"Things Fall Apart" is a novel that contradicts many of the white western stereotypical views of the native African people. The author Chinua Achebe wrote the novel to show that the African natives where not the savage, uneducated and primitive people that they had been portrayed as by the bias white man. There is know better example of this than the novel and movie "Heart of Darkness", which portrays the natives as evil, ruthless and stupid and this could not be further from the truth, as Achebe's hole purpose for the novel, was to raise awareness to the ignorant white man.
             The native African people had one of the most complex and ridged social structures in the world at the time of colonisation. Through the white mans arrogance they where not able to see this or just simply did not want to anyway. Achebe uses characters like Okonkwo "main character of the novel and tragic hero" in his novel to illustrate the African people's values and attitudes towards change to the invading white culture.
             Achebe focuses on the native tribe of people called the Ibo, who live in Nigeria to get his views across to the reader. In this tribe there lives the books main character Okonkwo, a well-respected member of the tribe. Achebe uses Okonkwo to highlight the values and attitudes of the African people towards the colonisation by the white people. Interestingly, these views are through the eyes of the people being invaded instead of the invader. Th e way the author does this is by making you feel as though you are there right next to Okonkwo, feeling and seeing everything that happens too and around him.
             Okonkwo displayed great attribute as a man in his society, and these allowed him to maintain the high profile he had in the tribe. He was a great warrior, hard working, ambitious, good father, and strong willed, these where some of the qualities that had propelled him to become a respected el...