“Things Fall Apart’’
by Chinua Achebe
Significance Of The Title
Q.2. Discuss in detail the title " Things
Fall Apart”, the novel by Chinua Achebe.
Answer:
“The white man is very clever. He came
quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and
allowed him to remain. Now he has earned our brothers, and our clan cannot
entertainment like one. He has put a knife on the items that held us together
and that we have fallen apart".
It is under the above statement that we may
understand the title of this novel. As the British colonized the areas of
Nigeria inhabited by the Ibo, they brought with them their new religion of
Christianity, which sought to overrun the traditional animist way of life that
had endured in the area for centuries: The new religion was treated with scepticism
early on, but the lure of the wealth that British traders brought into the
city, along with the support of the British government and judicial system
eventually displaced lbo society completely. Although many historians make the assertion that the tribes' conversion to Christianity by English missionaries
were responsible, even noble, the truth is that the fragmentation of lbo the culture was not for the love of God, but for the love of money and power.
"Turning and turning in the widening
gyre
The Falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world."
-W.B. Yeats, "The Second Coming"