Essays On Books

Things Fall Apart Masculine/Feminine In most cultures an individual’s gender will influence their characterization. For instance, Ibo tribes in Africa classify people according to their gender. Women are thought as submissive individuals who are to some extent weaker than men. Men on the other hand are thought of as strong beings with much expected from […]

After I finished reading Things Fall Apart, my mind was left pondering certain aspects of the book. The major issue that continued to nag at my thoughts was the relationship between the main character Okonkwo and his son Nwoye. We see through the book that these two characters, with their vastly different character traits, can […]

In society, everyone faces their own share of downfall as achievements can lead to a sudden loss. Okonkwo, the protagonist in the novel Things Fall Apart, has accomplished many things in life. However, what happens when circumstances take a negative turn? Is an individual accountable for their own misfortunes? As mentioned earlier, Okonkwo has achieved […]

This splendid short novel demonstrates Achebe’s continuing ability to depict the challenges posed to African societies by modernism and Western influence. It details the plight of three educated, upper-class Africans attempting to survive in an atmosphere of political oppression and cultural confusion. Set in the fictional African country of Kangan, it is clearly patterned after […]

Achebe’s “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness” (The Massachusetts Review.18 (1977): 782-94) passionately criticizes Conrad’s portrayal of Africa and Africans in his novel Heart of Darkness. Achebe’s own novel, Things Fall Apart, directly opposes Conrad’s perspective and is a challenge to Western views. This analysis will examine the validity of Achebe’s […]

The first novel by Chinua Achebe is a modern-day authoritative picturing a masculine- based society even before the British settlers arrived. The nature of the great extent of female subjugation by work forces has been the topic of baffled argument among the literary. The authors Ama Ata Aidoo of Ghana every bit good as the […]

After the stock market crash of 1929, hundreds of people ended their lives because they just couldn’t cope with the fact that they had lost such a great deal of money. Some had lost their life savings – but most hadn’t. In fact, most of them still had enough to live better than a lot […]

This essay discusses the impact of Colonialism as depicted in the book Things Fall Apart. The tribe, various individuals, and the interactions between the white and black communities are all influenced by Colonialism throughout the narrative. “Does the white man understand our custom about land?” “How can he when he does not even speak our […]

In his novel Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe draws a lively portrait of a Nigerian people, the Igbo, at the end of the nineteenth century, when the British colonization began in Africa. Chinua Achebe’s main achievement in the novel is that of accurately rendering a complex picture of the African cultural tradition and identity from […]

Whenever blacks and women are linked in discussions by Western feminists, black women are ignored in two ways – as black people and as women (Hooks 1981, 8). Apart from using the analogy between women and black people, Western feminism has also regularly made use of the image of colonial annexation, whereby the Western white […]

What might be good for one person might be bad for others and what might be bad for one might be good for others. This and more were my realizations while reading the novel  Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe (1958/ 1992).

Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines a hero as “A mythological or legendary figure of great strength or ability”, or “A man admired for his achievements and abilities”. Although he has his flaws, Okonkwo from Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart fits this definition of a hero. As a true historical person, Okonkwo is not a mythological figure, […]

Religion all around the world can be considered to account for many habitual activities in people’s daily lives. Chinua Achebe, the author of Things Fall Apart, gives insight on this matter in the eyes of the Igbo people by demonstrating how their set of beliefs dictate the life they lead. When examining the religious doctrines […]

The book “Things fall apart” by Chinua Achebe depicts Okonkwo as a tragic hero according to Aristotle’s definition. Okonkwo, a central character of noble birth, possesses a fatal flaw that ultimately leads to his downfall. To determine if Okonkwo fulfills the criteria of a tragic hero, we need to examine Aristotle’s four-part definition. By chapter […]

Tragic heroes exemplify a number of qualities including courage and some type of personal sacrifice. The character Okonkwo in the novel Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, demonstrates many of the characteristics of a tragic hero. However, he also exhibits many qualities not representatives of a tragic hero. There are many ways to define a […]

This deepens/extends the meaning of Achebe’s title and novel because the main center of the Igbo tribe was losing its strength and conflicts were bound to happen because of this. Okonkwo was quite popular throughout the villages. After a wrestling match he began to gain fame. He was tall, huge, and had bushy eyebrows with […]

For the past thousands of years, cultures around the world have set strict systems of behavioral customs assigned to each gender. These customs restrict the freedom of women, and help to reinforce generation after generation the notion that women are inferior to men. Yet, as time has progressed, a common conception has formed that the […]

Realistic Hero in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Tom Sawyer, the main character of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, written by Mark Twain, is an average boy who is bored with his civilized life and escapes these constraints by pulling pranks. The character, Tom is presented as a realistic and convincing boy. He is kind […]

The Talisman In 1981, Stephen King and Peter Straub teamed up to create the first “dark fantasy” novel, two horror novelists’ take on a classic adventure story of a child moving from the mundane real world to a larger-than-life fantasy world right next door, for the sake of a quest critical to the survival of […]

Existentialism is the reaction against the tradition approach to the objective, abstract understandings of human behavior. It involves the study of individuals who exist independently of cultures, traditions and law and how these circumstances affect their lives. Jean-Paul Sartre defined ‘existentialism’ as ‘existence precedes essence’ and drew the differentiating line between inanimate objects and human […]

The nonchalant attitude towards the transformation suggests the overwhelming power of Fate. Gregor sees no point in panicking as there is nothing he can do to reverse it. The matter-of-fact assertion highlights Gregor’s, not Kafka’s, approach towards the transformation. Despite its odd calmness, there are multiple explanations for why Gregor handles the change this way. […]

Franz Kafka: How his relationship with his father was revealed in “A Letter to My Father”, “The Judgment”, & “The Metamorphosis”? Franz Kafka is an icon of dark existentialist and absurdist literature that frequently wrote about themes of isolation, alienation, and authoritarian oppression. His well-known work includes the short stories “The Metamorphosis”, and “ The […]