Things Fall Apart

1. Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

2. About the Author • Born November 15, 1930 in Ogidi, Nigeria • Family belonged to the Igbo tribe • He was the fifth of six children • His parents were convinced by the British controlling Nigeria to give up their tribal religion and become Christians • He grew up a Christian, too, but was curious about the more traditional Nigerian faiths

3. About the Author • He wrote five novels, of which Things Fall Apart is the most famous • He became involved in politics and actively crusaded for help for those in his country suffering • He was involved in a car accident in 1990 and is now paralyzed from the waist down

4. About the Author • He was unhappy with books written about Africa by the British (like Heart of Darkness and Mister Johnson) because they were inaccurate and insulting • He wrote Things Fall Apart to combat this image. It is about a traditional warrior hero, Okonkwo, who is unable to adapt to the changing conditions under British rule.

5. About the Book • Published in 1959, written in English • The title comes from a poem by W.B. Yeats, “The Second Coming” • The language is simple, but dignified • The book questions both the tribal traditions of the Igbo and the influence of the white man in Nigeria

6. “The white man has put a knife in the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.”