Things Fall Apart
Uploaded by jkalebuka on Jun 14, 2013
THE UNITED CHURCH OF ZAMBIA
CHIPEMBI GIRLS SECONDARY SCHOOL
LITERATURE SECTION
Book under study: Things Fall Apart – ACHEBE
Author’s Background
Chinua Achebe was born as Albert Chinualumongu on 16th November 1930, to Isaiah and Janet Achebe, who christened their son “Albert” after Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Achebe was born in an Igbo Christian evangelical family in the village of Ogidi, Eastern Nigeria. His father, Isaiah Okafor Achebe, was catechist for the Church Missionary Society. He and his wife, Janet, were evangelists who travelled to Eastern Nigeria in Ogidi, Isaiah’s ancestral Igbo village. Achebe had contact with both Chritian and Igbo religious beliefs and customs.
However, he denounced an English name when he was at the university and became commonly as Chinua Achebe. Achebe attended his primary education at the church school in Ogidi, and then he was selected to secondary school at a Government College in Umuahia. Upon completion of secondary education, Achebe was offered a scholarship to study medicine at the University of Ibadan but after a year he decided to switch to the study of Bachelor of Arts Degree majoring in English-History and Theology.
After his graduation, Achebe took a position as Talks Producer for the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC). He was also the director of External Services in charge of the voice Nigeria. He has also taught at the USA and Nigerian universities. He was the professor of English. He lived in the US after he obtained the American citizenship till his death. He was married and had four children. He died at the age of 83 in March 2013.
Novel’s Synopsis
Things Fall Apart tells the tragic of Okonkwo, who determined to overcome the example of his lazy and imprudent father, elevates himself to a position of respect in the Igbo community of Umuofia through acts of strength, courage, and endurance. Unfortunately, Okonkwo’s obsessive fear of failure makes him a humorless and short-tempered man whose pride and violence undercut from his reputation in the community.
Three Parts of the Novel
African Society Before the Coming of the Whites: – Chptr. 1 to 13
Arrival of the Missionaries and Colonialists in the African Community: – Chptr. 14 to 19
The Effects/impact of the Whites’ Power on the African Society:...