Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Okonkwo is a prominent African tribesman whose world falls apart when Europeans begin to colonize it. Despite his inauspicious childhood, Okonkwo rises to a place of respected authority in his clan through diligent, persistent hard work. He establishes a farm large enough to support three wives and their children. But his eldest son Nwoye does not share his father's devotion to the tribe nor his ambitions to reign in it, and so when Christian missionaries come, Nwoye converts. His father, disgusted, disowns him, and he begins a campaign to drive out the new religion. But Okonkwo is alone in his ardent persecution, and after his murder of an official fails to incite a revolt, he hangs himself.

Okonkwo burns with a fervent loyalty to tradition and position. He accepts unquestioningly the dictates of the elders and disdains any who fall out of line with his ideal of strong, masculine adherence to society and unceasing industry. "He had no patience with unsuccessful men," Achebe says of him. This is his tragic flaw: his inability to cope with progress and unyielding demand for perfection. Achebe writes concisely and decisively. He uses a stripped-down English smattered with African phrases that emphasizes the earthy authenticity of the story. He includes folklore and fables and songs, creating a cultural context. The overall effect is beautiful and mesmerizing.

The arrival of the Christians is the vehicle for Okonkwo's downfall. Achebe details the mistreatment the Africans suffer at the hands of the white soldiers who eventually arrive and he illustrates the deterioration of the natives' culture when they assimilate. But Achebe himself converted to Christianity while living in Africa. His sympathies are evident through Nwoye, when he hears the newcomers preach: "The words of the hymn were like the drops of frozen rain melting on the dry palate of the panting earth." He shows how the Christians abolish the tribal superstitions, accepting the outcasts and rescuing the infant twins clanspeople are under compulsion to abandon in the bush. Achebe's aim seems to be a balanced objectivity.

The book is unavoidably profound. One cannot help but admire the steadfastness of this noble savage and mourn the tragedy of his demise. But his irrationality and unwavering trust in brute strength render him unable to entertain further revelations of truth. Okonkwo was sincere but sincerely wrong, as it were. Achebe maintains respect for the culture while gently denouncing the superstitions of his native Africa.