Introduction to Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe Morals and Values Unit English 9 Honors

Chinua Achebe’s Novels Achebe's novels focus on: the traditions of Igbo/Ibo society. the effect of Christian influences. the clash of values during and after the colonial era.

Chinua Achebe’s Life Grew up in Ogidi, a village in Nigeria His father taught at the missionary school In 1958 Things Fall Apart was published A professor at Bard College in NY Died in 2013

Things Fall Apart Things Fall Apart is set in the 1890s, during the coming of the white man to Nigeria. In 2009, Newsweek ranked Things Fall Apart #14 on its list of Top 100 Books: The Meta-List. In part, the novel is a response and antidote to a large tradition of European literature in which Africans are depicted as primitive and mindless savages.

Things Fall Apart (continued) The novel depicts the life of Okonkwo, a leader and local wrestling champion in Umuofia—one of a fictional group of nine villages in Nigeria, inhabited by the Igbo ethnic group. In addition it focuses on his three wives, his children, and the influences of British colonialism and Christian missionaries on his traditional Igbo (archaically "Ibo") community during the late nineteenth century.

Igbo, Nigeria: location of story

Ibo Villages Few miles from each other – spoke different languages Customs: 4 day market week The kola nut ritual New Yam festival

Ibo Economy Economy based on “root crops” Men grew yam Women grew beans, cassava, and cocoyam

Yams 95% of world’s yam crop is harvested in West Africa. Igbo have festivals devoted to the yam harvest.

Kola Nuts Ceremonially presented to chiefs and guests Contain caffeine Bitter taste, rose-like aroma Medicinal purposes – hunger pangs, whooping cough, asthma

Cassava Edible starchy, tuberous root Great source of carbohydrates

Igbo Masks

Igbo Masks Defined Used during festivals Used during ceremonies Used to symbolize beauty