Geography

The first part of Things Fall Apart is set in Nigeria, Africa. To give some historical background on Nigeria, the country was under British rule during the majority of the 19th century and Britain had a major effect on Nigeria. Britain mainly affected Nigeria’s religion by converting the people to Christianity and forced the Nigerian people to speak English. This could possibly have an influence on the rest of the book as it is near the same time period. The Igbo tribe lives primarily in southeastern Nigeria. This region of the country has a very tropical feel to it with a very wet rain season and winds that can be very dusty. This makes the Igbo people very accustomed to a certain lifestyle based on their geography. They are share croppers because the land there is good for farming.

Okonkwo has now been exiled to the birth town of Mbanta, which is in Nigeria. Okonkwo has been exiled due to the incident that occurred with Ikefuma. Okonkwo killed one of the sons of one of the elders when his gun exploded. Because of this the elders exiled him for a few years.  He is not very happy about this. He truly believes that it is a woman-like town and that he isn’t fit to live there. Here Uchendu explains many things to him, and how he is not the only one that is going through the pains. Mbanta is also very important because here they encounter the first European Missionaries

The setting in this part moves from Umuofia to the British headquarters in the area, likely closer to the coast or near the river, as that is where Europeans usually settled in Africa. The changing setting helps to reflect the change happening to the village in the book.

Quotes: “He had already chosen the title of the book, after much thought: The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger.” This quote shows Achebe’s entire point with the book: the Africans had a very complex culture and religion before Europeans showed up, but the Europeans believed they were simply primitives. This quote shows how little the Europeans thought of the Africans by having the Commissioner pick a title that we can see as being very ironic.

“The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has a put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.” This quote shows how the white men were able to conquer Africa so easily. Using Christianity, they split the tribes apart until they couldn’t fight back. This shows there colonial theme of the book and seems to be both an explanation to Africans about how they were conquered, as well as attacking Christianity for turning them against each other.

“Okonkwo was deeply grieved…He mourned for the clan, which he saw breaking up and falling apart, and he mourned for the warlike men of Umuofia, who had so unaccountably become soft like women.” This quote shows how Okonkwo rigidness and aggressiveness is becoming a problem with the clan changing to be more peaceful. At the same time, it attacks the Europeans for causing their cowardice.

“One of the most infuriating habits of these people was their love of superfluous words, he thought.” This quote shows the hypocrisy of the Europeans, how they claimed to be peaceful and civilized while destroying the African’s culture. This quote is followed by the Commissioner naming his book a long and winding name, showing how he is just as superfluous as the Africans he criticizes.