Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart is written about life in Nigeria at the beginning of the twentieth century. It portrays the colonial encounter between Africa and Europe.
"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
In this poem — ironically, a product of European thought — Yeats describes an apocalyptic vision in which the world collapses into anarchy because of an internal flaw in humanity." (Cliffnotes)
The novel illustrates the view of what happened in the society of Nigeria at the time of its colonizatiion under the British. Mainly, its purpose was to present a complex, dynamic society to a Western audience who perceived African society as primitive, simple, and backward. (Cliffnotes) Furthermore, it focused on showing how religiously unstable the society was. Even its foundation in technology, commerce, and government were also the reasons fot the country's downfall.
"This ominous tone gradually emerges in Things Fall Apart as an intrusive religious presence and an insensitive government together cause the traditional Umuofian world to fall apart."
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