Authorial Choices and Textual Features (DP IB English A: Language and Literature: HL): Revision Note

Across assessments in English A Language and Literature, you need to show the ability to analyse and evaluate how a writer achieves a purpose, conveys a message and/or explores a theme. Therefore, knowing the names of authorial choices and textual features and pairing them with specific references and impacts is key to your success in assessments. 

Literary methods

There are a number of literary methods used in Things Fall Apart:

• Structural techniques 

• Setting and narrative perspective

• Language

• Characterisation 

• Symbolism and motifs

Using subject-specific terminology by naming textual features is a useful way to meet strands of Criterion D, Language. Linking these named features to specific impacts on the reader is a good way to meet Criterion B. Linking this analysis of named textual features to broader thematic and contextual knowledge is a good way to meet Criterion A.

Structural techniques

Tragic structure  

Achebe’s novel is structured as a tragedy; it presents the downfall of tragic hero Okonkwo.

• Unlike a traditional tragedy, Achebe uses a three part structure and the denouement provides little resolution, leaving only the destruction of the Igbo culture

• The exposition introduces Okonkwo as a typical tragic hero: he has status and popularity in his village:

  • The novel begins: “Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements”

• In the rising action, Okonkwo’s hamartia is exposed through interactions with his family and via narration:

  • In conversations with tribespeople, readers see his obsessive need to differ from his father and how resistant he is to change

  • His extreme views on traditional versions of masculinity make him an aggressive and merciless father and husband

• Typically, the tragic hero makes destructive decisions, such as the murder of Ikemefuna, disobedience to his tribe, and misguided actions towards his son Nwoye:

  • Okonkwo experiences inner turmoil and guilt but, despite advice, he refuses to reflect on or alter his behaviour

• In the denouement, a powerless and trapped Okonkwo takes his own life:

  • This shameful act denies him an honourable burial

  • He leaves behind a village subjugated under British colonial governance

Foreshadowing

The title Things Fall Apart, taken from W.B. Yeats's poem The Second Coming, is itself a form of foreshadowing; it hints that the society and protagonist are doomed to collapse.

• The novel, written in 1958, affords readers hindsight about Nigeria’s colonial past:

  • 20th and 21st-century readers have knowledge about the changes the Igbo tribes will face under British colonialism that the novel’s characters do not

• In Chapter 4, Achebe foreshadows Okonkwo’s indifference to certain tribal customs: during the “Week of Peace” he beats his wife:

  • In Chapter 7, then, when the elder warns Okonkwo that Ikemefuna must not be killed by Okonkwo, readers know he may disobey

  • When Ikemefuna leaves with Okonkwo under the guise of returning to Mbaino, Achebe hints it is likely he is going to his death

• The arrival of the locusts in Chapter 7 foreshadows British arrival in Umuofia:

  • The locusts can be interpreted as a metaphor for the British colonisers

  • In Chapter 15, the “Oracle” tells them that “other white men were on their way” and calls them “locusts” 

Setting and narrative perspective

Setting

The story, set in a fictional, rural community called Umuofia, is representative of Nigerian villages in the 19th century.

• The community is made up of nine farming villages:

  • Villages are defined by parental lineage (as either “fatherland” or “motherland”) highlighting the importance of Igbo ancestry

  • For example, Okonkwo is exiled to Mbanta, his mother’s village

• Achebe describes the significance of the African seasons in the rural villages:

  • The narrator explains: “And it was not too hot either, because the cold and dry harmattan wind was blowing down from the north”

  • The tribespeople discuss the “heavy rains which were drowning the yams”

• Through locations, Achebe draws attention to different cultures and how the Igbo belief systems change as a result of Christian missionaries:

  • When the missionaries remain safe in the “Evil Forest”, a cursed place the villagers fear, members of the community question Igbo beliefs and convert

• The District Commissioner’s book, the title of which ends the novel, raises cultural themes by presenting the British perspective on Africa:

  • The commissioner’s book, “The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger”, dismisses Igbo borders and the tribe’s cultural sophistication

Narrative perspective

Achebe uses an omniscient narrator to draw upon African oral tradition.

• The neutral narrator reveals alternative perspectives:

  • The narrator explains that Nwoye was causing “his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness”, adding “that was how it looked to his father”

  • But we also hear of Nwoye’s reactions to his father: “Nwoye had felt for the first time a snapping inside him like the one he now felt”

• The omniscient perspective also creates distance between the reader and the community of Umuofia:

  • For example, the third-person narrator describes how “Darkness held a vague terror for these people”

• The narrator weaves information about Igbo culture throughout the novel to give context to events and emphasise key traditions

• Achebe’s aim was to tell a story that was about humanity, rather than focus on colonialism:

  • As his character Uchendu says: "There is no story that is not true", adding "what is good among one people is an abomination with others”

  • Achebe briefly adopts the Commissioner’s perspective to expose, by contrast to the African narrative, the dehumanising compression of colonial discourse

  • He offers the commissioner’s point of view: "One of the most infuriating habits of these people was their love of superfluous words, he thought”

Language 

Proverbs and fables

In keeping with an oral storytelling tradition, Achebe makes use of African proverbs that offer wisdom and highlight cultural heritage.

• The frequent use of Igbo proverbs and folk tales contributes to a folklore style of narration, contrasting with the British missionaries’ prioritising of reading and writing:

  • His narrator explains “Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palmoil with which words are eaten”

• Achebe depicts the storytelling traditions of the Igbo:

  • Women in the novel tell fables that centre on animals and nature

  • For example, the children learn about the “the tortoise and his wily ways” which explains why the tortoise’s shell is rough

  • Morality is taught in stories like the “bird eneke-nti-oba who challenged the whole world to a wrestling contest” and the “quarrel” between “Earth and Sky”

• Achebe presents Igbo spiritual beliefs through proverbs, framing Okonkwo’s downfall from Igbo cultural perspectives rather than Western literary traditions:

  • Raising the theme of fate, the narrator says in the exposition: “The Ibo people have a proverb that when a man says yes, his chi says yes also”

Bilingualism

Achebe blends Igbo language, simile, and speech rhythms alongside English narration to reach a local and international audience while actively representing African voices.

• In Achebe’s essay, Morning Yet on Creation Day, he speaks of "a new voice coming out of Africa, speaking of African experience in a world-wide language”

• At times, the narrator uses direct translations of the Igbo language which gives the novel authenticity and sways it from Western influence:

  • An example of this is Ekwefi’s dialogue: “I cannot yet find a mouth with which to tell the story”, which means she cannot find the words to express herself

• Achebe also uses untranslated words to give readers insight into the Igbo culture:

  • For instance, he uses the Igbo words “chi”, “egwugwu” and “ogbanje”

• Achebe employs code-switching within dialogue to blend Igbo culture with English:

  • For example, Okonkwo uses the Igbo word for “revered ancestor” in the line "When did you become one of the ndichie of Umuofia?"

• The narrator describes Ikemefuna growing like a “yam tendril in the rainy season”, using comparisons that are particular to an African setting

Imagery 

Much of Achebe’s imagery relates to animals and nature, which shows connections between the human world and the environment to illuminate African cultural traditions and beliefs.

• Animal imagery is used particularly in descriptions of Okonkwo:

  • Okonkwo’s movements are described as if “he was going to pounce”

  • Later, his eyes are “like the eyes of a rat when it was caught by the tail and dashed against the floor”

• Sensory imagery is used to create vivid descriptions, particularly in relation to the musical sounds of tribal life:

  • For instance, Unoka hears “the blood-stirring and intricate rhythms of the ekwe and the udu and the ogene”

  • The sound of drums is described as a part of the “living village”, like “the pulsation of its heart”

• Achebe uses imagery to show the significance of spiritual beliefs:

  • He describes how Nwoye experienced a chill like  a “solitary walker at night who passes an evil spirit on the way”

• Imagery related to the weather and seasons presents their importance in African life:

  • The narrator explains: “For two or three moons the sun had been gathering strength till it seemed to breathe a breath of fire on the earth”

  • The narrator adds “All the grass had long been scorched brown, and the sands felt like live coals to the feet”

  • Okonkwo’s growing fame is compared to “a bush-fire in the harmattan”

  • This works alongside the name given to him by the villagers: "Roaring Flame" 

  • The swarm of locusts come like “a boundless sheet of black cloud drifting towards Umuofia”

Characterisation

Okonkwo

Achebe’s protagonist Okonkwo, as the novel’s tragic hero, presents the dichotomy of cultural and individual identity.

• His desire to be hard-working and prosperous, unlike his father, leads to his downfall:

  • His flaw is not in his industrious and passionate nature, but (typical of a tragedy) in his extremism

• He loves his family, yet he is hard on them, kills the boy he considers to be his son (Ikemefuna), and beats his wife during the culturally-significant “Week of Peace”

• Though well-intentioned, his obsession with ideals of masculine strength leads to his son Nwoye’s rebellion:

  • This creates a generational cycle of father-son clashes 

• His loyalty to his tribe and homeland is admirable, yet he disobeys the elders and becomes so frustrated by the tribe’s passivity to the British he becomes murderous

• Tragically, Okonkwo’s desire for legacy and honour leads to a dishonourable death as an outcast

Nwoye

Nwoye, Okonkwo’s sympathetic son, raises themes about tradition versus change, masculine ideals, and religion.

• Nwoye’s rebellion from tradition illustrates the idea of change: he becomes distressed by tribal customs like the abandoning of the twins in the “Evil Forest”

• Particularly, his rebellion against his father comes after Ikemefuna’s murder:

  • His conversion to Christianity alienates him from his father

• Through Nwoye, who disappoints his father by being “effeminate”, Achebe raises questions about masculine ideals regarding strength and the expression of emotion:

  • Nwoye prefers the stories his mother tells to violent displays of strength

Ikemefuna

Ikemefuna’s character serves as the catalyst that begins Okonkwo’s string of early mistakes, therefore leading to his inevitable downfall. 

• Ikemefuna, a young boy from Mbaino, is sent to Umuofia as a gift to recompense for the murder of a clansman's wife, along with a young virgin

• His characterisation is sympathetic: he experiences homesickness and grows close to Nwoye and Okonkwo

• However, his death at Okonkwo’s hands creates further division between Nwoye and his father, and leads Okonkwo into depression

• His character illustrates key cultural beliefs; he allows Achebe to show the significance of the “Oracle” to the Igbo people 

The Reverend James Smith

Reverend James Smith, a missionary who encourages religious zealotry, can be considered one of the novel’s antagonists.

• Achebe presents the impact of conflicting religions and cultures through the Reverend James Smith:

  • He is uncompromising and intolerant of Igbo spiritual beliefs and encourages fanatical Christian converts 

• Achebe uses him to illustrate the perspectives of the British towards the Igbo:

  • Reverend Smith believes the Igbo are savages and their beliefs the work of the devil

  • The narrator says he “saw things as black and white. And black was evil”

• Reverend Smith is representative of the turbulent change in the community at the time of colonialism

The District Commissioner

The novel’s main antagonist, representative of colonialism, is the British District Commissioner, representing an uncompromising and controlling force of British colonialism.

• The District Commissioner is representative of the British government that replaces local justice with little knowledge or desire to understand Igbo culture:

  • The narrator says he “judged cases in ignorance”

• Achebe uses the commissioner to illustrate cultural differences:

  • The District Commissioner speaks about “about the great queen, and about peace and good government”

  • However, the “men did not listen”, they just “looked at him and at his interpreter”

• Obierika blames the District Commissioner for the tragedy at the end of the novel: he tells him “ferociously” that he drove Okonkwo to kill himself

• The narrative concludes with the voice of the District Commissioner, signifying the silencing of the Igbo perspective and the assertion of colonial control

Symbolism and motifs

Drums

Throughout the novel, Achebe uses drums as a symbolic representation of Igbo culture and its demise.  

• The sound of drums indicates important events, like festivals and the popular wrestling competitions:

  • They signal a meeting over a marriage dispute: “The drum sounded again and the flute blew”

• Present-tense verbs illustrate the significance of drums in Igbo culture: they are described as “beating” and “persistent and unchanging”

• Achebe elevates the language of the drum when he opens Chapter 13 sounding out their rhythm: “Go-di-di-go-go-di-go. Di-go-go-di-go”

• Achebe illustrates the way drums are an integral part of tradition and communication:

  • The narrator says “One of the things every man learned was the language of the hollowed-out wooden instrument” and “It was the ekwe talking to the clan”

• The narrator explains “as a man danced so the drums were beaten for him”:

  • He describes how “Mr. Smith danced a furious step and so the drums went mad” as converted zealots wreak havoc on the village

Blood 

Achebe presents blood as a symbol of masculinity and violence, highlighting turbulence and conflict in the village. 

• When the village Abame is massacred, the narrator explains “Even the sacred fish in their mysterious lake have fled and the lake has turned the color of blood”

• Blood symbolises Okonkwo’s attitude to masculinity and its connection to violence:

  • The narrator tells of the tribe’s attitude to Unoka’s peace-keeping ways, describing him as a “coward” who “could not bear the sight of blood”

  • In contrast, Okonkwo is described as a “man of action, a man of war” who “Unlike his father” could “stand the look of blood”

• Okonkwo’s version of masculine prowess is illustrated as divisive:

  • He tells the boys “masculine stories of violence and bloodshed” which Nwoye does not like

  • Okonkwo argues with tribesmen about Ikemefuna’s murder "But someone had to do it. If we were all afraid of blood, it would not be done”

  • When Okonkwo's gun left a boy in a “pool of blood”, the tribesmen must cleanse the land “polluted with the blood of a clansman”

• Achebe shows blood as a symbol of ritual: Uchendu slits a goat’s throat and “allowed some of the blood to fall on his ancestral staff”

Yams

Achebe illustrates the importance of yams and their symbolic meaning in Igbo culture.

• Yams are a symbol of wealth, status and a man’s ability to provide:  

  • They are called the “king of crops” and a “man’s crop”

  • Okonkwo is a “wealthy farmer” with “two barns full of yams” at the height of his success

• In the novel, yams are associated with prosperity and hard work:

  • When Okonkwo asks a farmer for some seeds, he assures him he knows their value: “I know what it is to ask a man to trust another with his yams” 

• Achebe’s narrator details when yams should be sowed, how the weather affects their growth, and the importance of caring for them:

  • Achebe describes a year when the “harvest was sad, like a funeral” and how the farmers “wept” because the yams rotted

• In the novel, yams are part of the tribe’s rites of passage, harvest season, and marriage arrangements:

  • The tribe make sacrifices to the “god of yams” and celebrate “New Yam Festival”

Sources:

Agatucci, Cora. “Chinua Achebe In His Own Words.” On the Value & Functions of Literature and Storytelling, Works by Chinua Achebe, Interviews with Chinua Achebe, 1988. Humanities 211 Culture(s) & Literature of Africa (Oral Arts & Film), http://web.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/hum211/achebe2.htm (opens in a new tab).

Homelands | Writers and Wordsmiths. CHINUA ACHEBE Interview. BBC Archive, 1990, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0iHzBA6gS8 (opens in a new tab). Accessed 24 April 2026.

Tripathy, Nirjharini. “Sociolinguisticsin Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.” IJCRT, vol. 6, no. 1, 2018, https://ijcrt.org/papers/IJCRT1802352.pdf (opens in a new tab). Accessed 24 April 2026.