I came across an article written by the "New York Times" about Chinua Achebe. It was published in 2013 short after he passed away from a brief illness. It tells about his life, and how he emerged as a popular writer after his first book "Things Fall Apart". It was inspired by his own family who was apart of the Ibo society. It described what life was like before and after the Europeans tried to take power into their own hands. He wrote this book because he wanted to show Africa in a new point of view for people to further understand that the stereotypes created through the writings of Western nations about Africa isn't necessarily correct. Most people were only familiar with the barbaric, terrifying, and miserable place often times portrayed through works such as Conrad's "Heart of Darkness". So obviously this new view point was very eye opening for many people around the world, especially other writers. It continues to go more in depth to explain the process, and thoughts that went into creating his next 4 novels that followed "Things Fall Apart". Here is a picture of Achebe that the New York Times used in their article about him.







I recently finished reading Achebe's first novel "Things Fall Apart"myself, and I really enjoyed it. I didn't realize how much of an impact Achebe had on opening people's eyes to see that Africa might not be as savage as it has been portrayed. I know I learned a lot from it. Not only about Africa, but about how much we truly are influenced by the way our media portrays aspects of the world. It really is a great example of there being at least two sides to every story. Not only was I able to learn a bit more about Achebe and his multiple novels, but also the life he lived. It gave me more of a perspective on how he sees things. One of the things that stuck out to me most was that he had been living in America for quite some time, but he never lost his passion for Africa. It was always a priority of his to defend the place that was often times belittled.