The bookThings Fall Apart , by Chinua Achebe , is very similar to thepoem , The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats. Acomparison of The Second Coming to Things Fall Apartwill show many corresponding aspects between both ofthese literary masterpieces. Seeing the line Things fall apartin the poem , Achebe makes an outstanding association. Atthis point in time he says to himself, I should name my bookThings Fall Apart , It will show the main idea of the book. One of the many coinciding concepts between the two is thedaunted apprehension of both the poem and the book. InThings Fall Apart it seems like whenever the main character,Okonkwo, gains hope things happen to fall apart .
Thecontents of The Second Coming told of a chaotic worldand a base that could not hold because of its own innerconflicts. In Addition to the synonymous feeling both thebook and the poem give, they both expose a great shift fromand old era to a new era. The Second Coming reveals anapocolypse. Yeats shows this change by describing theconversions our world, as a global community, madethroughout history . Key lines that refer to these changes intime are Turning and Turning in the widening gyre the falconcannot hear the falconer.
These lines refer to the constantadjustments we have to make and also the fact that wecannot go back in time . Chinua Achebe also reveals amajor shift by describing Umuofa as it was in the beginning. In describing Umuofa as it was originally he makes it easierto catch sight of the major changes throughout the story . Another coinciding idea in both pieces is the sacrifice ofsomething to avoid changes that come along . Okonkwoends his life as a last resort . In doing this he feels that hesaves his honor and heritage .
He also kills himself to dodgethe pain and suffering that Christianity brought to his culture . The Second Coming warns us of an apocolypse . Theapocolypse is the end of civilization in our world . Whatmakes the poem so synonymous to the book is that in eithercase it is not possible to stop the changes from happening .
A fourth coinciding idea in The Second Coming andThings Fall Apart is the loss of control of a higher powerover a lower power . In Things Fall Apart Okonkwo tries toteach Nwoye the old ways of their people . He also tries tomake his son unlike Okonkwos father . Nwoye wanted tobe his own man . He didnt want to have to live up to theexpectations of his father , Okonkwo . Nwoye takes on theways of Christianity in hope of a better life .
Okonkwo feelsdishonored by Nwoyes turn towards Christianity. Okonkwo now looks his son as he did his father . Nwoyesmove to Christianity shows the loss of Okonkwos powerover his life . In The Second Coming the loss of control issymbolized by the line the falcon does not hear the falconer.
Where the falcon is the symbol of the lesser power andthe falconer the symbol of the higher power . The line saysthat after time passes and changes take place powerschange . The last reflective idea between the poem and thebook is the respect towards a superior force . The superiorforce is not always an object that one can feel or hold in hisor her hand but it could be as simple as an idea. Thesuperior force in The Second Coming was not theapocolypse but it was time . Time cannot be paused orturned back so whatever is done may never be changed .
Time does not allow the world to prepare for The SecondComing , So all hope is lost . The Superior force in ThingsFall Apart is the spread of Christianity . Christianity createsChaos in Umuofia . It makes all the people that were loyal totheir ancestors forget about where they were from .
Theculture of the people in Umuofia was slowly put to extinctionby the spread of Christianity . Our world changes from dayto day . Everything we do now reflects on how the futurewill be . If there is one concept one learns from comparingthese two fine literary works . It is to not dwell on mistakesin the past but to make them up by doing well in the future . Chinua Achebe and William Butler Yeats make this ideaunderstandable to us by using it in their works of art.
Okonkwo new the end of his culture was coming so he triesto do whatever he can to stop it . After years ofhopelessness he finally sees a way out through death . InThe Second Coming there is no way to stop theapocolypse from happening . So the world becomeshelpless and falls victim to The Second Coming . Thestories that both the book and the poem told were of lifesend . Book Reports
