Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Things Fall Apart

Here is Chinua Achebe discussing, Things Fall Apart, on its 50th anniversary. Consider the concept of continuity and change over time and write a brief, thoughtful comment on the significance of the novel. I look forward to reading your ideas.

32 comments:

  1. In this interview Achebe perfectly describes the attitude towards this new culture and new religion. At first many of his people thought that there was some good to this and gave it a chance. Only until later did they realize that the "white man" may not have been totally honest about this new religion and new life. This whole idea of accepting other religions continues to today. For example America may be the most excepting of religions on the face but deep beneath the surface there are many truths that may need to be revealed.

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  3. Achebe states that he wrote this novel at a time where one culture was in contact and conflict with another culture. Achebe also states that he wanted to capture the moment in which something was going to happen. In doing this Achebe is able to produce a book that shows how Ibo religion, government, and way of life was thought to be inferior to the European way of life. He is able to show how change was forced on the people of Nigeria. He does not describe the tribe's way of life as ideal or better than Europeans, but instead describes the change from a Nigerian point of view. This point of view was very different from what European authors saw and that was so important for the world to see.

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  4. In writing Things Fall Apart, Achebe changed the way the world views African society. He brings an authentic African voice to African history, as opposed to the traditional European view of the colonization of Africa. Although European society is often portrayed as superior, he shows that the Ibo society was complex and sophisticated before the Europeans arrived. By writing Things Fall Apart in the point of view of an African, and by being a native African himself, Achebe challenges and changes the usual “savage” and “primitive” portrayal of African people. He brings a new perspective of history where a society is forced to change and shows what toll the change takes on its people. Not only does this book connect with African history, but other countries can relate through their own struggles, as pointed out in his interview. Things Fall Apart completely revolutionized the world’s view of Africa and made readers think about things in a new way.

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  5. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe doesn't portray the African people in an idealistic and perfect way. And he doesn't portray them in the way that Europeans have come to think of African people. He portrays them as complex and sophisticated but also flawed. In the interview, Achebe said that he wanted to make the story true in the way that fiction can be true. This novel was extremely important to the way that people think of African culture. Prior to this book, there was a strictly European view and the African people didn't necessarily get a say in how the rest of the world thought of them. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe changes the way that the world sees Africa through his point of view and experiences. Because of this book, people now know about African life through African people.

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  6. Achebe says he wrote Okonkwo violent as he was deliberately because he wanted the fiction story to be as truthful as it could be. It shows that Achebe was not trying to counteract the stories written by European writers, but to give a clear and honest description of the Igbo way of life, free from the biases of the European eye. He wanted the reader to see that in truth some aspects of traditional Igbo culture were indeed violent, but it was actually much more complicated than previous writings had made it seem. Through a truthful writing, more people were likely to understand and appreciate traditional Igbo culture for the way that it was, not degrade it for what it was made to seem to be. He mentions that the reason the book might be so successful is that the readers from different places are able to relate to the story, almost as if it is a history of their own culture. He gives the example of the Korean class which wrote to him about just that. It shows how many people have felt the same way and that colonized cultures need not always to be colonized, that they were fine on their own.

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  7. Things Fall Apart was one of the earliest books about African history and culture to have been written by an African instead of the many European books that were published years before. The book showed the lives of the Ibo, but they were shown realistically, while being complex, they could also be harsh and cruel at some times. It also showed the affect that European colonists had on the tribe, how it split them apart by convincing some to join their religion. The Europeans were shown to have believed themselves and their way of life superior to that of the Igbo. Things Fall Apart depicted the lives and effects of drastic change on the lives of African People from their perspective as opposed to the perspective of those who colonized Africa, that is what makes this book significant.

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  8. The importance of this book is different to many people. To Achebe I think this book was important as a way to show the truth. He commonly talks of the truth in this video. He wanted to shed the light on how the changes in Africa had occurred from African point of view. The significance to many other kinds of people like he says is the way people can find a way to resonate with the book. It can speak to many and many can find a reason as to why the book was such a success. He wanted the way the book was written as true as a fictional book can be like he said. The significance is the way he shows the truth of the African point of view of the changes that occurred when mainly all the accounts of that time had been European written accounts.

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  9. Up until the 1950's when African countries achieved independence, African novels were written by European's. The ideas and customs portrayed in these novels were commonly simplistic and idealized, hiding the true reality of these people form the reader. In the 50's, Africans were finally able to tell their own stories, and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, written in 1958, is now considered a classic piece of world literature, giving light to the true lifestyle of the Ibo people when the European Missionaries initially took over. Achebe talks of writing about a time of significant change, "an end of one time and the beginning of another", in which he gives light to his own people's story. His novel is so significant to past and present society, because it comes straight from the source and displays a relatable truth for many. While being a fictional novel, he wrote it with truth and complexity, not forgetting the weakness of the time period. Achebe also talks of his book having a universal effect on other cultures because it "resonates with their own history". Other cultures can relate to that feeling of being overtaken by colonization, and his story can be considered their own.

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  10. As an author hoping to give new perspective to African culture through literature, developing characters past the point of being primitive savages, Achebe truly succeeded in his noble aspirations for Things Fall Apart. It was definitely a piece of writing unlike it's European counterparts, in the way it shone light on how Igbo society functioned around a character that had undeniable flaws. Rather than choosing to design a character free of imperfections, Achebe made the decision to depict a man of mistakes, and in turn, created an unparalleled work that is still relevant in today's world.

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  11. At the beginning of the interview when Chinua Achebe is asked what he had set out to do fifty years ago he states that he knew something needed to be done and that's why the novel was written to show that the way European missionaries depicted the people of Africa was not really who they were. In the book Things Fall Apart Chinua shows that people in the Igbo tribe are civilized because they do have structure but it is not the same as other societies. The purpose of this book was also to get readers to understand and experience the untold story of the Africans. While writing this book Chinua wanted to help his own society in believing themselves and through this book they could be understood better

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  12. Achebe talks about how he started to feel a “gap in the bookshelf” because of the English education he was raised on left much desired on the information of his own people. Things Fall Apart was the book he wrote to fill in that gap and it’s astonishing to think of the work of art he created at just the age of 28. He also said in his interview about how he wanted to capture the moment of change when the culture of the Igbo people clashed with the culture of the English. He chose fiction as the platform to capture this moment because he felt it would best capture the truth. I cannot imagine a non-fiction book accomplishing the same things as Things Fall Apart so I think that Achebe chose wisely in that regard. I think the book became popular because the truth inscribed into the pages could not be ignored by the eyes of its readers. This book is so significant because it is one of the first to show the African writer’s perspective instead of a European one.

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  13. Achebe wrote the novel at a time when most people did not have a clear idea of the impact that the European missionaries had on the African people. It shows that the way Africa was colonized was through many lies told to the people who were accepting of the religion being brought to them by the “white man” from Europe. The two cultures first fought over religion but the idea of the book surrounds accepting other religion. It does not show either the Igbo religion or Christianity in a flattering light. As Igbo is shown in a violent way in the beginning and the Christians lie to get where they want to be. This shows a very different point of veiw from those of books written by European writers about Africa, it is one of the first books to show the African people as complex and civilized. I think this is why the book Things Fall Apart has had such a great and complex impact on world literature.

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  14. Chinua wrote his novel Things Fall Apart at a time of change in america. It was a time where Africans was still adjusting to their freedom. I like that he wrote it in an honest way. He purposely tried not to sugar coat how it was back then. He says on the video an "honest fiction" was what he was aiming for and I think he succeeded in this goal. His book really shows the world a truth about African civilizations.

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  15. In "Things Fall Apart", Achebe's goal was to inform the world about the Europeans and African way of life from their point of view. He wanted to "fill the gap in the bookshelf" that was the English education. Achebe successfully did that in creating a fictional story that exemplified how the Igbo people lived and the conflict between them and the the Missionaries. The Missionaries were trying convert the Igbo people to Christianity. At first, the Igbo people thought this religion to be good and see what is was all about. But they began to realize that there were some holes in this new religion. When asked how he thought his book blew up how it did, Achebe says that he believes it is because it resonates with people all around the world and that these people can relate. Achebe wrote "Things Fall Apart" to show people the true Igbo way of life. The popularity of this book made Achebe successful in his attempt to fix the way people thought of tribal African society.

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  16. Chinua Achebe decided to write a realistic fiction novel that portrayed African American Culture as complex yet flawed. Achebe also wanted to show an accurate point of view rather than the way Europeans saw them sometimes as savages. This didn't stop him however from writing about some of the very uneasy things that were involved in African Culture during that time period. Prior to Things Fall Apart books about African Culture were written by Europeans who tries to slant the story a certain way. Achebe wanted to show both sides and create a novel full of truth.

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  17. Achebe's book "Things Fall Apart" shows how change from colonization can hurt people and their culture. The book shows how much colonization hurt the native people, not only in Africa, but in many oppressed colonies. For example Achebe tells us in the video how his story is similar to others story in Korea, which was a colony of Japan. Achebe also shows in his book the effects of imperialism. The Ibo also changed their primary religion too. The Europeans were not entirely honest about their religion either. Also the book shows how complex and how organized African culture actually was. There were systems and rules that citizens abided. Europeans assumed that Africans were primitive just because they were not advanced. This is no reason to change or get rid of a culture. The book shows how different African culture was and how it changed and native Africans could no longer have identity to their people and who they where

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  18. Using this book Achebe tries to change the opinion and attitude towards different African cultures, namely the Ibo. He portrays how the European culture changed the way of life in the Ibo society and this undoubtably happened in other places in Africa to. The culture of the Europeans changed many aspects of these societies and in doing this lost them to the sands of time. In writing this book Achebe tries to bring back the aspects of this society lost to the colonization of the Europeans. This book and Achebe try to show how the Europeans destroyed a complex culture and not just bring a primitive tribe into their time. Achebe's cause is a noble one. This does his cause justice.

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  19. Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart to tell the story of his people in a fictional way. To show that African society isn't just primitive and savage but that they're very complex and sophisticated. He says that he deliberately writes Okwonko as violent to be truthful about the society and show the real way they lived. He didn't want to show that all of what is written in European accounts of African society is wrong but with every society you're going to see violence, it's in our nature but it doesn't define African society. He wanted to write a truthful account of African society that is being colonized by "the white men" that shows how they really act and what a better way to do this than to have it be written by someone who was actually apart of the Igbo society not a European writer. Achebe did an excellent job oh showing the truthful African society.

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  20. I believe that Chinau Achebe wrote this novel as an expression of Freedom and personal ideas. That is why this story resonates with people. He is showing the story of his people through the eyes of free African culture for the first time ever. This story shows a raw truth that shows the real story of the effect of western culture on tribal Africans. This idea of truth, and personal ideas and free African literature is significant to many cultures because like Achebe says " Things Fall Apart has many universal themes " that touch many people

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  21. In this book Chinua Achebe says that there "a gap in the bookshelf". What he meant by that is that there is no story that shows what truly happened with the Europeans coming to Africa and invading their culture and that's why he used such a honest and strong voice to show this. The reason he thought this book became so big was because it related with so many other cultures who had been invaded by other cultures such as North Korea as he used as an example who was invaded by the Japan culture. So he did much more by providing an example of Africa and it showed other cultures how other cultures were invading or invaded their own culture Los and diluted them.

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  22. One of the main points that the author tries to express throughout the book is that he wants to show that people of Africa are not exactly like the general western stereotypes of them. They are not complete savages because they have councils and rules and and actually organizational system while at the same time he is realistic. He shows the sides of African culture that may actually be viewed as savage such as beatings, multiple wives and the banishment and death of babies in the forest.

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  23. The significance of Things Fall Apart was instrumental in changing the world's view of African culture, and continues to increase to this day. Chinua Achebe bridged the gap between African Culture and the rest of the world with his book - not only with his book itself but also by inspiring other Africans to tell their stories. He wrote his novel in pursuit of the truth. He did not go about demonizing the West, nor glorifying African culture but rather showed an insightful look into Africa - the likes of which the world had never seen before

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  24. Chinua Achebe stated in the beginning of the video that he wrote this book so that people could become aware of what was really happening in the world. This was shown throughout the book when he used authentic African words in the story. He also said he deliberately made Okonkwo a violent character so that he could give off a kind of realness to the story by again showing us how it really was. Lastly when it came to religion he said that his family was Christian when he was born but as he grew older he started to believe that the story about Christianity “wasn’t whole”. This is why he added religion to the story. To tell his readers what he believed in and to subtly represent that part of his life.

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  25. Things Fall Apart was one of the first books written that told the story of colonization from the perspective of the people who lived there first, including a variety of parts (good, bad, unusual, universal) of the culture. After showing Ibo culture, Achebe then was able to explore the effects of the Europeans on Ibo life. This history was one that was common to many places around the world (Korea, the Americas, Australia, other parts of Africa), but it had been written about primarily by the colonists. By writing from an Ibo perspective, Achebe inspired other people to tell their stories about when their cultures were changed by colonization, which was a new take on colonial history, and one that had not yet been heard.
    (This is Sam Wood. My blog has my name from French class.)

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  26. Achebes overall point with this novel is to prove to western civilizations and people that African cultures do show savagery and primitive ways of life but the ways have a point and come with a complex government and council system. That all the doings of sacrificing people, and beating children and wives, and excommunications is all for a purpose. Because Achebe is writing this novel from the perspective of the African Culture he shows us how it really is and gives us a trusting standpoint. With the use of the Ibo language he also encourages the writing of other perspectives from different cultures with colonization. This novel was Achebes truth and now it is ours due to the authentic perspective.

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  27. Chinua Achebe wanted western civilization to be able to the real culture of Africa. He wrote about how his people had to adjust and except the missionaries and how they had to deal with the change that the Europeans brought with them. Until this book was written all people really understood and knew about African civilization was what they read in books written by other white europeans. This book offered a new perspective that nobody has seen before, Achebe did not was truthful about his heritage he didn't say that they were perfect and civilized people, he wrote the truth. Achebe wanted his book to be true fiction. I also thinks its interesting that not only africans can relate to this book, the Koreans have related to this book to with japan colonizing the Koreas.

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  28. I think that this novel has a lot of significance. Before Achebe wrote this book, people only had knowledge of African culture through white European writers. Achebe gave the perspective of a native African born. He wanted to show that not all of Africa was just full of savages and how they had a government and a complex society unlike the stories of Africa depicted by non Africans. Achebe does say though that he makes Okonkwo a violent character so he can correctly portray the truth of Africa. Due to the popularity of this book, Achebe has changed a lot of readers views about what Africa is really like.

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  29. Chinua Achebe’s novel is significant because it allowed the world to see Africa from the other side of the lens. Before his novel was published only European writers had written about Africa, which misled the readers to think maybe African culture was primitive or uncivilized. This is just because they came from a different part of the world and did not take the time to learn the complexities of the African culture they were invading. Through the novel you see the complexities of the culture and reasoning behind it, which is what Achebe wanted to do. He also did this by not demonizing the Europeans, but also not glorifying the Africans. Achebe said the reason the novel blew up and gained the popularity it did was because around the world, anyone could relate to it. Achebe’s writing has allowed the world to flip their outlook on Africa to an authentic, true picture of the complex culture.

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  30. In the novel "Things Fall Apart", Chinua Achebe shows us a view of African society in the African view. Before the release of the novel, Europeans wrote stories about the African way of life. However, some of the stories were untrue mainly because the Europeans didn't know what African society because they didn't experience the events of African culture. That's one of the reasons why Achebe wrote the book, to give us a clearer view of the African way of life, it's religious views,it's sophisticated and often at times savage lifestyle, and what the people of the tribe were like it's social class, and their role in the tribe.

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  31. Achebe talks about the culture in Africa from a unique perspective. He isn't just a reporter that did research on Africa, he actually lived it and knows things that most people do not comprehend. He shows how all of the things that westerners believe about people in Africa are mostly just false assumptions. He goes into detail about specific parts of society in African tribes and brings light to the unknown characteristics of African culture

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