Things Fall Apart by Naomi

Things Fall Apart by Naomi - July 2013 Scholarship Essay

The best book I’ve ever read for school is Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. It is about the customs of a Nigerian tribe and what happens when “the white  man” comes to impose Christianity and European beliefs on them. I feel that this is the best book I’ve ever read for school because, for me, it displays what it means to be human. Life, death, compassion, intolerance, faith, disbelief, love, and hate. It talks of the journey of a man to be different than his father, to progress and be better for his family. It talks of tradition as well as change. It reminds me that my mindset and my beliefs are not the only ones on Earth, and they may not even be the right ones. Things Fall Apart gives me a reality check: the world does not revolve around me. People on the other side of the world are living their lives in a way that is completely different from mine and they are perfectly happy. I think we all need that reality check sometimes. We all need that moment where we imagine the lives of others in a complex way instead of as just duplicates of our own.