GRADE 11
ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE (HL)
A COMPLETE STUDY GUIDE
EXAM QUESTIONS & ANSWERS INCLUDED
, HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THINGS FALL APART
Things Fall Apart is set in 1890, during the early days of colonialism in Nigeria. Achebe
depicts Igbo society in transition, from its first contact with the British colonialists to the
growing dominance of British rule over the indigenous people. Literary works about this
period often painted stereotypical portraits of native Africans as primitives—even works
that were critical of the European colonizers, such as Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
depicted Africans as savages who were both oppressed by and excited the savagery of
white Christian Europeans (see “Joseph Conrad: ‘A Bloody Racist'” below). Achebe's novel
is a response to these colonialist works of literature—Things Fall Apart is
a postcolonial novel that strives to revise previous stereotypes by portraying both cultures
with a neutral eye, focusing on the complexity of Igbo traditions.
,KEY FACTS ABOUT THINGS FALL APART
• Full Title: Things Fall Apart
• When Written: 1957
• Where Written: Nigeria
• When Published: 1958
• Literary Period: Post-colonialism
• Genre: Novel / Tragedy
• Setting: Pre-colonial Nigeria, 1890s
• Climax: Okonkwo's murder of a court messenger
• Antagonist: Missionaries and White Government Officials (Reverend Smith and the
District Commissioner)
• Point of View: Third person omniscient
, CHARACTERS & ANALYSIS
ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE (HL)
A COMPLETE STUDY GUIDE
EXAM QUESTIONS & ANSWERS INCLUDED
, HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THINGS FALL APART
Things Fall Apart is set in 1890, during the early days of colonialism in Nigeria. Achebe
depicts Igbo society in transition, from its first contact with the British colonialists to the
growing dominance of British rule over the indigenous people. Literary works about this
period often painted stereotypical portraits of native Africans as primitives—even works
that were critical of the European colonizers, such as Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
depicted Africans as savages who were both oppressed by and excited the savagery of
white Christian Europeans (see “Joseph Conrad: ‘A Bloody Racist'” below). Achebe's novel
is a response to these colonialist works of literature—Things Fall Apart is
a postcolonial novel that strives to revise previous stereotypes by portraying both cultures
with a neutral eye, focusing on the complexity of Igbo traditions.
,KEY FACTS ABOUT THINGS FALL APART
• Full Title: Things Fall Apart
• When Written: 1957
• Where Written: Nigeria
• When Published: 1958
• Literary Period: Post-colonialism
• Genre: Novel / Tragedy
• Setting: Pre-colonial Nigeria, 1890s
• Climax: Okonkwo's murder of a court messenger
• Antagonist: Missionaries and White Government Officials (Reverend Smith and the
District Commissioner)
• Point of View: Third person omniscient
, CHARACTERS & ANALYSIS
