In the novel Achebe does an exceptional job in using imagery and language to display the culture and setting of the novel. He uses many of the folktales and proverbs that are common to the Igbo people along with some mythology. The proverbs and folktales in which Achebe chooses to incorporate to the story are given as a reasoning to the decisions that of all the characters make that are part of the Igbo culture. Myths and legends have a purpose to explain the beliefs of the Igbo people, while at the same time showing the decline of Okonkwo and his culture. The stories are told as entertainment, however they pass along belief about the people themselves.
             "And at last the locusts did descend. They settled on every tree and on every blade of grass; they settled on the roofs and covered the bare ground. Mighty tree branches broke away under them, and the whole country became the brown-earth color of the vast, hungry swarm." (pg 56) This allegorical quote represents the arrival of the missionaries. The locusts have been coming for years, but their symbolic significance in this quote lies in the unexpected arrival of the missionaries, which will alter the lives and traditions of the Igbo people. The verb "settle" refers to the missionaries. The branches that break under the weight of the locusts are symbols of the traditions and culture of the Igbo society, which can no longer survive under the change due to the missionary's settlement.
             The tale of the birds and the tortoise is the outline of the whole novel. The Tortoise is the story of the rise and fall of Tortoise, just as "Things Fall Apart" is the story of the rise and fall of Okonkwo and his clan. The story says that the birds lent the tortoise their feathers so he could accompany them to the sky. Okonkwo was treated with great honor and respect, just as the birds took the tortoise "as the king of the birds."(pg 4
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