Ifemenam 1

Onyekachukwu Tanitoluwa Ifemenam

ENG4U

Kayla Hill

November 07, 2022

*MT-A: Midterm Project - Part A

Chinua Achebe: Literary Influences

According to the Brittanica Encyclopedia, Albert Chinualumogu Achebe, also known

as Chinua Achebe, was a Nigerian novelist, professor, philosopher, and poet born in Ogidi,

Anambra, Nigeria, who lived from November 16, 1930, to March 21, 2013. He is regarded

as the father of modern African literature with works that include: Arrow of God (1964), A

Man of the People (1966), Christmas in Biafra (1973), Home and Exile (2000), and the most

famous of all his works, Things Fall Apart (1958). Achebe uses his extensive life

experiences, such as the many folklores and stories told to him as a child, the period of

colonization he was born into, and his conversion to Christianity, as sources and inspiration to

create stories, create characters, and express ideas in his literary work.

One constantly recurring theme in most of Chinua Achebe's works, especially in

Things Fall Apart, is the theme of folklore and traditional stories. According to Sarkar, this

was inspired by the many stories that Achebe’s mother and sister told him as a child.

Storytelling is an integral part of the Igbo culture, where different tales of animals and

humans are shared, usually to pass across a lesson or a given moral. The impact of

storytelling is evident in Things Fall Apart, where Nwoye reminisces on the times his mother

tells him stories about the wise but greedy tortoise (Achebe 33), and when Okonkwo

remembers the mosquito myth he is told as a child (Achebe 46). Many lessons throughout

Nwoye's life are learnt from most of the folklore told to him by his mother. Many tales serve

as a teaching instrument the mothers, like Ekwefi in the story, use to educate their children.
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Chinua Achebe uses these tales in the book to serve as symbols to pass across a more

significant message to the reader and paint a much clearer picture. He also passes down the

stories that were told to him as a child to the world, which he refers to as "his children." This

is a custom in the Igbo culture where the stories are passed down from parents to their

children.

Another major inspiration for Chinua Achebe's work was the idea of colonization and

the effects it had on the natives. Being born in the times of British rule, Chinua Achebe was

greatly influenced by how the colonizers addressed the cultures of the inhabitants of Nigeria

at the time. Achebe believed that colonialism reduced the power of African societies and that

many of these colonial beliefs affected the traditional way of life (Gilley 647). He was a

known anti-colonialist and expressed many of his thoughts through Okonkwo in Things Fall

Apart, who chose death over the changes the colonizers brought (Achebe 114). The major

theme of Things Fall Apart is colonialism and its effects on the colony's settlers. This was all

inspired by the period of colonization (1914-1954) that Achebe was born into and the effects

this colonization had on his village and others around him.

Lastly, another repeating theme in the book Things Fall Apart is the theme of religion

and religious differences between the colonialists and traditionalists. These were reflected in

Achebe's personal life. Growing up in a small Igbo village, he was exposed to many of these

traditional beliefs and practices but later on in his life, he converted to Christianity due to the

fact that his father also denounced these beliefs and adopted Christianity. Although he was a

convert, Achebe was still exposed to the traditional beliefs as he partly grew up with his

grandfather who was a highly respected man in the Igbo society and upheld all the traditional

beliefs (Moseley 3). This contrast between religions is shown in his work, where Okonkwo is

not in support of Nwoye's new beliefs (Achebe 82). This is portrayed in his life when
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Achebe's grandfather did not initially support the conversion of Achebe's father, Isaiah.

Growing up this way allowed Achebe to know the positives and negatives of both practices

and express the differences in his book.

Chinua Achebe has been regarded as one of the most influential figures in modern

African literature and has paved the way for many other famous African authors. Having

written the most translated and studied novel in Africa, Things Fall Apart, Achebe was

inspired by different events and experiences in his life, like the numerous folktales and fiction

told to him as a child, the colonial era he was born into, and the conversion to Christianity.

These experiences played significant parts in developing the most widely read novel in

Africa, Things Fall Apart.

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Works Cited

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart.

ghs.rosedaleedu.com/pluginfile.php/360813/mod_page/content/204/Things-Fall-Apart

-Chinua-Achebe.pdf.

Gilley, Bruce. “Chinua Achebe on the Positive Legacies of Colonialism.” African Affairs,

vol. 115, no. 461, Oxford UP (OUP), Aug. 2016, pp. 646–63.

https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adw030.

Myths and Folktales in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

www.researchgate.net/publication/318431561_Myths_and_Folktales_in_Chinua_Ach

ebe's_Things_Fall_Apart.

Sarkar, Sucharita. Chinua Achebe and the Storytelling Parent. 1 Nov. 2017,

www.academia.edu/32810928/Chinua_Achebe_and_the_Storytelling_Parent.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Chinua Achebe | Biography, Books, and Facts.”

Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Jul 2022,

www.britannica.com/biography/Chinua-Achebe.

The Portrayal of Religion in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart

lup.lub.lu.se/luur/download?func=downloadFile.