Alluding to... Things Fall Apart

Nothing satisfies my soul like a good allusion! I love 'em in movies, television shows, general conversation, and definitely in books. 

I managed to get a wonderful English education in the American public school system without reading a lot of the classics in the canon. Among titles like A Tale of Two Cities, Moby Dick, and Wuthering Heights that I never read is Things Fall Apart.

I first got the feeling that it was a book I should read when I was working with colleagues in a warehouse, gathering and sorting books for schools. We were told we could take any book we wanted personally, and one of my colleagues was excited to find a pristine copy of Things Fall Apart. My interest was piqued even more when I read P.S. Be Eleven by Rita Williams-Garcia.

In P.S. Be Eleven, one of the main characters, Delphine, learns of the book from a visiting teacher from Africa. He told Delphine that it was his favorite book, and he's read it many times. Being the admitted bibliophile that I am, I bought a copy myself.

I didn't know how incomplete my life was until I read Chinua Achebe's masterpiece. Published in 1959, the novel tells of a pre-colonial Nigeria that places a high value on what contemporary thinkers would consider toxic masculinity and family trauma. The story then moves to a tale of colonialism and the introduction of Christianity.

This novel is rich in Igbo culture with respect to family, politics, religion, politics, identity, gender norms, and more. It's definitely great for high school classrooms when discussing theme, culture, historical impact, and more. 

If a middle school teacher is using P.S. Be Eleven, there are excerpts of Things Fall Apart that would pair well with the story while being palatable to middle grades.

If you'd like help creating lessons for Things Fall Apart, contact me!