The Context of "Things Fall Apart"

Achebe wanted to write the novel in order to be able to remind the people of Igbo why it is important to have their independence back. He wanted to raise awareness on the oppression that is being held in his homeland. Not only to the people of Igbo, but also to the oppressors. He shows how the people if Igbo are brave and confident and able to hold their own country together until the oppressors came along and rid their culture. The novel, thus, could serve as a reminder of the importance of unification because only then, will they be able to counter the superior hegemonic force implied by the British.

The novel is written in the eve of colonization, Achebe choses to write the novel two years before Nigeria gains its independence from Britain, in 1958. Achebe was part of the movement advocating for an independent Nigeria, that he was motivated to provide an accurate representation of the complexity of his culture in English literature and he was personally concerned with exploring his hybrid identity as a proud Igbo and also being a Christian. 

Secondly, it could be said that Achebe chose to write about that historical context because of the power narrative– the winners get to tell the story whilst the losers never do. In a way, what could be implied by this, is that regardless of the independence movement outcome, Achebe could have at least secured the prevalence of a ‘single story’ of Nigeria. As an African author, he was providing an authentic cultural perspective as to what colonization was for those being colonized.

Also while writing in English he ensures that the story not only reaches the ears of other Nigerians, showing that their culture is valuable and worthy of having its story told– but it also ensures that it gets to people outside of Nigeria. It ensures that those that have never made contact with Nigerian land hear an authentic perspective of the colonization experience, and hence, avoid falling into the close minded perspective of a single, stereotypical story. Achebe wants to see the nation moving forwards with a new, constructed Nigerian identity, rather than moving backwards to how the nation was before colonization.