Student Essay on Themes of Things Fall Apart

Themes of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

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Essay

In the novel, Things Fall Apart by: Chinua Achebe, there are several major themes. The first of these themes is the theme of family strength. This theme is well represented in the novel in several different ways. Another one of the themes is change. This is the main theme of the novel and is expressed within the novel in many different ways.

Okonkwo's inner conflict with himself is one of the major themes in the novel. Okonkwo works exceptionally hard at gaining titles for him self. Okonkwo is worried about his status in the tribe because his father was a lazy man who never amounted to anything but debt. Okonkwo does not want to be like his father and have lots of debts and no titles. Okonkwo doesn't always use rational judgment in his decision making.

The theme in the novel is change. Theme of change can be shown in many different ways. Change occurs when the white men come to the tribe. These white men brought along a new religion with them. A new religion is a hard thing to grasp especially when its something totally different from what you have known to be true all your life. Change is some times a hard thing to deal with and other times its very simple. The change that took place within the tribe led to inner conflicts inside of the tribe. These conflicts escalated to much worse events such as violence and death.