Things Fall Apart Background

Genre: Historical Fiction, Tragedy

Achebe’s first novel focused on the loss of tradition and indigenous lifestyles, which were decimated by the colonizing, imperial powers. It is historical fiction, at its finest, while describing the plight of Africa through the lens of a single man and his family.

As several works of historical fiction tend to be, Things Fall Apart is also a tragedy—of the loss of culture, tradition, religion, livelihood, and lives.

Almost satirically, Achebe uses English as the language of his novel, taking back the power of the colonizer in writing a tale of Africa in the victor’s language. In telling the story of an African clan’s invasion by foreign powers, Achebe is also providing a lesson in history—of the impact of invading powers and the destruction they wrought upon Africa. This also, unfortunately, becomes a tragedy as invasions and violence often tend to be. In the destruction of the clan lies the destruction of Africa, which is perhaps one of the most tragic conquests of a continent in the world.