Things%20Fall%20Apart

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Things Fall Apart

• Chinua Achebe

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Chinua Achebebrief biography

• Born 1930 in a Christian family in Ogidi in
  Eastern Nigeria
• By 1995 over 8 million copies of Things Fall
  Apart were sold
• Died in May 2013

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Igbo Society Social Political Structures

• Lack of centralized political structures
• Lived in autonomous villages towns, ruled by
  their elders
• Democracy was obtained through a council of
  elders, age groups, councils of chiefs, womens
  associations, and secret societies

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Igbo SocietyMarriage Customs

• Marriages were discussed in depth as they brought
  families entire villages together
• Most husbands practiced polygamy
• Igbo women lived in separate houses, cooked for
  themselves, and raised their own children
• Unhappy women could leave a marriage

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Igbo Society Igbo Religion (polytheistic)

• Chukwu (the supreme being) is everywhere at the
  same time--therefore there are no shrines or
  altars for worship
• Ekwensutrickster god who caused problems
• The ikenga a wooden carving that symbolizes a
  mans strength success
• Chi a persons personal godfollows you
  throughout life and can be either malevolent or
  benevolentbut chi does not control destiny

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Things Fall Apartbrief background

• Story is set between 1860 1890--written when
  Nigeria was finally ending colonial rule
• Central themewhat happens to the values that
  define Okonkwos cultural community define his
  sense of moral order when everything collapses in
  the face of European colonialism?
• Colonial rule destabilizes traditional values
  institutions
• There is a crisis of authority power, which
  leads to a crisis of culture