Practice Introduction

The personal history of an author can have significant influence on the way meaning is constructed in his/her writing

It could be said that when the pen of a writer makes contact with paper, every stroke instantaneously becomes a reflection of the author’s personal history– for Chinua Achebe, this is held true as his work Things Fall Apart is an ode to his cultural and racial Christian and Igbo heritage, that was a result of colonialism in Nigeria. Written on the even of Nigerian independence in 1958, Achebe’s aforementioned work functions as his diversification of narratives of pre-colonialist Nigeria, in which he portrays that the Igbo were neither as savage or benighted as colonialist portrayed them. Furthermore, the novel exemplifies the need for flexibility and duality in a pre-independent Nigeria, in order to construct a national identity. The novel narrates the story of Okonkwo, whose internal and external conflicts against his community and the colonizers serve as a tool for Achebe to celebrate Igbo values whilst simultaneously warning the reader to not romanticize pre-colonial Nigeria. Achebe's Christian and Igbo heritage are reflected in Okonkwo's internal and external aforementioned conflict, which through his lack of duality and flexibility in his values, serve as a cautionary tale for a pre-independence Nigeria in which Nigerian's history must be carefully considered in order to construct a Nigerian national identity.





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