the verge of a revolution; it shows the collision of the Igbo people’s traditional way of life and the “winds of change” that are introduced by British colonials who have recently moved to their region. Within all of the confusion and discomfort throughout the Igbo people who are unsure of how to react to these new cultural practices and beliefs, is one of the main characters, Okonknwo, whose soul possesses so much discontent with this idea of change, that he reacts in a harsh and violent manner in order to resist the conversion of culture, and to further prove that the traditional ways of the Igbo people were what has since established him as being a “real man”, and also because he is afraid of losing his supreme status within society. Okonkwo’s refusal to accept the colonial’s new way of life reflects upon the idea that internally Okonkwo is afraid of losing the power in which he had once possessed, and deals with the fact that his personal ego acts as a deterrent for the “winds of change” upon the Igbo’s cultural life throughout the novel.
When first introduced to the idea of a cultural change by the British Colonials, Okonkwo was furious in that he felt that these colonists were only trying to destroy the existence of one’s masculinity through these new sorts of religious and or cultural practices, and that in agreeing to conform, he would only become less of what he felt a “man” really was. In order to ensure that he was not one to conform, Okonkwo began acting out in random acts of violence such as killing people and going on mad rants throughout the Igbo village. To Okonkwo, this was a sign of masculinity, and he felt that the more aggressive someone was, the more masculine they appeared to be to someone else. Okonkwo continued to become this way in order to further establish his head-strong opinions concerning the need to continue practicing the Igbo’s traditional way of life up until the day he died.
Also adding to the conflicts which Okonkwo experienced between the colliding cultures of the British and Igbo people, was the fact that he felt that if he was to give in and go along with these new customs, he would not only lose the power in which he once possessed within the Igbo society. He felt as if the influence in which he had gained over the years as a result of the traditions practiced within the Igbo culture could all be lost, if he were to abandon his people’s culture. Because his character is very power-hungry, Okonkwo simply refuses to let this sense of authority go, and he remains stuck in his ways, and a ripple in the force of change.
In reading this novel, and viewing how one’s struggle as a society to conform to a new way of cultural practice can also affect one individual’s own conflict within conform to these changes due to their own inner issues, we are able to figure that because of Okonkwo’s personal pride and the actions which were essentially forced upon him by the British and their external laws of society, that he was thus driven to experience further conflict within himself, and ultimately drove himself to his death when he killed himself as a result of his anxiety and anger towards the changes of the Igbo society. These cultural collisions caused an inner conflict within this main character and his fear of loss concerning his own sense of power and masculinity to such an extent, that it eventually led to his downfall, and is the main idea behind the collisions which cause things to essentially fall apart.