The novel Things Fall Apart by the African author Chinua Achebe, is similar to the poem The Second Coming by the Irish poet and playwright William Butler Yeats. Despite the differences in their author’s race, genres, and the age gap between these two literary pieces, with the former published in 1958 , and in the United States in 1959, and the latter composed in 1920 , Things Fall and The Second Coming are analogous to one another since they both speak of inevitable change and the contrasting worlds of the ancient times, and the modern age.

Achebe begins his novel with a quote from the first four lines of Yeats' The Second Coming, not simply because the quote contains the phrase “things fall apart,” which is the novel’s title, but because it serves as a summary of the entire novel itself, but in a deep, symbolic manner.

“Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”

(Yeats. Lines 1-4, 1st Stanza. “The Second Coming.”)

These lines’ meaning cannot be easily grasped by merely reading it, even for a number of times. Its meaning is locked w

Obrieka, although he was a man of title in Umuofia, did not join in the murder or Ikemefuna. Thus, Okonkwo was curious why his friend refused to come with him and the elders to kill the boy. He suspected Obrieka as a coward – “afraid of blood” – but Obrieka said that his reason for not being involved in such matter was neither due to any fear nor timidity, but because he believed that the goddess would not be pleased by killing a family member, whether by blood or by mere recognition.

Part Two takes place during Okonkwo’s seven-year exile to his motherland, Mbaino after he had accidentally killed in Ezeudu’s funeral, the dead man’s son, while Part Three is Okonkwo’s return to his fatherland – Umuofia. This part shows that a lot of things have change in Umuofia after seven years, and its change is even more advanced than that of Mbaino who were still in the early stages of colonization.

“…Abame and Aninta, where titled men climb trees and pound foo-foo for their wives.

Okonkwo believed that he should take part in Ikemefuna’s murder because he was driven by pride and the fear of being thought a coward if he refused to do so, despite of the wise elder Escudo’s advice. However, Obrieka believes that a family member should not be killed by his kin. Obrieka reasoned with such logic based on his personal experience – his twins who were left to die in the evil forest simply because they were twins… Twins which are an abomination to the earth. This was revealed in the last chapter of Part One, Chapter Thirteen.

The second line of Yeats’ The Second Coming is “The falcon cannot hear the falconer.” The falcon is a diurnal bird of prey having long pointed powerful wings adapted for swift flight, while the falconer is a person who breeds and trains falcons and follows the sport of falconry or the art of training falcons to hunt and return. Through these definitions, one can conclude that Yeats’ falcon symbolizes the young, and evidently stronger people, while the falconer stands for the elders who train the young.

Some topics in this essay:
Yeats’ Coming, District Commissioner, Fall Apart, Christianity Nwoye, Okonkwo Umuofia, Apart Coming, Evil Forest, Aninta Umunso, Chapter Eight, Abame Aninta, fall apart, white man’s, customs values, traditions customs, traditions customs values, values beliefs, abame aninta, customs values beliefs, ibid pp, evil forest, district commissioner, court messengers, white man’s religion, clans abame aninta, fine hundred bags,