Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a reaction against Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe wants to give his readers a better understanding of the African cultures. He conveys his message by giving a voice to the underrepresented and exploited Africans during colonization. .
Achebe gives the Africans a voice through a narrator. The narration is in third person. The narrator is a none present figure that switches from narration of one character to another. By this type of story telling, Achebe achieves relaying details of thought and motives of individuals which bring the reader into the world of the Ibo. Achebe first brings us in the world of the Ibo with the murder of a clanswoman in the marketplace by a local tribe. The elders of the Ibo tribe get together and confront the accused tribe and bargain that they must release one virgin and a young boy. The story also opens with Okonkwo, the main character, defeating Amalinze the Cat in a wrestling match. Within the first two chapters of the novel, Achebe shows that the Ibo has laws, an economy, government, war, agriculture, and social organization. From these advanced and artistic traditions, any reader could see that the Ibo are just like any other society.
Achebe wants his readers to feel a sense of belonging to the Ibo culture. He does this by not truly explaining all the acts that go on in a visit between two Ibo citizens. An example of this is the sharing of the palm wine and kola nut. This symbolizes peace within the Ibo tribe. Achebe does not explain why this happens, he assumes that we are part of the Ibo tribe and therefore treats the readers like family. Achebe brings his readers closer into the world of the Ibo with the discovery of Ezinma's iyi-uwa. The iyi-uwa is a stone that holds the evil spirit that causes Ezinma to be ill. In order for her to be healed that stone must be found.
