No Longer at Ease

Christians used to go out on every fourth Sunday, they used to sing and enlighten the non-Christians in the village who were considered as the “Pagans”. There were many backsliders also who though were once in church but gave it up and instead they used to put forward embarrassing questions to the catechist or pastor. This was basically the condition through which Achebe has gone through his childhood days (Interview with Achebe, 1965). Achebe has written various books among which Thing Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease and Arrow of God are considered as the part of Trilogy. Across these books, he has rendered the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial stipulations of Nigeria. To study the post-colonial epoch it is very vital to get acquainted with the antiquity of the place and through Achebe’s Trilogy things become quite tranquil to analyse the then circumstance of Africa. The paper will be a discussion on African ailment by scrutinizing Things Fall Apart, No Longer At Ease and Arrow Of God. Achebe is someone who is credited as the pioneer of African literature as he conferred it a new voice and image. Through the semantic used in his first novel that is Things Fall Apart, he has depicted that African literature was not just an imitation of European forms of African writing, but it was a fusion of such forms and oral traditions which were very rich in itself. Achebe is the conscience of African literature as he has written many stories having a strong moral…

trying to appear strong and cuts him down, this being the moment that ruined him. He was broken after this and began to sink into a depression feeling weak and unable to do anything at all. Later we are informed that Ogbuefi Ezeudu dies and many gather for his very large and extravagant funeral. During this funeral, the men fire their guns and beat their drums for the fallen member. At one point Okonkwo’s gun goes off by accident and kills Ezeudu’s sixteen year old son. This is a major crime…

In “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo is dominated by his fear of weakness and failure. In the tribe where Okonkwo and his family live, Umuofia, the amount of honor and respect depends on your strength. Since early childhood, Okonkwo’s embarrassment about his lazy, poor and neglectful father, Unoka, has led to his tragic flaw; being terrified of looking weak like his father. As a result, he behaves rashly, bringing a great deal of trouble and sorrow upon himself and his family.…

Chinua Achebe writes a fascinating novel, Things Fall Apart, in which he explores the struggle of a man, Okonkwo, and his conflict between the pride of his culture and the pride of his manhood. The novel was somewhat similar to what I had expected. From the obvious title, some type of community was going to fall apart but other than that, the other aspects of the novel such as Ikemefuma death, Okonkwo’s exile, and the white man’s church were completely unpredictable. One of the main things that…

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe follows the story of Okonkwo and the Ibo tribe in Nigeria as it experiences the beginning of European colonization and the spread of western influence. Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart in response to the savage and animalistic manner in which the Nigerian people are portrayed in western literature. Achebe counters the savage portrayal of Nigerian tribes in literature and reveals the complexity and beauty of the Ibo tribe through their customs and innerworkings.…

Uniform- The uniform his father wears for his job is a symbol of his father’s dignity, as well as Gregor’s changing feelings of pity and respect for him. Throughout the story, his father is shown primarily from Gregor’s point of view. We gain from him a picture of his father as a lazy and miserable man whom Gregor feels sorry for but not necessarily respects. But when Gregor runs out of his and sees his father for the first time in weeks, Gregor’s opinion of the father changes. This shift is…

Okonkwo, the protagonist, was a very successful man. The Coat of Arms I made symbolizes his life in summary; the colors, symbols, and objects all stand for his goals, personality, and lifestyle. To begin, the red in the background symbolizes Okonkwo’s desire to serve the clan of Umuofia. When the majority of his clan converted to the new religion, he decided it was time to stand up for his clan. Okonkwo didn’t give in to the new religion that Mr. Brown brought and he believed that the new…

A Tragic Hero, as defined by Aristotle, is a character with a flaw that will eventually lead to his or her destruction. In Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” the main character Okonkwo deals with white Christian men coming into his community and changing everything he knows about life, just when he thinks things are coming back to normal, things fall apart. Throughout the book Okonkwo is considered a Tragic hero because of his importance in the community and also his because of his errors in…

Characterization; The main character in the book, except the boy is the father of course. He does at all costs to protect the boy, even killing another human being, since he believes that he is chosen by God to protect the boy. He is deeply suspicious and paranoid by other individuals and their intentions, unlike his son. He grows sicker, his sickness is shown thru his persistent cough, and his bloody spit. He dies at the end of the novel, next to a stream in a clearing in the woods. …

Unity is important within a community, especially when facing hardships. Publilius Syrus once said, “Where there is unity there is always victory.” It is wise to stay together and share a common opinion in a large group of people, however, that can be difficult to maintain for a long period of time. Change can alter the mindsets of certain individuals. By seeing different aspects of the world, people tend to find a sense of individuality. Many also start to form their own opinions that can…