However, his drive to escape the legacy of his father leads him to be wealthy, courageous, and powerful among the people of his village. As a result, he often beats his wives and children, and is unkind to his neighbours. He is also obsessed with his masculinity, and any slight compromise to this is swiftly destroyed. Okonkwo works to build his wealth entirely on his own, as Unoka died a shameful death and left many unpaid debts. Okonkwo is strong, hard-working, and strives to show no weakness or fear, wanting to dispel his father Unoka's tainted legacy of unpaid debts, a neglected wife and children, and cowardice at the sight of blood. The novel's protagonist, Okonkwo, is famous in the villages of Umuofia for being a wrestling champion. Achebe states that his two later novels A Man of the People (1966) and Anthills of the Savannah (1987), while not featuring Okonkwo's descendants, are spiritual successors to the previous novels in chronicling African history. Things Fall Apart was followed by a sequel, No Longer at Ease (1960), originally written as the second part of a larger work along with Arrow of God (1964).

The work is split into three parts, with the first describing his family, personal history, and the customs and society of the Igbo, and the second and third sections introducing the influence of European colonialism and Christian missionaries on Okonkwo, his family, and the wider Igbo community. The novel follows the life of Okonkwo, an Igbo ('Ibo' in the novel) man and local wrestling champion in the fictional Nigerian clan of Umuofia. The novel was first published in the United Kingdom in 1962 by William Heinemann Ltd, and became the first work published in Heinemann's African Writers Series. It is a staple book in schools throughout Africa and is widely read and studied in English-speaking countries around the world. It is seen as the archetypal modern African novel in English, and one of the first to receive global critical acclaim. It depicts pre-colonial life in the southeastern part of Nigeria and the invasion by Europeans during the late 19th century. Things Fall Apart is the debut novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, first published in 1958.

Things fall apart the novel