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He began an academic career the next year, taking a position as a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Nigeria. That same year, he co-founded a publishing company with Nigerian poet Christopher Okigbo. Inhe became an editor for Okike, a prestigious Nigerian literary magazine. Inhe founded Iwa ndi Ibo, a bilingual publication dedicated to Igbo cultural life.

Achebe's university career was extremely successful: he was made Emeritus Professor at the University of Nigeria in ; he taught at the University of Massachusetts and the University of Connecticut; and he received over twenty honorary doctorates from universities around the world. He also received Nigeria's highest honor for intellectual achievement, the Nigerian National Merit Award, in Achebe became active in Nigerian politics in the s.

Many of his novels dealt with the social and political problems facing his country, including the difficulties of the post-colonial legacy. When Biafra, an Eastern region in Nigeria, declared independence inAchebe put aside writing long fiction in order to spend thirty months traveling Europe and the United States advocating for the new country.

During this period, he produced several short stories dealing with the complex realities of the Nigerian Civil War; the best known of these stories is "Civil Peace".

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Several decades later, inAchebe was forced to flee Nigeria after the repressive regime threatened to imprison him for his political stances and activism. Achebe was married and had four children. He last lived in the United States, where he held a teaching position at Bard College untilwhen he joined Brown University as a professor of Africana Studies.

In his later years, he also served as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund. He continued writing throughout his life, producing both fiction and non-fiction, and winning awards like the Man Booker International Prize in Chinua Achebe died inof an undisclosed illness in Boston. Published in by William Heinemann Ltdthe novel gained critical acclaim and popularity, and has been translated into fifty languages.

The novel takes its title from a verse of the poem, " The Second Coming " by W. The Guardian has called the novel, "one of the great novels about the colonial era". Okonkwo is a famous man in the village of Umuofia. He is a wrestling champion and leader of a clan. He strives to be the opposite of his father Unoka, who had been an indolent debtor unable to support his wife or children, who preferred playing his flute over struggling for success.

Okonkwo works hard from a young age to build fame and wealth all on his own. Obsessed with manly strength and discipline, he often beats his wives and children. Okonkwo is selected by the elders to be the guardian of Ikemefuna, a boy taken as a peace settlement between Umuofia and another clan after Ikemefuna's father killed a woman from Umuofia.

The boy looks up to Okonkwo as his second father.

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The Oracle of Umuofia eventually pronounces that the boy must be killed. Ezeudu, the village elder, warns Okonkwo to stay away from the killing, but he brushes off the warning and carries out the grim work. After killing Ikemefuna, Okonkwo feels haunted by sadness and nightmares. During a gun salute at Ezeudu's funeral, Okonkwo's gun accidentally explodes and kills Ezeudu's son.

He and his fall apart biography html are exiled to Mbanta, his motherland, for seven years as required to appease the gods. While Okonkwo is in Mbanta, he learns that the white men are living in Umuofia with the intent of introducing their religion, Christianity. As the number of converts increases, the foothold of the white people grows and a new government is introduced.

The village is forced to accept or oppose the imposition of the white people's nascent society. Okonkwo's son Nwoye becomes curious about the missionaries, and after he is beaten by his father for the last time, he decides to leave his family to live independently. Nwoye is introduced to the new religion by a missionary, Mr. In the last year of his exile, Okonkwo instructs his best friend Obierika to sell all of his yams and hire two men to build him two huts so he can have a house to go back to with his family.

He also holds a great feast for his mother's kinsmen. Returning from Mbanta, Okonkwo finds his village changed by the presence of the white men. After a convert commits the crime of unmasking an elder as he embodies an ancestral spirit of the clan, the village retaliates by destroying a local Christian church. In response, the District Commissioner representing the colonial government takes Okonkwo and several other native leaders prisoner pending payment of a fine of two hundred bags of cowries.

Despite the District Commissioner's instructions to treat the leaders of Umuofia with respect, the native "court messengers" humiliate them, shaving their heads and whipping them. Outraged, the people of Umuofia finally gather for an uprising. Okonkwo, a warrior by nature and adamant about following Umuofian fall apart biography html and tradition, despises all cowardice and advocates war.

When messengers of the white government try to stop the meeting, Okonkwo beheads one of them. Because the crowd allows the other messengers to escape and does not fight alongside Okonkwo, he realizes with despair that the people of Umuofia will not fight to protect themselves. When the District Commissioner, Gregory Irwin, comes to Okonkwo's house to take him to court, he finds that Okonkwo killed himself because he saw that he was fighting the battle alone and his tribe had given up.

Among his own people, Okonkwo's actions have tarnished his reputation and status, as it is strictly against the teachings of the Igbo to commit suicide. Obierika struggles not to break down as he laments Okonkwo's death. Beyond "Things Fall Apart," he authored several significant novels, including "No Longer at Ease," "Arrow of God," and "Anthills of the Savannah," which further explored themes of tradition, conflict, and identity in a rapidly changing world.

Achebe's academic career was as impactful as his literary contributions. He held teaching positions at various prestigious universities in both Nigeria and the United States, such as the University of Massachusetts and Brown University. In addition to his novels, Achebe published short stories, essays, and poetry, addressing cultural and postcolonial issues.

He garnered numerous awards throughout his career, including the Man Booker International Prize in Achebe's influence extended beyond literature as he actively engaged in political and social discourse, advocating for Nigerian culture and contributing to global conversations about race, identity, and history until his passing in Chinua Achebe, born Albert Chinualumogu Achebe on November 16,in Ogidi, Nigeria, was immersed in the rich traditions of the Igbo culture from a young age.

His early years were shaped by a society that valued storytelling, and it was within this vibrant context that Achebe developed his love for literature. His family's decision to embrace Western education played a pivotal role in his life; they encouraged him to pursue his studies, which would ultimately lead him to the University College, now known as the University of Ibadan.

There, he studied English literature, an education that would prove essential for his future career as a writer. After obtaining his degree, Achebe began his professional life as a teacher, influencing generations of Nigerian students. Inhe transitioned to a significant role at the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation, where he served as director of external broadcasting until This period was crucial for Achebe as he gained insight into storytelling through media, which would later reflect in his novels.

His commitment to literature and education set the stage for his groundbreaking work, particularly his debut novel, "Things Fall Apart," which capitalized on his rich cultural heritage and profound understanding of the impact of colonialism in Nigeria. Chinua Achebe's literary career began in earnest with the publication of his iconic novel, "Things Fall Apart", in This landmark work explores the collision of traditional Igbo culture with the influences of colonialism and Christianity in Nigeria.

His relatively late introduction to English allowed Achebe to develop a sense of cultural pride and an appreciation of his native tongue — values that may not have been cultivated had he been raised and taught exclusively in English. Achebe's home fostered his understanding of both cultures: He read books in English in his father's library, and he spent hours listening to his mother and sister tell traditional Igbo stories.

At fourteen, Achebe was selected to attend the Government College in Umuahia, the equivalent of a university preparatory school and considered the best in West Africa. Achebe excelled at his studies, and after graduating at eighteen, he was accepted to study medicine at the new University College at Ibadan, a member college of London University at the time.

Falls apart biography html: Chinua Achebe was born on November

The demand for educated Nigerians in the government was heightened because Nigeria was preparing for self-rule and independence. Only with a college degree was a Nigerian likely to enter the higher ranks of the civil service. The growing nationalism in Nigeria was not lost on Achebe. At the university, he dropped his English name "Albert" in favor of the Igbo name "Chinua," short for Chinualumogo.

Just as Igbo names in Things Fall Apart have literal meanings, Chinualumogo is translated as "My spirit come fight for me. His first published stories appeared in the student publication the University Herald. These stories have been reprinted in the collection Girls at War and Other Stories, which was published in Of his student writings, only a few are significantly relative to his more mature works; short stories such as "Marriage is a Private Affair" and "Dead Man's Path" explore the conflicts that arise when Western culture meets African society.

Career Highlights After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree inAchebe joined the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation as a producer of radio talks. While in London, he submitted the manuscript for Things Fall Apart to a publisher, with the encouragement and support of one of his BBC instructors, a writer and literary critic.