The book, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, is about a man, Okonkwo, and his life in a tribe that he part of. This story gives us insight in the change in many of the characters. It takes us into detail on what happens to them as their tribe starts to change and how they were trying to decide if they should become colonized. Are these characters going to keep their original traditions or are they going to follow the Europeans and change their ways?.
In the beginning we learn a lot about Okonkwo and his personality. Okonkwo feelings and beliefs reflect those of many men. Men like to be in charge and want to be manly. Anything that has to do with change and that may be somewhat not manly, they would rather do without. So really Okonkwo resembles many men in society. He has to decide whether he wants to keep the old traditions or go ahead and change with the Europeans.
These decisions should be a hard one for not only an individual but also a tribe or community. Over time these tribes develop traditions that become a big part of their lives. These traditions are what they live by and know. When something new comes along it is hard to decide whether to follow or not. It is hard to trust what these new people bring with them as far as traditions and customs. One of these things is Christianity. The tribes would eventually have to decide whether or not to follow.
It would be hard to decide these things because you have the mainly white government and then there are the different Ibo tribes. They have to try and work with one another and within themselves. These struggles were evident in Okonkwo. He had to deal with whether or not he would follow the Christian way. He thought that these ways were not manly. He saw that many were starting to change. He saw this in one of his sons. Nwoye, Okonkwo's son, seemed to him kind of a girl in his ways. The things he believed in and did were not the way that Okonkwo would wish Nwoye to be.
