Art & Things Fall Apart

In the novel Things Fall Apart, art never really came up but sort of did indirectly. The only way we could think of is that their culture is surrounded by ojects that are hand made by the people to be used in everyday life, such as the robes, pots, huts, war masks, etc., so technically their culture could be very impacted by art whether you consider these objects art or not.

Biography of Chinua Achebe

• Chinua was born Albert Chinualumogu Achebe in the Igbo village of Nneobi, on November 16th, 1930.
• Storytelling was a mainstay of the Igbo tradition and a big part of the community.
• At the age of twelve, Achebe moved away from his family to the village of Nekede.
• In Nekede, Achebe gained an appreciation for Mbari, a traditional art form which seeks to invoke the gods' protection through symbolic sacrifices in the form of sculpture and collage.
• Went to Nigeria's first university, then know as University College but now known as University of Ibadan

Novels

• Things Fall Apart
• No Longer at Ease
• Arrow of God
• A Man of the People
• Anthills of the Savannah

Unoka

Okonkwo

By Tommy Carr

Ikemefuna

Haiku of Setting

The lower Niger
Is a place where Igbo's live
People harvest yams

Harvesting is hard
Umuofia suffers droughts
Finally rain comes

Huts made out of earth
Tribes gather for protection
Women and children

Setting

The setting in Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart is very important to the story. The novel, which takes place in the 1890’s portrays the clash between Nigeria’s eastern white colonial government and Okonkwo’s Igbo tribe. There are nine villages within the Igbo ethnic group of Umuofia, Nigeria. Umuofia is a very strong, skillful, and traditional clan. Things Falls Apart is a novel filled with many setting based themes:

1. Cultures are continuously changing and adapting in order to succeed.
2. Language is a symbol that defines cultural and setting differences.
3. Each culture’s view can be narrow minded and limited yet each culture or location can benefit from one another.

Religion and Philosophy

Things Fall Apart is strongly connected to religion and philosophy. In the novel religion is unlike religion in our world today. In Okonkwo’s clan religion is a life style – almost like a philosophy. They live everyday in fear of sin and as seen in the novel, go to extremes to cleanse the town and themselves their transgressions or tufia (a curse or an oath).

• Oracle of the Hills – called Agbala, lives in a cave which serves as a shrine. People come to her to discover what the future holds for them or to consult the spirits of their dead fathers.
• Music – is a huge part of the clan it serves as a way to honor ancestors and worship God. A lot of the women and children also sing songs to keep themselves busy during the day or for enjoyment.
• Egwugwu - a tribesman who impersonates ancestral spirits of the village.
• Ceremonies – every ceremony involves the village from weddings to court cases everyone attends. There are also many ceremonies where the Egwugwu dance.

Science and Technology

In the novel Things Fall Apart there are very few connections to science and technology. The only connection we could find was indirect. We assumed that when the white men missionaries came to Umuofia and Mbanta they brought with them some type of technology or a more industrial way of living.

Poetry Connections

1. po-et-ry (noun)
the art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts.

Poetry is presented within the novel through celebration and collaborated teachings to express thoughts and feelings of important moments. It is a form of personal expression often times put to music as an even deeper form of self-release/elevated thoughts to help celebrate the time. Poetry evokes greater meaning to situations and helps listeners gain a better understanding of situations. Although poetry is sometimes a sophisticated composition written by skilled poets, often times it is just a rythmic chanting used to unite people in celebration.

For example:
"Who will wrestle for our village?
Okafo will wrestle for our village.
Has he thrown a hundred men?
He has thrown a hundred men.
Has he thrown aa hundred Cats?
He has thrown a hundred Cats.
Then send him to fight for us." (p.51)

This is an expression/chant used to unite the people cheering for Okafo and intimidate the opponent that he is fighting. Simple words chanted by crowds are able to ignite the adrenaline within people and motivate them to higher levels of intensity.

Ekewifi

Plot Overview

Okonkwo is a wealthy and respected warrior from the Umuofia clan, part of lower Nigera. His father, Unoka, was very unsuccessful and he fears that he follow in his footsteps. Okonkwo takes in a boy won by the village named Ikemefuna. Ikemefuna becomes close friends with Okonkwo’s son Nwoye, but when the clan tells Okonkwo that the boy must be sacrificed because he has become too close to Okonkwo– Okonkwo murders him, even though he isn’t supposed to be a part of the death.

A respected elderly villager, Ezeudu, dies and at the funeral Okonkwo’s gun explodes and kills Ezeudu’s son. Okonkwo is exiled for 7 years because he killed a fellow clansman. Okonkwo travels with his family to Mbanta where his uncle Uchendu lives. He is warmly welcomed and starts to build a farm and huts for his wives. Missionaries come and try to convert the villagers, Okonkwo resists the change. Okonkwo and his clan, the egwugwu, burn the Christian church to the ground. They are thrown in jail where they suffer physical abuse.

After they are released the clansmen hold a meeting which is interrupted by missionaries – Okonkwo kills a messanger with a machete attempting an uprising, but no one follows him. The District Commissioner arrives at Okonkwo’s compound to find that he has hung himself. The commissioner is writing a book and decides Okonkwo’s rebellion and death will make a good chapter, the book is to be called: The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger.

Uchendu

Priorities

Due to Okonkwo's desire to never be like his father, Unoka, and become a respected man in the village, he often loses sight of what is truly important in life. When Okonkwo returns to his motherland during his seven years of exile, he learns from his wise uncle, Uchendu, that his problems are nothing compared to other tragedies that many villagers experience. He teaches Okonkwo that even though life can have problems, you should never let sorrow weigh you down, since Okonkwo has a duty to care for his wives and his children. Uchendu has buried twenty-two children and has lost all of his wives, but he still continues on in his life. Lastly, he asks Okonkwo to seek comfort in his motherland and care for his family and ancestors rather than worry about his sorrows of life.

Change

One concept that is explored in the novel is change versus tradition. As white men and missionaries take over the village, Okonkwo is determined to maintain his village's tradition and resist change. Also, this desire to resist Christianity taking over the village is due to an inner-struggle within Okonkwo that contains fear of becoming cowardly like his father, Unoka, and fear of bringing shame to his village. Throughout his life, Okonkwo was determined to never be like his father, Unoka, and it was shown through his determination to eliminate the threat of white men taking over the village

Kinship

Later in the novel, as religion and colonization become threats against the village of Umuofia, it becomes apparent that kinship helps to keep the village united in defending itself from outside threats. Often as years progress, kinship begins to die, and Okonkwo begins to realize the importance of coming together as a village, learning from each other and bonding. This realization comes due to his desire to resist outside threats and maintain the cultural values of the village.

Language

This novel explores the concept of language and how it is an important part of culture and its growth. Achebe shows in the novel that knowledge and information are passed between villagers through stories and proverbs, and these stories inform the children of the village in order to maintain tradition and values. An example is when Ekwefi, Okonkwo's second wife, tells the family the story of the origin of the tortoise and why its shell is not smooth. Although the story is simply entertaining, it brings the family and the village together and teaches important life lessons. Language in the novel shows the importance of preserving tradition and upholding the customs of the village.

Importance of Music

Music has a large importance in the novel. As seen many times in the novel, knowledge is often exchanged through melodious music and simple folksongs and these songs are handed down from generation to generation. Also, when the villages gather in the market place, drums are beaten to begin certain festivities, whether it be a wedding or an important meeting. The beat and rhythm keep flowing within Okonkwo and the people of the village, which can relate to the rhythm of life, changing throughout its path, but continuing nonetheless. Lastly, the events that occur in Okonkwo's life in the novel can mirror a song that has different sections that evoke emotions of happiness, disappointment or sorrow, and the end of the novel represents the end of Okonkwo's beat and rhythm within him, much like the ending of a song.

Introduction

Welcome to 1st hour's choice book blog. We will be discussing the novel, Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, and the novel's character development, different settings, historical and biographical information, thematic conclusions and connection to music and poetry.