Writing Resources
Throughout Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe the author uses literary devices to give a deeper understanding of the text and convey the author s ideas and points The specific literary devices are irony foreshadowing and setting A combination of these literary devices emphasizes the themes of masculinity potential and life in the text Achebe uses irony within the book in situations of despair An example of this tragic irony is during Okonkwo s suicide at the end of Things Fall Apart Okonkwo is a proud and important man so he is not expected to commit suicide When Okonkwo dies it especially ironic when considering what he regularly said after the terrible harvest year Since I survived that year he always said I shall survive anything Achebe 24 By saying he could survive anything it is not expected for him to commit suicide Yet in the end his inflexible will causes his suicide because he cannot deal with the change brought by the missionaries Therefore his death is even more ironic because the very thing that he says can get him through anything is his will which is why he kills himself Then they came to the tree from which Okonkwo s body was dangling and they stopped dead Achebe 207 Achebe s use of foreshadowing is also evident when he talks about Okonkwo s death In Okonkwo s case the foreshadowing occurs when he is exiled to his motherland for accidentally killing a fellow clansman In a flash Okonkwo drew his machete
