Similar Themes in Things Fall Apart and The Second Coming The novel "Things Fall Apart" examines African culture before colonial infiltration. Achebe's novel forces us to examine the customs and traditions that make up an informal culture. We may find some of their practices appalling at times, but Achebe makes us understand that traditions and customs are what essentially hold the Igbo together. Achebe wrote "Things Fall Apart" with the intention of changing the common view of African culture. He wrote the novel from an insider's point of view, revealing that African culture was not based solely on barbaric and senseless rituals. Achebe reveals the effects of colonial infiltration on African societies Through his novel he examines how colonization disturbed the unity and balance of a once strong cultural society. William Butler Yeats, a famous Irish poet, responded similarly to Achebe during World. World War II writing the "Second Coming". Yeats wrote his poetry in response to the rise of fascism and communism that threatened to destroy Europe. Yeats believed that history revolved in two-thousand-year cycles Much like “Things Fall Apart,” “The Second Coming” addresses the idea of ​​balance, interdependence, individualism, and community. Achebe shows how the breaking of cycles in Ibo culture caused things to slowly fall apart. The poem deals with the cyclical movements of events and history. Consequently, both can be seen as intertwined. Yeats opens his poem with a condemnatory statement. He states “Turning and turning in the widening vortex.” This enhances the cyclical image that Yeats is trying to portray. Here, Y... middle of paper... In many ways the changes brought about by the missionaries to the Ibos were inevitable. Rituals and the Ibo's cyclical view of time held their culture together. The Ibos did not maintain their ideas of interdependence and community. Therefore, they were more likely to follow the ways of the white man. Colonial infiltration caused the Ibos to lose not only their cultural identity, but also their voice. The missionaries' changes brought silence to the native Ibo dialect. Achebe states at the end of the novel "even now they have not found the mouth with which to tell of their suffering." From this quote it is evident that little is left of the Ibo culture. Colonial infiltration caused the disintegration of the Ibo and the breakdown of the life cycle that once held their culture together.