Things Fall Apart Rhetorical Analysis

Battling Beliefs One of the amazing qualities of human beings is the ability to practice different cultures, religions, and traditions. What is even more outstanding is that human beings have the ability to question their own cultures, religion, and traditions. It is one thing to go on living the life that a person was born into, but the ability to query and challenge the ways of their parents and ancestors is a true mark of intelligence. Throughout history, many people have encouraged transitioning from thinking in a traditional manner to thinking in an individualistic one. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe teaches the reader to contemplate why people question their cultures and traditions, which is done through characterization, point-of-view, …show more content…
Although the reader initially finds the Ibo culture to be disturbing in their practices, Achebe writes in such a way that the reader can look past their own moral codes and accept those of the Ibo culture. Mercedes Mackay, author of African Affairs, supports this claim in writing that “one reads about the customs, the culture, and the strange rituals...there is horror in some of the ritual and superstition, but somehow they are less fearful when simply and naturally described by a writer who clearly has some recollection of them himself” (Mackay 243). When it becomes apparent that Nwoye does not feel welcome in his own culture, the reader begins to have conflicting feelings, being that they just learned to accept the ways of this tribe. The reader tends to take the side of Okonkwo when it comes to the time that Nwoye decides to convert to Christianity, because they now understand Okonkwo’s perspective. One feels sympathetic towards Okonkwo seeing that his culture falls apart under his feet and that he loses his eldest son in the process. Because the reader takes the side of Okonkwo, there is not sympathy felt towards Nwoye, but rather apathy is felt. These conflicting emotions originating from the point-of-view causes the reader to reflect on the matter of questioning one’s own culture, thus satisfying Achebe’s purpose in his writing. Not only does characterization and point-of-view help to achieve Achebe’s purpose, but also the clever plot structure lays out a foundation for his purpose to be

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