Things Fall Apart Rhetorical Analysis

“There is no story that is not true.” (Things Fall Apart 141). Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe, in his historical fiction text, Things Fall Apart, emphasizes that just because a culture is unique does not make it bad or wrong. Achebe wants to reduce the amount of shown ignorance to anyone different and offer insight to the Nigerian people. He assumes a sympathetic tone to Umuofia by connecting his characters to his audience, the Europeans, and Western Civilization. Achebe uses ethos, pathos, and logos to connect the themes of family and government.
Achebe employs rhetorical devices to start introducing the aspects of family and government. Ethos is used because it gives Achebe more credibility due to the fact that he is from Nigeria. He also

The reason that family is mainly focused on is that Okonkwo is staying outside of the clan with his mother's kinsmen. Okonkwo's family has to establish a new farm and therefore are working very hard. Pathos is used by making the readers sympathetic towards the family. “Okonkwo and his family worked very hard to plant a new farm.”(131) By doing this Achebe is able to draw the readers in, to fully connect them, whether it's for the good or the bad. Now that the readers have a better connection with Okonkwo's family and know that Nwoye was thought to be like Okonkwo's father, Achebe brings forth the feeling of betrayal. “What moved Obierika to visit Okonkwo was the sudden appearance of the latter's son, Nwoye, among the missionaries in Umuofia” (143) With his quote it is known that Okonkwo will feel betrayal, and since the audience is connected to him they know that he will feel betrayed. Achebe once again uses pathos to portray the feeling of betrayal.”How then could he have begotten a son like Nwoye, degenerate and effeminate?” (153) It can see from this that Okonkwo believes that Nwoye has disgraced the family name, and Okonkwo regrets having him as a

Okonkwo comes back to find he has lost his spot in the higher-ups of the clan “He had lost the chance to lead his war clan against the new religion, which, he was told, had gained ground.” (171)Achebe uses logos in this in order to give us an understanding of what happens on the punishment side of life. In this portion of the novel, Okonkwo is back in Umuofia, and he finds the tribe has been taken over by the missionaries. “The white missionary was very proud of him and he was one of the first men in Umuofia to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion, or Holy Feast as it was called in Igbo.” (174) Ethos occurs in this section because of who is meant to read this. Achebe wants to get his point across to Europeans and the western world; however, they would not read this if the white men were portrayed as evil and inaccurate. By using celebrations and sacraments that actually occur Achebe gains credibility of his work. Earlier in the book Achebe talked about how Umuofia was feared by the other clans, by letting the missionaries in and granting them the land to stay they have lost some of that respect. “If Umuofia decides on war, all would be well. But if they chose to be cowards, he [Okonkwo] would go out and avenge himself.” (199). Achebe helps the audience understand that some people in these tribes need to be the strongest, which is why he would include how