‘Things Fall Apart’: A Greek Tragedy Set in Pre-colonial Nigeria

A review of ‘Things Fall Apart’, by Chinua Achebe; William Heinemann, 1958.

Things Fall Apart is as one of the greatest novels in African literature. Set in the 19th century in the fictional village of Umuofia, it deals with Okonkwo, a proud Igbo man who, in the tradition of Greek tragedy, has a fatal flaw. But the story is as much a study of the culture and everyday life of people in West Africa before the Europeans came, as well as the tricky, painful, often violent working out of tradition and change that ensued. New ideas put the social and cultural mores of small communities at grave risk. Sometimes, they simply wiped them out.

Okonkwo, writes Achebe, was ‘well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements.’ For Okonkwo is a champion wrestler, a brave warrior, a self-made man. He is a hard worker who has won the esteem of his peers. But he is still restless, keen to escape the shame of his father’s laziness, wastefulness and effeminacy. Indeed, Okonkwo’s success springs from this need to mark himself out as different from his forebear. Unlike his come-easy-go-easy father, Okonkwo is a staunch traditionalist with firm ideas about right and wrong. He also has views about manhood, views that make him violent and drive him from his family. He cannot show weakness. Thus his good and bad traits are two sides of the same coin. In the style of Greek tragedy, these are the cause of his rise – and cause of his fall.

Okonkwo, Achebe writes, was ‘well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements.’

Tradition, and the extent to which it can handle change, is a theme. Okonkwo’s life reflects the village tradition, with its festivals, ways of farming, sense of justice, approach to kinship. Achebe traces Igbo culture with care, describing, for instance, how egwugwu, a belief in ancestral spirits that is easy to dismiss, is crucial to group unity and decision-making. Achebe has defended cultures of the kind elsewhere: in The Education of a British-protected Child, for instance, he attacks James Baldwin and others for claiming or suggesting Africa did not exist before colonialism, and that the only way to transmit or contain a culture is literary. Okonkwo is proud of his culture, devoted to its customs: he uphold rules when it is cruel to do so and submits to the law when it is not in his interest.

The arrival of European missionaries marks a turning point. They bring Christianity, new laws, and a desire to ‘civilise’ the Igbo, seeing their customs as savage. Okonkwo views them as a threat to everything he stands for. But his people are curious. Some are hospitable. This allow the Europeans to put down roots. ‘The white man is very clever,’ writes Achebe. ‘He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one.’ Members of the village, convinced of the truth of Christianity, convert; others dig their heels in and demand the Europeans go. Social cohesion starts to dissolve as divisions emerge. Those who once shared a common bond start to see each other as strangers, even enemies.

The arrival of European missionaries marks a turning point.

Like a Greek tragedy, the story is split into three, with harmony giving way to discord as it unfolds. The first part deals with Okonkwo’s life and Igbo customs; the second, with his exile and village life's transformation. In the final act, the people of Umuofia must reckon with colonial rule. And all this is laid out in prose that is plain and charged with meaning. Achebe leans on Igbo proverbs, such as ‘If a child washes his hands he could eat with kings’ to anchor the tale in Igbo culture and transmit values without exposition. These proverbs are a drum-beat, bringing rhythm to the story, showing how tradition is woven into village life. They give readers a way to understand the 19th-century Igbo worldview.

Things Fall Apart is a tragedy that explores pride, tradition, change and loss. Achebe’s prose, simple and poignant, tells a story about the order of a community and one man’s struggle to uphold its values. Achebe makes no judgement on merits of one culture or another. Rather, through Okonkwo, he explores the pain of one caught between love of his way of life and the reality of change, sometimes by outside forces. This is what gives Things Fall Apart its lasting power. Achebe writes not just of Okonkwo and Umuofia, but of Africans, and the still-fresh scars left by colonisation.