I Collapse

William Butler Yeats, in his Poem “The Second Coming,” incites the ideas of Chinua Achebe:

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,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity. (1-8)

Achebe Writes a story of the Igbo people (of which he is a member) as whites invade their culture. Imperialism has taken its toll on native peoples and for the most part there hasn’t been much said by the conquered, Achebe corrects this. It was published in 1958, a time when civil liberty became a very important issue so the story of an oppressed and misunderstood people from an inside view added a lot to the discussion.

The changes that begin to occur echo the title as for Okonkwo things do fall apart. Okonkwo, the center, cannot hold. Nwoye, the falcon, cannot hear Okonkwo, the falconer. Achebe is trying to show that really humanity is no different if one is from Europe, Africa, Asia, or America. We all have the same desires, we all have families and possessions, and we all have beliefs and superstitions. Each of us has different understand so as we invade another person’s area and impose our view it creates dramatic change. Achebe writes from his own cultural experience which brings this home and makes it much more interesting for a reader. A reader has but to seek to find deeper understanding of others when it is presented to them.