Content Category
Literary Criticism
Abstract/Description
This paper discusses the symbolic nature of animals in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, focusing specifically on the role of the tortoise. In the novel, an Igbo legend describes the character of Tortoise, a selfish trickster who outwits a group of birds and breaks his shell as a result of his greed. While several critics have compared the tortoise’s broken shell to Okonkwo, the paper pushes back on this idea, arguing that Tortoise instead represents the cunning of the white man. The first half of the paper portrays the tortoise as a symbol of the white man, illustrating how this analogy functions within the novel. The second half of the paper details other accounts of the tortoise as a symbol, both within Igbo legends and American storytelling. Using comparisons between these stories, the paper targets the tortoise’s core characteristics and connects these with the nature of the white man, depicting the tortoise as a symbol throughout history, not simply within Things Fall Apart. Ultimately, the paper argues that Achebe’s novel is not solely centered on the character of Okonkwo, but on his reaction to the appearance of the white settlers. The novel chronicles the events leading up to and following the white man’s arrival in Umuofia, delineating the relationship between the white man and the Igbo tribe. It is hoped that this paper will help readers of Things Fall Apart to analyze the story of the tortoise as an allegory, as well as to better understand the similarities between Tortoise’s interaction with the birds and the early effects of colonization.
Keywords: Things Fall Apart, Achebe, tortoise, white man, colonization
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Origin of Submission
as part of a class
Faculty Involvement
Aaron Eastley
Nothing but a Tortoise
This paper discusses the symbolic nature of animals in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, focusing specifically on the role of the tortoise. In the novel, an Igbo legend describes the character of Tortoise, a selfish trickster who outwits a group of birds and breaks his shell as a result of his greed. While several critics have compared the tortoise’s broken shell to Okonkwo, the paper pushes back on this idea, arguing that Tortoise instead represents the cunning of the white man. The first half of the paper portrays the tortoise as a symbol of the white man, illustrating how this analogy functions within the novel. The second half of the paper details other accounts of the tortoise as a symbol, both within Igbo legends and American storytelling. Using comparisons between these stories, the paper targets the tortoise’s core characteristics and connects these with the nature of the white man, depicting the tortoise as a symbol throughout history, not simply within Things Fall Apart. Ultimately, the paper argues that Achebe’s novel is not solely centered on the character of Okonkwo, but on his reaction to the appearance of the white settlers. The novel chronicles the events leading up to and following the white man’s arrival in Umuofia, delineating the relationship between the white man and the Igbo tribe. It is hoped that this paper will help readers of Things Fall Apart to analyze the story of the tortoise as an allegory, as well as to better understand the similarities between Tortoise’s interaction with the birds and the early effects of colonization.
Keywords: Things Fall Apart, Achebe, tortoise, white man, colonization