Paper #2 Exercise

Paper #2 questions: 

Q.1) How does Things Fall Apart conform to, or deviate from the conventions of a particular genre, and for what purpose?

Q.2) Show how and to what effect Achebe make use of myth, legend or other stories and tales.

A.2)

Things Fall Apart is classic novel written by Chinua Achebe. This book tries to depict African society and the culture that is Igbo. Traditionally, this culture is oral. A lot of the know-hows of the Igbo people relate to what they're told while growing up. Also, the different stories that Achebe tells in this book are vivid descriptions of the symbolism present in Igbo culture. It is also mentioned that the Igbo people thrived on story-telling and the use of language, hence making oral culture a core part of Igbo society.

An example is the story of the birds and the tortoise. This story was told to Ezinma by Ekwefi. In this story, a tortoise cheats the birds out of a hearty meal that they were supposed to have with very prestigious hosts. The turtle before coming home then asks a parrot to tell his wife to lay out soft things in their backyard so as to break the turtle’s fall. Instead, the parrot maliciously tells the turtle’s wife to lay out hard objects, because of which the turtle’s shell breaks. The medicine man then fixes the turtle’s shell, but the shell is still rough This story is told all of a sudden without no apparent purpose behind it. But through just the inclusion of this story, Achebe is able to reflect the values of the Igbo people, and how strongly they’re held. The turtle is like person who breaks the law. The broken shell symbolises the broken law and how the person can never be the same again. Such an analogy helps the book progress well without sounding unrealistic, and helps Achebe achieve his objective of reflecting on his culture in a realistic but non-derogatory way.

The coming of locusts is another example. Legend said that the locusts reappeared each year for seven years every generation from a distant cave which had been guarded by stunted men. A question would then come to the readers mind: how did the elders know? Such an induced thought reemphasises the importance of oral culture in Igbo land. The fact that the people believed this myth makes the reader formulate an identity that the Igbo people recognise themselves by.

Hence, the story telling tradition in Igboland is identified as an important one. Without all these stories in the master plot, the book would not be able to tell the story of what the things were; far from telling how they actually fell apart.