Things Fall Apart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Things Fall Apart - Essay Example For the first time, an African intellectual and researcher was portraying the Igbo society from the nationalistic perspective. Realization dawned on the thinking Achebe that the untold story about the Africans must be told by an African writer, and not by the white-skinned historian or the novelist, through their colored glasses and biased pen. His mission was to prove the original beauty about complexity and sophistication of African society which the colonial power termed as the society of savages. The colonial powers had caused irreparable damage to country’s social, cultural and political fabric. The historical clock had taken the full circle. The publication of the novel came as the warning shot to the colonial powers, when it saw the light of the day two years before Nigeria’s independence and series novels on the subject of colonist racist claims and hailing African culture, history and society appeared on the scene. Achebe can be considered as the architect for launching the literary movement for the artistic and cultural renaissance of Nigeria and Africa and challenging the colonial-inspired, coated and opinionated literature that mocked at the profound African traditions. Achebe demonstrated how pen was mightier than the sword. By depicting the various facets of just one character, Okonkwo, Chinua Achebe informs us so much about the African Culture and lifestyles prevailing then, and their customs and traditions. The description of his physical strength is symbolic of the physical strength of the African tribal communities as a whole. His father was a lazy man, good for nothing and given to drinks. The nature and aptitude of Okonkwo was exactly opposite. And only an African author of the caliber of Achebe describes his traits in a befitting manner. The European writers would not have the writing skills to create a character like Okonkwo, because they are unable to gauge the depth of the inner world of the