Things Fall Apart follows the life of a man named Okonkwo, a prominent warrior and rising figure within his tribe of Umuofia, a part of the Igbo clan in what is now Nigeria. The son of a weak-willed and unsuccessful father, Okonkwo is the archetypal tribal strong-man keen to depart from his family’s failures. He is tough on his three wives and expects great things from his children, especially from his sons. The first part of the novel lulls the reader into the complexities and everyday going-on of tribal life; feasts, friendships, challenges, and celebrations come and go with the seasons, stitching together a rich tapestry of human life. Through the second part, Okonkwo is forced to leave his tribe due to a transgression of law and returns to the tribe of his late mother for refuge. As the story progresses, white colonialists make contact with surrounding tribes and stories of their actions spread. In the third and final part of the text, these colonialists clash with Umuofia and Okonkwo at the same time he returns. This shows the beginning of the end for the livelihood Okonkwo holds so dear as the very fabric of its society is changed through Christian missions and governmental structures, highlighting the inability for the two to coexist while one seeks to subjugate the other.
