Things Fall Apart Comparative Essay

Words: 946
Pages: 4

Achebe and Paton’s Parallels
Writers of books and movies often borrow concepts from other sources. Chinua Achebe borrows ideas from author Alan Paton in his book Things Fall Apart. Things Fall Apart, taking place in nineteenth-century Umuofia, an African village, follows the life of an African man who lives in fear of failure as he struggles to maintain the titles given to him by society. His life begins to fall apart as discord between his village and white Christian missionaries brings out his own internal conflict. The film Cry, the Beloved Country, based off of a novel by Paton, takes place in the 1940s and tells a similar story about an elderly African man, Stephen Kumalo, who becomes exposed to the corruption of the world while visiting
…show more content…
In Cry, the Beloved Country, the lack of structure and order in the city of Johannesburg causes it to become a dangerous place. For example, the increasing population in Johannesburg forces black citizens to live in shelters or to rent out living space from other black citizens’ homes. This unorganized society allows the younger population of Johannesburg to live loosely and widely. In Things Fall Apart, naïve men show harsh treatment towards women because they are seen as inferior in Umuofia’s society. Okonkwo contributes to these occurrences, as said in the book: “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper”. This proves that men are superior to women, but “No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man”. In cases of crime, women infractions are seen as unintentional, making their punishments far less severe than those for men. This proves the negligence of women’s inferiority creates inequity for both women and men in the novel. Both stories display an unjust way of living in the societies they take place