Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

The phrase, “History is written by the victors” represents the idea of those in positions of power holding the greatest influence over the illustration and perception of history. The heroes, villains, and historical events of history have all been depicted through the lens of one side. Yet, that illustration does not always exemplify the true story. This biased historical narrative leads to the main purpose of Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, to tell the story from a once silenced perspective.

The story chronicles the colonization of the African village of Umuofia through the eyes of Okonkwo, one of the most, “…well known [members] throughout,” the territory, and his family (Achebe 1). After his accidental murder of a young man, Okonkwo

In Okonkwo, the author establishes a character whose, “…whole life is dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (Achebe 13). This fear that drives Okonkwo to success within the village also leads him to push away anything he sees as falling outside the social and cultural boundaries of the tribe. He kills his adopted son, Ikemefuna, because he is, “…afraid of being seen as weak,” and asks himself why, “…of all people, [he] should be cursed with such a son,” as Nwoye that breaks away from the tribe (Achebe 61 & 152). This fear of the unknown controls Okonkwo’s life and the decisions he makes. So when the missionaries enter the village and bring a new religion and government, it is Okonkwo’s natural instinct to fight back against them. Yet, he does not realize the power and influence they have gained over the territory in his time away, ultimately leading to his empty attempt to fight back. Okonkwo’s desire to fight back masks his fear of this inevitable change. His anger and aggressive behavior is his primary method of denial against all that he knows being thrown away, a reaction that many people would have. In contrast, Okonkwo’s son, Nwoye, reacts differently to these outside forces. When his brother, Ikemefuna, is killed, “…something seemed to give way inside of him,” he essentially lost his innocence, lost the role model that connected to him

The missionaries are compared to locusts, where initially, “…a fairly small swarm came… [then] a boundless sheet of black cloud drift[ed] towards Umuofia,” and finally, “They settled on every blade of grass… and covered the bare ground” (Achebe 56). This comparison displays the large size, persistence, and eventual takeover of Umuofia by the missionaries, only they are not as easy to kill as the locusts. Furthermore, the missionaries, led by Reverend Smith, eventually bring an oppressive, violent form of rule to the tribe once they begin to gain more control, visualized by the, “…long stripes on Okonkwo’s back where the warder’s whip,” had beaten him (Achebe 199). Frantz Fanon writes about this relationship between settlers and indigenous people in his book, Wretched of the Earth. Fanon describes how indigenous people are, “…reduced to the state of an animal,” and how the, “…supremacy of white values is stated with such violence,” and the indigenous population’s inability to fight back (Fanon 7 & 9). The Algerian psychiatrist also details how, “…the colonial subject learns to remain in his place,” something that Okonkwo learns in his defeat and Nwoye learns in the western religion (Fanon 15). Fanon highlights the aspect of acceptance, both forced and voluntary, that Achebe displays in the stories of these