*Spoiler alert. Do not continue reading if you do not wish to know what happens at the end of the book.*

I applaud Achebe Chinua not only for his ability to record African traditions in an amazing novel, but also for teaching me that Things Fall Apart. I’m sure my English teacher would be absolutely thrilled to know this, but this was one of the few books I have read in school that had a major impact on my life.

I’m sure you’re thinking right now that I’m either some freakish teacher’s pet or something along the lines of ‘well why do I care’. And now I’m telling you that you should care because it kept me from completely falling apart, when I didn’t even know I was going to.

You could be just like I was prior to reading this short novel. Working hard, staying busy and being completely arrogant to what was happening to me.

This is definitely not me glorifying myself, but I do believe and have been told that I am a high-stress, hard working organized kind of person. However, my drive to work and succeed was becoming more of a weakness because my view of failure became inflated through the years. That where Things Fall Apart comes in.

For those who have not yet read the novel, the main character Okonkwo, who is a hard working and glorified man in his village, has a deep fear of failure. As he grows older, almost anything that he had not anticipated becomes a failure. This leads to him ultimately committing suicide.

Why that may be a little extreme, the plot to this fictional story is real life for a lot of people. When I read the book I realized that the way I thought of a lot of things was a lot like Okonkwo, and seeing his life play out taught me a lot of lessons vicariously.

This book taught me a lot about myself, and I am sure many others would be able to relate it to themselves in their own way. I really encourage everyone to read this book because not only is it totally excellent, but it also might have changed my life no matter how cheesy that sounds.