Analysis - Things Fall Apart

Question 1

What is the significance of the last words of the novel being those of the District Commissioner?

Answer 1

• Reveals how the story of African colonisation was the white man’s narrative that they control and can change
• Colonialism destroyed the Ibo religion, culture and society.

Question 2

What is the epigraph in this novel?

Answer 2

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.

Question 3

Analyse the epigraph of the novel

Answer 3

• ‘The falcon cannot hear the falconer;’ - the falcon represents the people of Umuofia, and the falconer is Okonkwo. When Okonkwo urges the clan to fight with violence against the white men, they do not listen and so their society crumbles. + Okonkwo does not listen to Elders/Oracle/Obierkia/Uchendo/Ezeudu.
• ‘The centre cannot hold’ - White colonisers take control of Africa/Nigero/Ibo society so they lose their power and integrity
• ‘Mere anarchy’ - mirrors the state of Ibo society when the white men take control

Question 4

What does ‘a reasonable paragraph’ serve to convey?

Answer 4

• The white colonisers do not view Africans are equal humans
• They do not believe their lives have the same value as those of the white men
• The District Commissioner views Okonkwos death as insignificant