Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart follows a wealthy and respected warrior, Okonkwo, living in a late 1800’s Nigerian tribe. Haunted by the actions that led his father, Unoka, into exile, Okonkwo leads his life by rejecting his father’s feeble and “feminine” demeanor. To fully denounce his father’s scarred reputation, Okonkwo embodies, what he feels, is an ideal warrior to a great extreme. While Okonkwo hopes to gain the respect of his clan, his actions that reflect this warrior construct are interpreted differently by his fellow clansmen.

Achebe immerses readers in pages of pure Igbo culture, bringing readers into a full understanding of the societal customs and government of the Igbo people in Nigeria at this moment in time. However, the end of the novel is met with the growing and consuming influence of British colonial expansion. Through tactics of pacification and outward violence, the colonial missionaries successfully break apart Okonkwo’s tribe. When Okonkwo attempts to resist these abrupt changes, his clan responds indifferently to his ambition. Through this rejection, Okonkwo meets his tragic downfall as a result of his weak collective identity.

Achebe concludes in the novel with a jarring transition into the perspective of a colonial missionary, in which the missionary decides to write a novel, titled The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger, that encapsulates Okonkwo’s tragic and complex life into a single paragraph. The demeaning language used in this title, as well as the arrogance and indifference highlighted in the missionary’s brief inclusion of Okonkwo, struck me the hardest. I felt that the most significant moment of the novel occurred at the end, in which Achebe illuminates a major global issue: outsider perspectives, such as that of the missionary, diminish and flatten the depth of insider perspectives.

While insider perspectives show depth and reality, outsider perspectives can misrepresent, simplify, or erase the lived reality of underprivileged groups. The insensitivity of an outsider can strip the dignity and traditions of an insider, creating a contrast between what readers know and what an outsider records. Ultimately, Achebe’s novel presents readers with a universal message: perspective directs our knowledge and only those with first-hand knowledge and experience should have the privilege of telling their story.

Last summer, I decided to explore contemporary international literature further when I discovered Chinua Achebe’s African Trilogy, starting with Things Fall Apart, a book about an Igbo warrior’s struggle against British colonialism and the devaluation of his culture. I found this book particularly interesting, as it offered a new, first-person perspective of the effects of European colonialism that no history textbook could really replicate.

The book begins with an introduction to Okonkwo, the main character of this novel, who is a wealthy warrior and a “man of title” in his hometown of Umuofia. From a young age, Okonkwo adopts an opposite view of life to that of his father, Unoka, whom he viewed as weak and “effeminate” due to his laziness and love for the arts. Due to this start, Okonkwo worked as hard as possible to rise above his condition, gaining a rigid worldview as a result.

As the story progresses, Achebe reveals more aspects of pre-colonial Africa through his storytelling. After a funeral ceremony ritual involving a gun salute goes wrong, resulting in the death of a 16-year-old, Okonkwo gets exiled for 7 years to his motherland, Mbanta, as a punishment for his direct involvement. In Mbanta, Okonkwo begins to hear stories from his friend, Obierika, about the arrival of European missionaries. As years pass in exile, Okonkwo witnesses the devaluation of their traditional religious beliefs and values.

Through Okonkwo, Achebe attempts to explore the theme of masculinity as one that is central to the novel, particularly through Okonkwo’s rigid ideals about strength and weakness, which render him stoic to a fault. Okonkwo’s rigid categorization of activities that he considers “feminine” and “masculine,” along with his struggle to remain in control throughout the novel, can ultimately be interpreted as reasons behind his inability to adapt to changing circumstances.

Overall, I found Achebe’s storytelling style, as well as the narrative that this book sends, incredibly powerful. Through his usage of proverbs and an accurate depiction of traditional Igbo culture, Achebe paints a vivid picture of pre-colonial African society and gives the reader a new perspective on the effects of European colonialism. I would recommend this book, as well as the other two books in this trilogy, to anybody who is interested in world history, particularly the history of African literature.