Things Fall Apart: A NovelThe most widely read book in modern African literature tells two overlapping, intertwining stories, both of which center around a fearless Igbo warrior in Nigeria in the late 1800s, before and after the European colonization of the continent. “African literature is incomplete and unthinkable without the works of Chinua Achebe.” —Toni Morrison The first of these stories traces Okonkwo's fall from grace with the tribal world in which he lives, and in its classical purity of line and economical beauty it provides us with a powerful fable about the immemorial conflict between the individual and society. The second story, which is as modern as the first is ancient, and which elevates the book to a tragic plane, concerns the clash of cultures and the destruction of Okonkwo's world through the arrival of aggressive, proselytizing European missionaries. These twin dramas are perfectly harmonized, and they are modulated by an awareness capable of encompassing at once the life of nature, human history, and the mysterious compulsions of the soul. THINGS FALL APART is the most illuminating and permanent monument we have to the modern African experience as seen from within. Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read. |
Contents
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Section 6 | |
Section 7 | |
Section 8 | |
Section 15 | |
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Section 17 | |
Section 18 | |
Section 19 | |
Section 20 | |
Section 21 | |
Section 22 | |
Section 9 | |
Section 10 | |
Section 11 | |
Section 12 | |
Section 13 | |
Section 14 | |
Section 23 | |
Section 24 | |
Section 25 | |
Section 26 | |
Section 27 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Abame Agbala ancestors Aneto Arrow of God beat began broke brothers brought buried called cam wood cassava Chielo child CHINUA ACHEBE Chukwu church clan compound cooking court messengers cowries crowd danced darkness daughter District Commissioner drums earth egwugwu Ekwefi elders Evil Forest Ezeudu Ezinma farm father fear feast fire foo-foo goatskin gods hand happened harmattan harvest head heard Ikemefuna in-laws iyi-uwa Kiaga killed king of crops kinsmen knew kola nut looked machete Mbaino Mbanta medicine missionaries morning neighbors Nigeria night nine villages Nwakibie Nwoye Nwoye's mother Obiageli Obierika ogbanje Ogbuefi Okagbue Oracle palm palm-wine priestess rain replied returned rose round salute season silence soon soup spirit stood story talking tell things thought told took Tortoise tree turned Uchendu Unoka Uzowulu voice walked wife wine wives woman women wrestling yams young