1. What is the historical context of Things Fall Apart?
British expansion had just gained relevance in the African interior.
• Many of the missionaries, explorers and traders thought that the interior of Africa was a wild and dangerous place that was inhabited by primitive people.
• There was a scramble for territorial control of Africa between 1870 and 1900 for two reasons:
1. Africa was an untapped source for raw materials that could fuel the Industrial Revolution in Europe. 2. Trade could be enhanced by using Africa as a stop off port on the way to the Middle East. • This scramble opened the door to the missionary’s need to ‘civilize’ and ‘enlighten’ the population of this new colony/continent.
• With the infiltration of these missionaries came churches and schools, both of which were instrumental in the colonization process. • The overarching result of the European infiltration was:
1. The indigenous cultural and religious practices were rejected and viewed as uncivilized and heathen.
2. Tribal practices were outlawed.
3. Local judicial systems were replaced.
4. Trading posts and monetary systems replaced barter and rural systems of trade.
2. What is the significance of the title?
"Things fall apart" can be said when something we believed would last forever, comes to an end. The title Things Fall Apart refers to the fact that without proper balance, things do fall apart. The notion of balance in the novel is an important theme throughout the book. Beginning with the excerpt from Yeats' poem, the concept of balance is stressed as important; for without balance, order is lost. In the novel, there is a system of balance, which the Igbo culture seems but at the end of the novel the society people can not listen the leader, so a chaotic situation is created.
3. Write a brief note on the concept of 'Chi' in Things Fall Apart?
The concept of chi is discussed at various points throughout the novel and is important to our understanding of Okonkwo as a tragic hero. The chi is an individual’s personal god, whose merit is determined by the individual’s good fortune or lack thereof. Along the lines of this interpretation, one can explain Okonkwo’s tragic fate as the result of a problematic chi—a thought that occurs to Okonkwo at several points in the novel. For the clan believes, as the narrator tells us in Chapter 14, a “man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi.”
4. What do you think about the incident of Ikemefuna? How does it help to understand the Ibo culture in more specific ways?
5. Write a brief note on Ibo people's belief in the world of spirits.
6. How is the difference between the father land and the mother land described in Things Fall Apart?
7. Write a brief note on the concept of Nativism and Native identity in Things Fall Apart.
8. Point out the important points of Things Fall Apart which can be compared with Kanthapura by Raja Rao.
0 Comments