Things Fall Apart

Thing Fall Apart’ is acknowledged as a seminal work presenting African life and culture in its complexity and richness, in stark contrast to the colonial perspective of writers such as Conrad. It established Achebe as the father of contemporary African literature.
Achebe broadened awareness of African tribal culture whilst also showing the humanity of common concerns and ideas. The reader cannot help but feel comparisons between African rituals surrounding the after-life and our home grown mix of pagan and religious symbolism (including the extensive use of allegory from the natural world) as well as between the African and European history of patriarchy and the common adherence to attributes of masculinity. It also celebrates a respect for the Earth, that we have long since forsaken.
The genius of the story is to represent the African continent at the point of transformation from encroaching Christianity and the alien power of the ‘white man’ through the personal arc of one man’s trajectory.