Hi Kendra,
In Things Fall Apart you get a portrait of a man, Okonkwo, who's badly out of synch with Igbo culture, which is actually very open and democratic. He's a loner, a guy who can't communicate or control his temper, and a severe authoritarian. And you get almost a feeling that the destruction of Igbo society by the coming of the colonialists is the Igbos' own fault. Arrow of God is about a traditonal Igbo priest who is caught up in a destructive rivalry over the naming of the day for the new yam festival. Again you get the feeling that it isn't just the English colonialists who were to blame for the destruction of traditional culture, but he's just a much more complex and interesting character, his motives are more subtle, and you learn more about traditonal West African religious and social values through him. Things Fall Apart is a good novel, and it was actually the first African novel I read myself, but it stays on a somewhat simple level. I think that's why it's assigned in so many high schools. Arrow of God just has more going on. I admire Achebe very much as a person and a writer, by the way. I've met him (I gave him a signed copy of my own first book at a reading in New York City) and found him to be a really kind-hearted and congenial human being.
posted 1 year ago. ( reply )
