Things Fall Apart - Themes and Motifs

Themes and Motifs

Themes in the novel include the relationship between the individual (Okonkwo) and his culture, and the effect of one culture visited upon another.

1. Individuals gain strength from their society or community, and societies derive strength from the individuals who belong to them. In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo builds his titles and strength with the support of his society's customs. Likewise, Okonkwo's community profits from his hard work and willpower to remain strong.
2. In contacts between other cultures, beliefs about superiority or inferiority, due to limited and partial world view, are invariably wrong-headed and destructive. When new cultures and religions meet the original, there is likely to be a struggle for dominance. For example, the Christians and Okonkwo's people have a limited view of each other, and have a very difficult time understanding and accepting one another's customs and beliefs, which result in violence as with the destruction of a local church and Okonkwo's killing of the messenger.
3. In spite of innumerable opportunities for understanding, people must strive to communicate. For example, Okonkwo and his son Nwoye have a difficult time understanding one another because they hold different values. On the other hand, Okonkwo spends more time with Ikemefuna and develops a deeper relationship that seems to go beyond cultural restraints.
4. A social value—such as individual ambition—which is constructive when balanced by other values, can become destructive when overemphasized at the expense of other values. For example, Okonkwo values tradition so highly that he cannot accept change. (It may be more accurate to say he values tradition because of the high price he has paid to uphold it, i.e. killing Ikemefuna and moving to Mbanta). The Christian teachings render these considerable sacrifices on his part meaningless. The distress over the loss of tradition, whether driven by his love of the tradition or the meaning of his sacrifices to it, can be seen as the main reasons for his suicide.
5. There is no such thing as a static culture; change is continual, and flexibility is necessary for successful adaptation. Because Okonkwo cannot accept the change the Christians bring, he cannot adapt.
6. The struggle between change and tradition is constant; however, this statement only appears to apply to Okonkwo. Change can very well be accepted, as evidenced by how the people of Umuofia refuse to join Okonkwo as he strikes down the white man's messenger, a kotma, at the end. Perhaps Okonkwo is not so much bothered by change, but the idea of losing everything he has built up, such as his fortune, prestige, and title, which will be replaced by new values. It is evidenced throughout the book that he cares deeply about these things, exemplified in his feelings of regret that he has lacked a "respectable" father figure from whom he could have inherited them. A second interpretation is apparent with Okonkwo's static behavior to cultural change. His suicide can be seen as a final attempt to show to the people of Umuofia the results of a clash between cultures and as a plea for the Igbo culture to be upheld. In the same way that his father's failure motivated Okonkwo to reach a high standing in the Igbo society, Okonkwo's suicide leads Obierika and fellow Umuofia men to recognize the long-held custom of refraining from a man who commits suicide and from performing the customary rituals. This interpretation is further emphasized with Obierika's comment on Okonkwo as a great man driven to kill himself as a result of the pain springing from the loss of his society's traditions. Thus, Okonkwo's killing of the messenger and subsequent suicide embodies the internal struggle between change and tradition.
7. The role of culture in society. With the death of Ikemefuna, Okonkwo's expulsion due to events beyond his control and the journey of Ezinma with Chielo, Achebe questions, particularly through Obierika, whether adherence to culture is for the benefit of society when it brings about so many hardships and sacrifices on the part of Okonkwo and his family.
8. Notion of success and failure. Okonkwo's personal ambition to avoid a life of "failure" similar to his father, Unoka, leads to his high title and affluence in the community. He ardently tries to avoid failure. The notion of failure draws a parallel with the idea of cultural alteration in Umuofia and a shift in cultural values. Failure, for Okonkwo, is societal reform. Hence Okonkwo's drastic and at times unpredictable, exploits in opposition of anything foreign or lacking in what he perceives to be masculine traits.
9. Through Achebe's use of language, he is successful in demonstrating (and attesting to) the Igbo's rich and unique culture. By integrating traditional Igbo words (e.g. egwugwu, or the spirits of the ancestor's of Nigerian tribes), folktales, and songs into English sentences, the author is successful in proving that African languages aren't incomprehensible, although they are often too complex for direct translation into English. Additionally, the author is successful in verifying that each of the continent's languages are unique, as Mr. Brown's translator is ridiculed after his misinterpretation of an Igbo word.