Things Fall Apart and Universal Appeal - 951 Words

Things Fall Apart-Universal Appeal Confronted with a global conscious filled with hazy, negative conception of the African reality, appalled with such one sided works as Heart of Darkness and Mr. Johnson, Chinua Achebe determined in 1958 to inform the outside world about Ibo cultural traditions1. One can appreciate then, Achebe s inclusion of universal themes and concepts in is novel as a means of bridging the cultural gap with his audience and reiterating that Africans are in the end, human, just as members of any other race.Woven throughout the text of Things Fall Apart are universal themes in the form of images, concepts, and situations. â€Å"Does the white man understand our custom about land? How can he when he does not even†¦show more content†¦Some may hold that the novel is not a universal one, sighting inexplicable, foreign practices Achebe includes in the book without completely explaining them, (e.g Unoka s approach to his debtor, the unspoken laws of apology/ the kola nut), if he meant to give the novel a universal appeal, why did he include strange practices particular to Igbo culture? One must not forget that one intent of Achebe was to present Igbo culture through more objective eyes, and also through native eyes as had yet to be succesfully done. By leaving the reader to draw logical conclusions of their own with these matters, he also succeds in challenging his reader to examine such idiosyncrasies of his own culture, as is demonstrated in the discussion between the chief and original missionary Mr. Brown in which Achebe juxtaposes wooden idols and masked gods with the holy trinity. The success of Things Fall Apart can be attributed to the strategies Achebe employs in his story telling. Achebe succeds in maintaing the his goal- accurate representation of Ibo life, while presenting the information in a manner relatable to those not native to the culture. He also manages, in the process, to highlight some of the reasons behind the collapse of African cultures and helps us find those those things lost inShow MoreRelatedChinua Achebe s Things Fall Apart1308 Words   |  6 PagesIn Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the reader is taken on a literary journey to a Nigerian tribe, the Umuofia, to experience first-hand the struggles of a warrior named Okonkwo. At first glance, the novel appears to be written for a very specific audience: scholars familiar with Nigerian history, traditions, and culture. 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