I was first introduced to Chinua Achebe when I listened to a reading of his poignant poem, Refugee mother and child. At the time I was just a naïve teen. The name Achebe never even stuck out to me. But what remained with me was the vivid imagery he had crafted with his words. Achebe has a way of sticking with you, even if it is only through words. And an excellent example of his ability to stick with you comes from his seminal work, Things Fall Apart. Yet, what more can be said about this novel that hasn’t been said already. It is the staple of many curriculums in Africa. It is accepted by many around the world as the quintessential African novel. And at times it appears as if its reputation precedes it.
Achebe was once asked to share some thoughts about the novel by a group of curious readers, to which he replied, ‘I have written other novels too, you know.’ And truly he has. There are many of his other works that deserve just as much praise. But like any other great work of classical fiction, one can always come back to this novel and draw something from it. And what I’d like to highlight here is the silent world of Achebe – the world of subtext and inference, of ambiguity and silent resistance.
Nwoye’s Gentle Spirit
Many who have read Things Fall Apart will know that it centers on the figure of Okonkwo – a physically dominant, champion wrestler, whose pragmatic stance towards life matches his boastful demeanor. There’s little regard in him for the opinions of women and children. The customs that are dear to him are those that are rooted in his culture. Okonkwo, metaphorically speaking, is the paternal spirit of the tribe, that ancient force that fully embodies a rigid world, closed within itself, that has reached its limits. But outside this world of Okonkwo is another world that is less rigid, a world represented by the soft-spoken voices of Okonkwo’s sons – Nwoye and Ikemefuna.
Lawrence Smith
Nwoye and Ikemefuna’s relationship is beautiful but short lived. Ikemefuna, Nwoye’s stepbrother, is brought to the clan and home of Okonkwo. But his stay is not permanent because of an inter-tribal custom that must be observed. Eventually Ikemefuna is led to a sad fate which leaves Nwoye devastated. This marks a significant point in the life of these boys, but it also reveals the bizarre customs that are part of this clan. In the absence of Ikemefuna, Nwoye is left without a buffer between him and his father. Ikemefuna used to tell Nwoye fantastical stories that would function as a form of escapism. Now without Ikemefuna he no longer had those. What remained was the reality of his father, and the rigid world he could never escape.
This reality lasts until Christian missionaries arrive at the village. To most villagers, especially his father, Christianity was an invading force. It was something foreign to the clan, something that undermined their gods and way of life. But the missionaries eventually grew in followers. One of these followers ended up being Nwoye. His conversion to the new religion did not appear by way of teaching. Rather, his conversion happened at a sentimental level. He heard hymns about brothers who sat in darkness and in fear. And these hymns seemed to answer a vague and persistent question that haunted his young soul – the question of Ikemefuna.
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye
Obierika’s Thoughtful Disposition
Another person that presents us with a different world from that of Okonkwo is Obierika. He is described as a man of thought rather than action. A position that is clearly antithetical to that of Okonkwo’s harsh pragmatism. Obierika’s world is one of silent reflection. He is the one that holds up the mirror of his culture to himself. These moments expose some of the troubles underlying the society’s core tenets. Obierika’s thoughts concern the very basis of his culture – why is violence the first resort, why must the innocent suffer? And could it possibly be that this system, that has sustained our way of life for so long, be fundamentally flawed? Such a thought never crossed Okonkwo.
ANG KIU KOK
So there are two things at play here, just like there were between Nwoye and Okonkwo. The two dynamics shown here are that of thoughtless action vs. thought-in-action. The impulsive actions of Okonkwo speak of an attitude that’s too immersed in the culture of one’s own, an attitude that has been calcified through blind devotion. For such an attitude, any diversion from what is known and familiar becomes nearly an existential threat. Whereas the attitude and approach of Obierika allows one to step out of that structure for a moment and see it as it is. Obierika, just like Nwoye, remind us that our highly esteemed traditions aren’t wholly beneficial as those who profess them to be. A pause in action, which is what Obierika truly represents, becomes a fundamental quality for a community unable to wake from the dream of their culture.
Ekwefi’s Courage
The final voice that makes up Achebe’s world of silence belongs to the women of Umuofia, particularly Ekwefi. Ekwefi, who is Okonkwo’s second wife, is forced to give her child up to the village priestess. The priestess plans on presenting the child to Agbala – the god that resides in the deepest parts of the forest. Ekwefi’s first reaction is instinctual, it is that of a mother who wants to protect her child. But the priestess is one who cannot be argued against. She too is a servant of the mighty Agbala who requires her servitude to be followed through. So Ekwefi’s daughter, her one and only child, is given no choice but to go with the priestess, in the thick of the night, to fulfil this custom.
Tawny Chatmon
Okonkwo’s reaction to this news is expected. He allows the priestess to do what she needs to do, as per custom of the land. He reclines into his hut and waits. But Ekwefi does not resign and she does not wait. She grows anxious. And her anxiety drives her towards action. Ekwefi decides to follow the priestess into the forest, in the dead of the night – for Ezinma, her daughter. She heads into the forest, without her husband, without a weapon of any kind, and goes bearing only her love for Ezinma. For Ekwefi, no custom was greater than her child’s safety. And no rule would prevent her from being there for her child. Even if that rule came from Okonkwo himself. This was a show of courage, unlike any other that was displayed in the entirety of the novel. Her resolution to follow her loved one, even into the darkest shadows, proved that her marginal voice had overcome her culture’s noise.
Achebe Today
Things Fall Apart is centered on the voice of one particular man, a tragic man perhaps, who sees his world fall apart, but resorts to tighten his grip on it. Nwoye, Ekwefi, and Obierika are Achebe’s way of showing us how one can loosen that grip. Culture can either make or break a society, and like all things a sense of balance is needed. The growing fragility of Umuofia became a precursor to the colonial destruction that followed. In the end Umuofia was a society on the brink of collapse, resulting from both internal and external forces.
Eliot Elisofon
The irony of it all, and this is testament to Achebe’s genius, is that Okonkwo, the central figure that is blamed for this society’s internal collapse, is also the figure that could have held it all together and prevented its total collapse. The balance that was needed to achieve this was not present in him. The only way forward was to become more forceful, more aggressive, and much louder than the noise that surrounded him. But Achebe reminds us, through these three estranged characters, that the best way to resist a noisy world is to find comfort in silence, thoughtfulness, and courage.
Closing Quote
‘Gradually the rains became lighter and less frequent, and earth and sky once again became separate. The rain fell in thin, slanting, showers through sunshine and quiet breeze. Children no longer stayed indoors but ran about singing:
“The rain is falling, the sun is shining,
Alone Nnadi is cooking and eating.”
Nwoye always wondered who Nnadi was and why he should live all by himself, cooking and eating. In the end he decided that Nnadi must live in that land of Ikemefuna’s favourite story where the ant holds his court in splendour and the sands dance for ever.’
- Achebe, Things Fall Apart
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