Things Fall Apart, is a novel written by the Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe, and it was published in 1958. This novel portrays what life was like in Africa before the arrival of Europeans, and especially Christianity, to the continent. Things Fall Apart tells the story of main character Okonkwo, a man from the village of Umuofia, who dedicates his life to build an image of himself before his people, the Igbo, that completely contradicts the one his father created. For that reason, Okonkwo fights to gain not only respectability, but to also be admired as an example of society and he strives to become really rich, in opposition to his father, who was always in debt and accused of having neglected his family and responsibilities. Aside from wishing to become a standard of society and dissociate from the image of his father, there is a third reason that drives Okonkwo to become so respected; he is obsessed with how his peers see his masculinity, which is why he tends to be really harsh with his family, so that he is not seen as weak and effeminate.
