Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Chinua Achebe, in his novel, Things Fall Apart, exhibits the importance and beauty of the wrestling match in the Igbo tribe. Achebe’s purpose is to explain how drums and pots are more than just objects, they are symbols of their culture. He adopts a playful tone, in order to get opinionated people to think about how celebrations bring people together to form their culture. Through pages 42 to 44, Achebe, uses diction, personification, and dramatic irony to display the amount of emphasis objects can influence culture. The word choice used by Achebe throughout this passage illuminates how well known drumming was in their village. “The drums beat the unmistakable wrestling dance ━quick, light and gay, and it came floating on the wind” (42). Unmistakable references the memorization of the

Either way, the wrestling match was imperative. The use of personifications in the book give readers the impression that the drums were vital to their celebrations. “[The drums were] like the pulsation of its heart” (44). This personification demonstrates the distinct beats and the importance of the drums in the Igbo culture. Without the heart, our bodies cannot pump blood through our veins and therefore, we would die. The drums represent the importance of a heart, that without them, culture would die, or at least, wouldn’t be the same. Not only have the drums affected the culture, but the use of dramatic irony has also expressed how pots have been involved with the florid and divergent parades within the Igbo tribe. “Obiageli had been [showing off] with her pot. She had balanced it on her head, folded her arms in front of her and began to sway her waist like a grown-up lady. When the pot fell down and broke she burst out laughing. She only began to weep when they got near...their compound”