Things Fall Apart is an English-language novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe published in 1958. It is seen as the archetypal modern African novel in English, and one of the first African novels written in English to receive global critical acclaim. It is a staple book in schools throughout Africa and widely read and studied in English-speaking countries around the world. The title of the novel comes from William Butler Yeats's poem "The Second Coming".^[1]

The novel depicts the life of Okonkwo, a leader and local wrestling champion in Umuofia—one of a fictional group of nine villages in Nigeria, inhabited by the Igbo people (archaically, and in the novel, "Ibo"). It focuses on his family and personal history, the customs and society of the Igbo, and the influence of British colonialism and Christian missionaries on the Igbo community during the late nineteenth century.

Things Fall Apart was followed by a sequel, No Longer at Ease (1960), originally written as the second part of a larger work together with Things Fall Apart, and Arrow of God (1964), on a similar subject. 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.

Background[link]

The majority of the story takes place in the village of Umuofia, located west of the actual city of Onitsha, on the east bank of the Niger River in Nigeria. The events of the novel unfold around the 1890s.^[2] The culture depicted, that of the Igbo people, is similar to that of Achebe's birthplace of Ogidi, where Igbo-speaking people lived together in groups of independent villages ruled by titled elders. The customs described in the novel mirror those of the actual Onitsha people, who lived near Ogidi, and with whom Achebe was familiar.

Within forty years of the arrival of the British, by the time Achebe was born in 1930, the missionaries were well established. Achebe's father was among the first to be converted in Ogidi, around the turn of the century. Achebe himself was an orphan raised by his grandfather. His grandfather, far from opposing Achebe's conversion to Christianity, allowed Achebe's Christian marriage to be celebrated in his compound.^[2]

Language choice[link]

Achebe writes his novels in English because written Standard Igbo was created by combining various dialects, creating a stilted written form. In a 1994 interview with The Paris Review, Achebe said, "the novel form seems to go with the English language. There is a problem with the Igbo language. It suffers from a very serious inheritance, which it received at the beginning of this century from the Anglican mission. They sent out a missionary by the name of Dennis. Archdeacon Dennis. He was a scholar. He had this notion that the Igbo language—which had very many different dialects—should somehow manufacture a uniform dialect that would be used in writing to avoid all these different dialects. Because the missionaries were powerful, what they wanted to do they did. This became the law. But the standard version cannot sing. There's nothing you can do with it to make it sing. It's heavy. It's wooden. It doesn't go anywhere."^[3]

Achebe's choice to write in English has caused controversy. While both African and non-African critics agree that Achebe modeled Things Fall Apart on classic European literature, they disagree about whether his novel upholds a Western model, or, in fact, subverts or confronts it.^[4] Achebe has continued to defend his decision: "English is something you spend your lifetime acquiring, so it would be foolish not to use it. Also, in the logic of colonization and decolonization it is actually a very powerful weapon in the fight to regain what was yours. English was the language of colonization itself. It is not simply something you use because you have it anyway."^[5]

Plot summary[link]

The protagonist Okonkwo is strong, hard-working, and strives to show no weakness. Although brusque with his three wives, children, and neighbors, he is wealthy, courageous, and powerful among the people of his village. He is a leader of his village, and he has accomplished a position in his society for which he has striven all his life.

Because of the great esteem in which the village holds him, Okonkwo is selected by the elders to be the guardian of Ikemefuna, a boy taken prisoner by the village as a peace settlement between two villages after Ikemefuna's father killed an Umuofian woman. The boy lives with Okonkwo's family and Okonkwo grows fond of him. The boy looks up to Okonkwo and considers him a second father. The Oracle of Umuofia eventually pronouces that the boy must be killed. The oldest man in the village warns Okonkwo that he should have nothing to do with the murder because it would be like killing his own child. Rather than seem weak and feminine to the other men of the village, Okonkwo participates in the murder of the boy despite the warning from the old man. In fact, Okonkwo himself strikes the killing blow as Ikemefuna begs his "father" for protection.

Shortly after Ikemefuna's death, things begin to go wrong for Okonkwo. When he accidentally kills someone at a ritual funeral ceremony when his gun explodes, he and his family are sent into exile for seven years to appease the gods he has offended. While Okonkwo is away, white men begin to arrive in Umuofia with the intent of introducing their religion. As the number of converts increases, the foothold of the white people grows and a new government is introduced. The village is forced to respond to the imposition of the white people's nascent society—whether by appeasement or through conflict.

Returning from exile, Okonkwo finds his village a changed place because of the presence of the white man. He and other tribal leaders try to reclaim their hold on their native land by destroying a local Christian church. In return, the leader of the white government takes them prisoner and holds them for ransom for a short while, further humiliating and insulting the native leaders. As a result, the people of Umuofia finally gather for what could be a great uprising. Okonkwo, a warrior by nature and adamant about following Umuofian custom and tradition, despises any form of cowardice and advocates for war against the white men. When messengers of the white government try to stop the meeting, Okonkwo kills one of them. He realizes with despair that the people of Umuofia are not going to fight to protect themselves—his society's response to such a conflict, so long predictable and dictated by tradition, is changing.

When the local leader of the white government comes to Okonkwo's house to take him to court, he finds that Okonkwo has hanged himself. Among his own people, Okonkwo's action has ruined his reputation and status, as it is strictly against the custom of the Igbo to commit suicide.

Characters[link]

This section requires expansion.

Okonkwo is the novel's protagonist. He has 3 wives and 9 children, and is a brave and rash Umuofian (Nigerian) warrior and a clan leader. Unlike most like him, he cares more for his daughter than his son, Nwoye(Later Issac), who he believes is weak. He is the son of the effeminate and lazy Unoka, a man he resents for his weaknesses. Okonkwo strives to make his way in a culture that traditionally values manliness. As a young man he defeated the village's best wrestler, earning him lasting prestige. He therefore rejects everything for which he believes his father stood; Unoka was idle, poor, profligate, cowardly, gentle, and interested in music and conversation. Okonkwo consciously adopts opposite ideals and becomes productive, wealthy, brave, violent, and opposed to music and anything else that he perceives to be "soft", such as conversation and emotion. He is stoic to a fault. He is also the hardest-working member of his clan. Okonkwo's life is dominated by fear of failure and of weakness—the fear that he will resemble his father. Ironically, in all his efforts not to end up like his father, he commits suicide, becoming in his culture an abomination to the Earth and rebuked by the tribe as his father was (Unoka died from swelling and was likewise considered an abomination). Okonkwo's suicide represents not only the culture rebuking him, but him rebuking his people's changing culture, as he realizes that the Igbo culture that he loved had been forever altered by the Christian missionaries.

Themes and motifs[link]

This section requires expansion.

Themes in the novel include the relationship between the individual (Okonkwo) and his culture, and the effect of one culture visited upon another.

1. Individuals derive strength from their society, and societies derive strength from the individuals who belong to them. In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo builds his fortune and strength with the help of his society's customs. Likewise, Okonkwo's society benefits from his hard work and determination.
2. In contacts between other cultures, beliefs about superiority or inferiority, due to limited and partial world view, are invariably wrong-headed and destructive. When new cultures and religions meet the original, there is likely to be a struggle for dominance. For example, the Christians and Okonkwo's people have a limited view of each other, and have a very difficult time understanding and accepting one another's customs and beliefs, which resulted in violence as with the destruction of a local church and Okonkwo's killing of the messenger.
3. In spite of innumerable opportunities for understanding, people must strive to communicate. For example, Okonkwo and his son, Nwoye have a difficult time understanding one another because they hold different values. On the other hand, Okonkwo spends more time with Ikemefuna and develops a deeper relationship that seems to go beyond cultural restraints.
4. A social value—such as individual ambition—which is constructive when balanced by other values, can become destructive when overemphasized at the expense of other values. For example, Okonkwo values tradition so highly that he cannot accept change. (It may be more accurate to say he values tradition because of the high cost he has paid to uphold it, i.e. killing Ikemefuna and moving to Mbanta). The Christian teachings render these large sacrifices on his part meaningless. The distress over the loss of tradition, whether driven by his love of the tradition or the meaning of his sacrifices to it, can be seen as the main reasons for his suicide.
5. There is no such thing as a static culture; change is continual, and flexibility is necessary for successful adaptation. Because Okonkwo cannot accept the change the Christians bring, he cannot adapt.^[6]
6. The struggle between change and tradition is constant; however, this statement only appears to apply to Okonkwo. Change can very well be accepted, as evidenced by how the people of Umuofia refused to join Okonkwo as he struck down the white man at the end. Perhaps Okonkwo is not so much bothered by change, but the idea of losing everything he had built up - his fortune, fame, title, etc. that will be replaced by new customs. It is evidenced throughout the book that he cares for these things, especially his mentions of a lack of a "respectable" father figure from whom he could have inherited them from.^[6] A second interpretation is apparent with Okonkwo's static behavior to cultural change. His suicide can be seen as a final attempt to show to the people of Umuofia the results of a clash between cultures and as a means for the Igbo culture to be upheld. In the same way that his father's failure motivated Okonkwo to reach a high standing within Igbo culture and society, Okonkwo's suicide leads Obierika and fellow Umuofia men to recognize the long held custom of not burying a man who commits suicide and perform the associated rituals with his death. This interpretation is further emphasized with Obierika's comment on Okonkwo as a great man driven to kill himself, likely as a result of the loss of tradition. His killing of the messenger and subsequent suicide continues the internal struggle between change and tradition.
7. The role of culture in society. With the death of Ikemefuna, Okonkwo's expulsion due to causes beyond his control, and the journey of Ezinma with Chielo, Achebe questions, particularly through Obierika, whether adherence to culture is for the better of society, when it has caused many hardships and sacrifices on the part of Okonkwo and his family.
8. Notion of success and failure. Okonkwo's personal ambition to avoid a life of complacency like his father, Unoka, leads to his high ranking and affluence in the community. He ardently tries to avoid failure. The notion of failure correlates with the idea of change in Umuofia and a shift in cultural values. Failure, for Okonkwo, is societal reform. Hence Okonkwo's drastic and at times erratic action against anything foreign or not masculine.
9. Through Achebe's use of language, he is successful in demonstrating (and attesting to) the Igbo's rich and unique culture. By integrating traditional Igbo words (e.g. egwugwu, or the spirits of the ancestor's of Nigerian tribes), folktales, and songs into English sentences, the author is successful in proving that African languages aren't incomprehensible, although they are often too complex for direct translation into English. Additionally, the author is successful in verifying that each of the continent's languages are unique, as Mr. Brown's translator is ridiculed after his misinterpretation of an Igbo word.

Culture[link]

Prior to British colonization, the Igbo people as depicted in Things Fall Apart lived in a patriarchal collective political system. Decisions were not made by a chief or by any individual but rather by a council of male elders. Religious leaders were also called upon to settle debates reflecting the cultural focus of the Igbo people. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to explore Nigeria. Though the Portuguese are not mentioned by Achebe, the remaining influence of the Portuguese can be seen in many Nigerian surnames. The British entered Nigeria first through trade and then established The Royal Niger Colony in 1886. The success of the colony led to Nigeria becoming a British protectorate in 1901. The arrival of the British slowly began to deteriorate the traditional society. The British government would intervene in tribal disputes rather than allowing the Igbo to settle issues in a traditional manner. The frustration caused by these shifts in power is illustrated by the struggle of the protagonist Okonkwo in the second half of the novel.

Despite converting to Christianity himself, Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart not only in response to the then common bastardizations of his native people, but to show his fellow citizens that the Igbo were dignified. His mentioning of the Igbo people's democratic institutions and culture serve to test themselves "against the goals of modern liberal democracy and to have set out to show how the Igbo meet those standards."^[7] While the Europeans in Things Fall Apart are depicted as intolerant of Igbo culture and religion, telling villagers that their gods are not real (pp. 135, 162) the Igbo are seen as tolerant of other cultures as a whole. For example, Uchendu is able to see "what is good among one people is an abomination with others" (p. 129).

However, the novel does not simply idolize the Igbo people, as Achebe also intended to show readers what fractures existed within the Igbo people's culture. He "Also presents its weaknesses which require change and which aid in its destruction."^[8] He depicts the injustices of Igbo society. No more or less than Victorian England of the same era, the Igbo are a patriarchal society. They also fear twins, who are to be abandoned immediately after birth and left to die of exposure. The novel attempts to repair some of the damage done by earlier European depictions of Africans. In addition, Achebe "chooses to ignore the evidence of what Izevbaye calls 'rich material civilization' in Africa in order to portray the Igbo as isolated and individual, evolving their own 'humanistic civilization'."^[9] This suggests that Achebe intended to show readers what the Igbo culture could have taken advantage of or eliminated in order to survive in future years.^[10]

Achebe writes that European sentiments toward Africans are mistaken. According to Diana Akers Rhoads, "Perhaps the most important mistake of the British is their belief that all civilization progresses, as theirs has, from the tribal stage through monarchy to parliamentary government. On first arriving in Mbanta, the missionaries expect to find a king (p. 138), and, discovering no functionaries to work with, the British set up their own hierarchical system which delegates power from the queen of England through district commissioners to native court messengers — foreigners who do not belong to the village government at all (p. 160). Since the natives from other parts of Nigeria feel no loyalty to the villages where they enact the commands of the district commissioners, the British have superimposed a system which leads to bribery and corruption rather than to progress."^[11] By contrast, the Igbo follow a democracy which judges each man according to his personal merit.

Gender[link]

Definitions of masculinity vary in different societies. Gender differentiation is seen in Igbo classification of crimes. The narrator of Things Fall Apart states that "The crime [of killing Ezeudu's son] was of two kinds, male and female. Okonkwo had committed the female because it was an accident. He would be allowed to return to the clan after seven years."^[12] Okonkwo fled to the land of his mother, Mbanta, because a man finds refuge with his mother. Uchendu explains this to Okonkwo:

"It is true that a child belongs to his father. But when the father beats his child, it seeks sympathy in its mother's hut. A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. But when there is sorrow and bitterness, he finds refuge in his motherland. Your mother is there to protect you. She is buried there. And that is why we say that mother is supreme."^[13]

Women are understated throughout Things Fall Apart. A crucial element of the story is represented through the cultural aspects of the Igbo society, and traditions. As such, it can be argued that the infrequent mentions of wives in the story of "Things Fall Apart," can be taken as a statement of the limited value of women. The mentioning of wives purely as the bearers of children can then be taken as a statement that women are actually nothing more than tools of reproduction. The fact that the number of wives you have affects social status further depicts women as possessions of the men. The fact that the men are free to beat their wives also adds to this idea. Okonkwo's wish that his favorite child, Ezinma, was a boy further reveals the inequality between the genders in Nigeria at the time.

Religion, myth and history[link]

The analysis of cultural history involves myths, religion, totems, superstitions, rituals, festivals, and icons. In Things Fall Apart, the mask, the earth, the legends and the rituals all have significance to the story and the history of the Igbo culture. According to Baldwin: "Religion looms large in the life of primitive man. It is not a one-a-day-a-week affair as it generally is with us. Seven days a week, 365 days a year, primitive peoples eat and work and play and sleep with religion. Nearly everything in primitive society — hunting, fishing, planting crops , harvesting, head hunting, war, marriage, birth, coming of age, illness, death, building a house, making a canoe or an ax — is associated with ritual or magic or ceremony or some other form of religious activity."^[14]

First there is the use of the mask to draw the spirit of the gods into the body of a person in Achebe's story. A great crime in Ibo culture was to unmask or disrespect the immortality of an egwugwu, which represents an ancestral spirit, in front of his people. Toward the end of the novel, a warrior converted into a Christian unmasks and kills one of his own ancestral spirits. The clan weeps, for "it seemed as if the very soul of the tribe wept for a great evil that was coming — its own death."^[15]

In the cultural history of Nigeria complex rituals also played a large part in the daily life of the people. Achebe's story reflects this strict attention to rituals and taboos. Okonkwo upholds his traditions by helping to kill the boy sacrificed to settle a dispute with another tribe, despite his feelings of fatherhood towards the boy. Okonkwo commits the ritual of killing Ikemefuna because "he was afraid of being thought weak."^[16] Yet, after the ritual he could not eat or sleep; "He felt like a drunken giant walking with the limbs of a mosquito."^[17] The space between an individual identity and their ancestors is narrow. Achebe goes so far as to put the following in his story: "The land of the living was not far removed from the domain of the ancestors. There was coming and going between them, especially at festivals and also when an old man died, because an old man was very close to the ancestors. A man's life from birth to death was a series of transition rites which brought him nearer and nearer to his ancestors."^[18]

There are several legends and myths told in Things Fall Apart: the earth and the sky;^[19] the mosquito and the ear;^[20] the tortoise and the birds.^[21] According to Rosenberg, "myths symbolize human experience and embody the spiritual values of a culture."^[22] The values and views of the world spread through mythology is important to the survival of every society's culture.^[23] Myths are instructional as well as entertaining. Purposefully, myths "explain the nature of the universe (creation and fertility myths)… or instruct members of the community in the attitudes and behavior necessary to function successfully in that particular culture (hero myths and epics)."^[24] In Things Fall Apart, the way of the language is much like a myth; "Among the Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm oil with which words are eaten."^[25] Proverbs and myths are both ways of portraying a meaning without directly force feeding the words to the listener. . Achebe is showing the importance of stories even within the story he is telling in Things Fall Apart.

Things Fall Apart has been called a modern Greek tragedy. It has the same plot elements as a Greek tragedy, including the use of a tragic hero, the following of the string model, etc. Okonkwo is a classic tragic hero, even though the story is set in more modern times. He shows multiple hamartia, including hubris (pride) and ate (rashness), and these character traits do lead to his peripeteia, or reversal of fortune, and his downfall at the end of the novel. He is distressed by social changes brought by white men, because he has worked so hard to move up in the traditional society. This position is at risk due to the arrival of a new values system. Those who commit suicide lose their place in the ancestor-worshipping traditional society, to the extent that they may not even be touched to give a proper burial. The irony is that Okonkwo completely loses his standing in both value systems. Okonkwo truly has good intentions, but his need to feel in control and his fear that other men will sense weakness in him drive him to make decisions, whether consciously or subconsciously, that he regrets as he progresses through his life.^[26]

Literary significance and reception[link]

Things Fall Apart is a milestone in African literature. It has achieved the status of the archetypal modern African novel in English,^[2][27] and is read in Nigeria and throughout Africa. Of all of Achebe's works, Things Fall Apart is the one read most often, and has generated the most critical response, examination, and literary criticism. It is studied widely in Europe and North America, where it has spawned numerous secondary and tertiary analytical works. It has achieved similar status and repute in India and Australia.^[2]Considered Achebe's magnum opus, it has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide.^[28] Time Magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.^[29] The novel has been translated into more than fifty languages, and is often used in literature, world history, and African studies courses across the world.

Achebe is now considered to be the essential novelist on African identity, nationalism, and decolonization. Achebe's main focus has been cultural ambiguity and contestation. The complexity of novels such as Things Fall Apart depends on Achebe's ability to bring competing cultural systems and their languages to the same level of representation, dialogue, and contestation.^[30]

Reviewers have praised Achebe's neutral narration and have described Things Fall Apart as a realistic novel. Much of the critical discussion about Things Fall Apart concentrates on the socio-political aspects of the novel, including the friction between the members of Igbo society as confront the intrusive and overpowering presence of Western government and beliefs. Ernest N. Emenyonu commented that "Things Fall Apart is indeed a classic study of cross-cultural misunderstanding and the consequences to the rest of humanity, when a belligerent culture or civilization, out of sheer arrogance and ethnocentrism, takes it upon itself to invade another culture, another civilization."^[31]

Achebe's writing about African society, in telling from an African point of view the story of the colonization of the Igbo, tends to extinguish the misconception that African culture had been savage and primitive. In Things Fall Apart, western culture is portrayed as being "arrogant and ethnocentric," insisting that the African culture needed a leader. As it had no kings or chiefs, Umofian culture was vulnerable to invasion by western civilization. It is felt that the repression of the Igbo language at the end of the novel contributes greatly to the destruction of the culture. Although Achebe favors the African culture of the pre-western society, the author attributes its destruction to the "weaknesses within the native structure." Achebe portrays the culture as having a religion, a government, a system of money, and an artistic tradition, as well as a judicial system.

Influence[link]

The achievement of Things Fall Apart set the foreground for numerous African novelists. Because of Things Fall Apart, novelists after Achebe have been able to find an eloquent and effective mode for the expression of the particular social, historical, and cultural situation of modern Africa.^[32] Before Things Fall Apart was published, Europeans had written most novels about Africa, and they largely portrayed Africans as savages who needed to be enlightened by Europeans. Achebe broke apart this view by portraying Igbo society in a sympathetic light, which allows the reader to examine the effects of European colonialism from a different perspective.^[33] He commented, "The popularity of Things Fall Apart in my own society can be explained simply... this was the first time we were seeing ourselves, as autonomous individuals, rather than half-people, or as Conrad would say, 'rudimentary souls'."^[34]

The language of the novel has not only intrigued critics but has also been a major factor in the emergence of the modern African novel. Because Achebe wrote in English, portrayed Igbo life from the point of view of an African man, and used the language of his people, he was able to greatly influence African novelists, who viewed him as a guide.^[35]

Achebe's fiction and criticism continue to inspire and influence writers around the world. Hilary Mantel, the Booker Prize winning novelist in a May 7, 2012 article in Newsweek Hilary Mantel's favorite historical Fictions, lists Things Fall Apart as one of her five favorite novels in this genre. A whole new generation of African writers - Caine prize winners Binyavanga Wainaina (current director of the Chinua Achebe Center at Bard College) and Helon Habila Waiting for an Angel (2004) and Measuring Tme (2007); as well as Uzodinma Iweala Beasts of no Nation (2005); and Professor Okey Ndibe Arrows of rain (2000) count Chinua Achebe as a significant influence. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the author of the popular and critically acclaimed novels Purple Hibiscus (2003) and Half of a Yellow Sun (2006), commented in a 2006 interview, "Chinua Achebe will always be important to me because his work influenced not so much my style as my writing philosophy: reading him emboldened me, gave me permission to write about the things I knew well."^[36]

Film, television, and theatrical adaptations[link]

A dramatic radio program called Okonkwo was made of the novel in April 1961 by the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. It featured Wole Soyinka in a supporting role.^[37]

In 1987, the book was made into a very successful mini series directed by David Orere and broadcast on Nigerian television by the Nigerian Television Authority. It starred movie veterans like Pete Edochie, Nkem Owoh and Sam Loco.

See also[link]

Novels portal

• Heart of Darkness
• Weep Not, Child
• Death and the King's Horseman

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

• Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor Books, 1994. ISBN 0-385-47454-7
• Baldwin, Gordon. Strange Peoples and Stranger Customs. New York: W.W. Norton and Company Inc, 1967.
• Booker, M. Keith. The Chinua Achebe Encyclopedia. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-325-07063-6
• Booker, M. Keith. Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe [Critical Insights]. Pasadena, Calif: Salem Press, 2011. ISBN 978-1-58765-711-5
• Frazer, Sir James George. The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1942.
• Girard, Rene. Violence and the Sacred. Trans. Patrick Gregory. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1977. ISBN 0-8018-1963-6
• Rhoads, Diana Akers (September 1993). "Culture in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart". African Studies Review. 36(2): 61–72.
• Roberts, J.M. A Short History of the World. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
• Rosenberg, Donna. World Mythology: An Anthology of the Great Myths and Epics. Lincolnwood, Illinois: NTC Publishing Group, 1994. ISBN 978-0-8442-5765-5

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Chinua Achebe

• Chinua Achebe discusses Things Fall Apart on the BBC World Book Club
• Teacher's Guide at Random House
• Study Resource for writing about Things Fall Apart
• Study guide
• Words present in the novel used in past SATs Includes definitions, words in order from the book, and three different tests.
• Things Fall Apart Reviews
• Things Fall Apart on Wiki Summaries
• Things Fall Apart study guide, themes, analysis, teacher resources

Sarah Connor
Connor in June 2009.
Background information
Birth name	Sarah Marianne Corina Lewe
Born	(1980-06-13) June 13, 1980 (age 32) Germany[1]
Genres	Pop, R&B, soul
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, philanthropist
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Epic Records, SONY
Associated acts	Wyclef Jean, Ne-Yo, Natural, Naturally 7, Marc Terenzi, TQ, Enrique Iglesias
Website	www.sarah-connor.com

Sarah Marianne Corina Lewe (born June 13, 1980^[1]), better known by her stage name Sarah Connor, is a German singer, songwriter and television personality. Connor debuted in 2001 under the guidance of artist manager George Glueck and became the first solo act to ever have four consecutive chart-topping hits on the German Singles Chart.^[2] Following success in mainland Europe with her single "From Sarah with Love" and her R&B-oriented debut album Green Eyed Soul, a series of hit records established her position as the most successful German pop female vocalists to emerge in the 2000s with sales in excess of 15 million copies worldwide.^[3] Her latest effort, seventh studio album Real Love, was released in October 2010, amid her engagement as judge on the German reality television show X Factor.

Awarded with several prizes and accolades, Connor has received four Comets, a Top of the Pops Award, a Goldene Kamera, a Goldene Europa, a World Music Award, and an Echo. She married the American pop-rock musician Marc Terenzi in 2004, with whom she appeared in two reality shows, Sarah & Marc in Love (2007) and Crazy and Sexy: Sarah Connor (2008). They ended their relationship with divorce in 2008.

Early life[link]

Connor is the eldest of six siblings born to Michael Lewe, an advertising writer of American descent, and his wife Soraya Lewe-Tacke (née Gray), a former fashion model and homemaker of Scottish, Irish and German heritage, in Hamburg.^[4][5] She has four sisters: Anna Maria, Marisa, Sophia-Luisa, and Valentina; and one brother, Robin. Her maternal half-brothers Mick and Lex were born in 2008.^[6]

Connor grew up listening to soul music, mostly influenced by her paternal grandfather who was born in New Orleans.^[7] A church choir became her first experience in the gospel music field at a very young age. In her teen years Connor tried out and was accepted to a performing arts school. Although all students were required to choose an instrument, Connor was the only one allowed to study voice.^[8] She took vocal lessons once a week and worked as a waitress in a hotel to pay for them.

In 1997, Connor was picked to sing with the backing choir during the performance of "Heal the World" at Michael Jackson's HIStory concert tour in Bremen, Germany.^[5] Overwhelmed by a personal meeting with Jackson at the end of the show,^[5] she signed a contract with her first management the following year, that resulted in her pseudonym Sarah Gray and the recording of a number of demo tapes,^[7] including cover versions such as "Silent Night" and "This Christmas" and the local radio success "Ula la Ula."^[9] In 1999, she provided the leading vocals for producer Marc van Linden's dance remix of the 1982 record "Last Unicorn," which reached number 86 on the German Singles Chart. Unhappy with her management though, Connor teamed up with manager Carlo Vista,^[9] who got her signed as Sarah Connor with producer George Glueck's label X-Cell Records a short time after. As a direct consequence, she decided to quit school and leave home at the age of 19.^[5]

Career[link]

[edit] 2001–2003: Breakthrough with From Sarah With Love

Connor fluctuated between Hamburg, Hannover and Berlin to work on her debut album, involving producers such as Bülent Aris, Toni Cottura, Diane Warren, and the production duo Rob Tyger and Kay Denar. Green Eyed Soul, which was eventually released on November 26, 2001 in German-speaking Europe, yielded her first two singles "Let's Get Back to Bed – Boy!," a collaboration with American rapper TQ, and "French Kissing," a song based on BLACKstreet’s "No Diggity." However, it was the album’s third single "From Sarah with Love" which reached the top position in Germany, Poland, Portugal and Switzerland and raised Connor’s fame all over Europe. The song garnered the singer a Comet and an ECHO Award. Album reviews were generally positive, with laut.de especially praising Connor’s vocal strengths.^[10]

Only ten months later, her second album Unbelievable (2002) was released in Europe. Wyclef Jean wrote, produced and rapped on the album’s lead single, "One Nite Stand (of Wolves and Sheep)," which once again entered the top 5. Unbelievable simultaneously achieved gold status in Germany within 48 hours and spawned another three singles, including Diane Warren-penned "Skin on Skin," "He's Unbelievable" and "Bounce" (which would be released as a single on 3 different occasions and countries including the United States.)

In October 2003, Connor released a live DVD branded Sarah Connor Live – A Night to Remember: Pop Meets Classic, whose performance had been recorded at the Alten Kasselhaus in Düsseldorf on January 24, including individual performances of own songs with a classical orchestra backing her up. In November 2003, in spite of being heavily pregnant with her first child, Connor released her third album called, Key to My Soul. The album’s first single, "Music Is the Key" featuring New York a cappella singers Naturally 7, became her second number-one hit in Germany. "Just One Last Dance", the album's second and final single, was a re-recorded edition of the album’s original version, including new vocals by Marc Terenzi’s band Natural. The duet once again reached number-one in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland and the top 20 on a composite World Top 40.

The album "Sarah Connor" featured the first single, "Bounce". It was released in many countries. including Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. In Germany, the single made it to #14 on the charts. In England and Ireland it peaked at number 14 and was certified gold in Australia. In America, the song only managed a #54 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album made it to number 106 and took off in the U.S., selling almost 100.000 copies.

2004–2008: International Success[link]

After a lengthy hiatus that saw the birth of her son Tyler, Connor returned to music in fall 2004 with the release of her single "Living to Love You." The ballad reached number-one in Germany and Switzerland, becoming her third consecutive chart-topper, and preceded her fourth album Naughty But Nice (2005).^[11] Connor re-teamed with longtime contributors Booya, Kay Denar und Rob Tyger to work on the album, whose release coincided with the broadcast of her ProSieben reality series Sarah & Marc in Love. Her highest-charting effort yet, Naughty But Nice debuted on top of the German Albums Chart and reached the top three in Austria and Switzerland, selling 100,000 copies within the first two days of its release.^[12] Critical reaction towards the album was generally mixed, with Allmusic rating it three starts out of five,^[13] and laut.de summing it as "underclass music for the disco around the corner."^[14] Spawning just one another single, "From Zero to Hero" was picked to be used as the theme song to the computer-animated movie Robots (2005), for which Connor voiced the character of Cappy.^[15] The song became her fifth chart-topping single in Germany and the fourth number-one hit single in a row.^[16]

In fall 2005, Connor embarked on the Naughty but Nice concert tour. Compiling twenty-three dates in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, the tour concluded a month later. In December 2005, she released a holiday album named Christmas in My Heart. Containing a mix of traditional but contemporary English standards and re-written German songs in English language, both the album and its same-titled lead single reached number four on the charts.^[17][18] Eventually certified platinum by the IFPI,^[19] the album was re-released the following year, including the previously unreleased single "The Best Side of Life," another top four success.^[20]

Returning from yet another hiatus after the birth of her daughter Summer in 2006, Connor released her sixth studio album Soulicious in March 2007. Mainly made up of 1960s and 70s Motown covers, but also including two original songs, recording for the entire album took place at the former main building of the Berliner Rundfunk, where Connor was backed by a symphonic orchestra of forty-eight musicians.^[21] Upon its release, the album reached the top ten in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, where it each reached gold status.^[19] Critics, again, gave Soulicious a mixed response, with CDStarts.de calling it "a sterile soul adaption for The Dome stage."^[22] Leading single "The Impossible Dream (The Quest)," which was featured in a publicity campaign for the comeback fight of German boxer Henry Maske, and "Sexual Healing," a duet with American singer Ne-Yo, reached the top ten and top twenty of the singles charts respectively.^[23][24]

Heading into a new musical direction, Connor intensified work on her next original album with producers such as Remee, Thomas Troelsen and J. R. Rotem. In May 2008, it was announced Connor and her family would once again participate in an eight-part reality show titled Sarah and Marc: Still Crazy in Love" on ProSieben. The special began airing on July 3, 2008, and followed the recording and promotional events for the new album, branded Sexy as Hell.^[25][26] Its first single, "Under My Skin," co-written by Troelsen, was released on August 1, 2008, in German-speaking Europe, with the album following on August 22, 2008. Subsequently, she was nominated for an ECHO.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] 2009–present: X-Factor and Real Love

In 2009, Connor contributed to a re-recorded version of Enrique Iglesias' duet "Takin' Back My Love," replacing American singer Ciara's original vocals on the song. Released as the second single from Iglesias' 2008 Greatest Hits album in German-speaking Europe, Poland and the Czech Republic, it reached the top ten of the German Singles Chart.^[27]

In April 2010, it was announced that Connor would appear alongside mentor George Glueck and musician Till Brönner as a judge on the debut series of X Factor, aired on the German VOX network.^[28] Connor's eighth studio album, titled Real Love, was released on October 22, 2010. "Cold as Ice" was released as the album's first single. It peaked at number 27 on the Austrian Singles Chart as well as the German Singles Chart at number 16. Connor performed "Cold as Ice" at the 2010 MTV European Music Awards. Real Love peaked at number 8 on the German Albums Chart.

Personal life[link]

Connor met Marc Terenzi, lead singer of American boy band Natural, at the Bravo Happy Holidays festival in Rust, Germany in July 2002.^[29] The pair began dating and in June 2003, it was announced they were engaged and expecting their first child, Tyler Marc Terenzi, who was born on February 2, 2004 in Orlando, Florida.^[30] On February 29, 2004 the couple invited their friends to a dinner supposedly to celebrate the birth of their son; however they announced that they in fact had eloped. The couple renewed their vows this time with a wedding ceremony on August 18, 2005 in Altafulla, Tarragonès, near Barcelona, Spain. The wedding was the subject of their ProSieben reality show Sarah and Marc in Love.^[31] On June 23, 2006, Connor gave birth to their second child, a girl, named Summer Antonia Soraya.^[32] In November 2008, Connor announced her separation from Terenzi.

In April 2010, Connor announced that she is in a relationship with her manager, Florian Fischer, singer of the 1990s pop trio The Boyz.^[33] In February 2011, the two confirmed that they were expecting a child.^[34] Their daughter Delphine Malou was born in September 2011.

Awards[link]

• 1Live Krone
  • 2005 – Best Female Artist

• Bravo Otto
  • 2001 – Female Singer – Silver
  • 2003 – Female Singer – Bronze
  • 2004 – Female Singer – GOLD
  • 2005 – Female Singer – GOLD
  • 2006 – Female Singer – GOLD
  • 2007 – Female Singer – Bronze
  • 2008 – Female Singer – GOLD

• Comet
  • 2001 – Best National Newcomer
  • 2005 – Best Female Artist
  • 2007 – Best Female Artist
  • 2009 – Best Female Artist

• DIVA-Award
  • 2005 – Music Artist of the Year

• ECHO (including nominations)
  • 2002 – Best National Newcomer (Green Eyed Soul) – nominated
  • 2002 – Best National Female Pop/Rock Artist (Green Eyed Soul) – WON
  • 2002 – Best National Single – From Sarah with Love – nominated
  • 2003 – Best National Female Pop/Rock Artist (Unbelievable) – nominated
  • 2004 – Best National Female Pop/Rock Artist (Key To My Soul) – nominated
  • 2006 – Best National Female Pop/Rock Artist (Naughty But Nice) – nominated
  • 2007 – Best National Female Pop/Rock Artist (Christmas in my Heart) – nominated
  • 2008 – Best National Female Pop/Rock Artist (Soulicious) – nominated
  • 2009 – Best National Female Pop/Rock Artist (Sexy as Hell) – nominated
  • 2011 – Best National Female Pop/Rock Artist (Real Love) – nominated

• Goldene Europa
  • 2002 – Most Successful German Female Singer

• Goldene Kamera
  • 2005 – Pop National

• MAXIM
  • 2002 – Woman of the Year – Pop Star

• Neo Award
  • 2004 – Most Downloaded Album – Key To My Soul

• Radio Regenbogen Award
  • 2002 – Best Hit 2001 – From Sarah with Love

• Top of the Pops Award
  • 2001 Best German Newcomer

• World Music Award
  • 2004 – Best Selling German Artist

• World Of Music Award
  • 2008 – Best National Female Artist

Filmography[link]

Discography[link]

Tours[link]

• Green Eyed Soul Tour (2002)
• Sarah Connor Live (2003–2004)
• Naughty but Nice Tour (2005)
• Sexy as Hell Tour (2009)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sarah Connor

• Official website
• Complete discography page

50 Cent
50 Cent in 2009
Background information
Birth name	Curtis James Jackson III
Born	(1975-07-06) July 6, 1975 (age 36)
Origin	South Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York, United States
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Aftermath, Shady, G-Unit
Associated acts	G-Unit, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Sha Money XL, DJ Whoo Kid
Website	50cent.com

Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003) and The Massacre (2005). His album Get Rich or Die Tryin' has been certified eight times platinum by the RIAA.^[1]

Born in the South Jamaica of Queens, New York City, Jackson began drug dealing at the age of twelve during the 1980s crack epidemic.^[2] After leaving drug dealing to pursue a rap career, he was shot at and struck by nine bullets during an incident in 2000. After releasing his album Guess Who's Back? in 2002, Jackson was discovered by rapper Eminem and signed to Interscope Records. With the help of Eminem and Dr. Dre, who produced his first major commercial successes, Jackson became one of the world's highest selling rappers. In 2003, he founded the record label G-Unit Records, which signed several successful rappers such as Young Buck, Lloyd Banks, and Tony Yayo.

Jackson has engaged in feuds with other rappers including Ja Rule, Nas, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Cam'ron, Puff Daddy, Rick Ross, and former G-Unit members The Game and Young Buck. He has also pursued an acting career, appearing in the semi-autobiographical film Get Rich or Die Tryin' in 2005, the Iraq War film Home of the Brave in 2006, and Righteous Kill in 2008. 50 Cent was ranked as the sixth-best artist of the 2000s by Billboard magazine. The magazine also ranked him as the fourth top male artist and as the third top rapper behind Eminem and Nelly.^[3] Billboard magazine also ranked him as the sixth best and most successful Hot 100 Artist of the 2000s^[4] and as the number one rap artist of the 2000s.^[5] Billboard ranked his album Get Rich or Die Tryin' as the twelfth best album of the 2000s^[6] and his album The Massacre as the 37th best album of the 2000s.^[7] As of September 2011, 50 Cent is working on his fifth studio album, which is set to be released in 2012.^[8]

Early life[link]

Curtis Jackson III grew up in South Jamaica, a poverty-stricken urban neighborhood in Queens, New York City. He grew up without a father and was raised by his mother, Sabrina, who gave birth to him at the age of fifteen. Sabrina, a cocaine dealer, raised Jackson until the age of eight, when she was killed in 1983. Twenty-seven years old at the time, she became unconscious after someone drugged her drink. She was then left for dead after the gas in her apartment was turned on and the windows shut closed.^[9][10]

After her death, Jackson moved into his grandparents' house with his eight aunts and uncles.^[11][12][13] He recalls, "My grandmother told me, 'Your mother's not coming home. She's not gonna come back to pick you up. You're gonna stay with us now.' That's when I started adjusting to the streets a little bit".^[14]

Jackson began boxing around the age of eleven. At fourteen, a neighbor opened a boxing gym for local kids. "When I wasn't killing time in school, I was sparring in the gym or selling crack on the strip", he recalled.^[15] In the mid 1980s, he competed in the Junior Olympics as an amateur boxer. He recounts, "I was competitive in the ring and hip-hop is competitive too... I think rappers condition themselves like boxers, so they all kind of feel like they're the champ".^[16] At the age of twelve, Jackson began dealing narcotics when his grandparents thought he was at after-school programs.^[17] He also took guns and drug money to school. In the tenth grade, he was caught by metal detectors at Andrew Jackson High School. He later stated, "I was embarrassed that I got arrested like that... After I got arrested I stopped hiding it. I was telling my grandmother [openly], 'I sell drugs.'"^[14]

Following time spent in a correctional boot camp, Jackson adopted the nickname "50 Cent" as a metaphor for "change".^[18] The name was derived from Kelvin Martin, a 1980s Brooklyn robber known as "50 Cent". Jackson chose the name "because it says everything I want it to say. I'm the same kind of person 50 Cent was. I provide for myself by any means".^[19]

Music career[link]

1996–99: Early career[link]

Jackson started rapping in a friend's basement where he used turntables to record over instrumentals.^[20] In 1996, a friend introduced him to Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC who was organizing his label Jam Master Jay Records.

Jay taught him how to count bars, write choruses, structure songs, and how to make a record.^[21][22] Jackson's first official appearance was on a song titled "React" with the group Onyx on their 1998 album Shut 'Em Down. He credited Jam Master Jay as an influence who helped him improve his ability to write hooks.^[16] Jay produced Jackson's first album; however, it was never released.^[9]

In 1999, after leaving Jam Master Jay, the platinum-selling producers Trackmasters took notice of Jackson and signed him to Columbia Records. They sent him to a studio in Upstate New York where he produced thirty-six songs in two weeks.^[10] Eighteen were included on his unofficially released album, Power of the Dollar in 2000.^[23] He also started the now-defunct Hollow Point Entertainment with former G-Unit affiliate Bang 'Em Smurf.^[24][25]

Jackson's popularity started to increase after the successful but controversial underground single, "How to Rob", which he wrote in half an hour while in a car on the way to a studio.^[18][26] The track comically explains how he would rob famous artists. He explained the reasoning behind song's content as, "There's a hundred artists on that label, you gotta separate yourself from that group and make yourself relevant".^[18] Rappers Jay-Z, Kurupt, Sticky Fingaz, Big Pun, DMX, Wyclef Jean and the Wu-Tang Clan replied to the song^[26] and Nas, who received the track positively, invited Jackson to travel on a promotional tour for his Nastradamus album.^[13] The song was intended to be released with "Thug Love" featuring Destiny's Child, but two days before he was scheduled to film the "Thug Love" music video, Jackson was shot and confined to a hospital due to his injuries.^[27]

2000–01: Shooting[link]

On May 24, 2000, Jackson was attacked by a gunman, alleged to be Darryl "Hommo" Baum, outside his grandmother's former home in South Jamaica, Queens. He went into a friend's car, but was asked to return to the house to get jewelry.

His son was in the house, while his grandmother was in the front yard.^[10] Upon returning to the back seat of the car and already seated, another car pulled up nearby. An assailant then walked up to Jackson's left side with a 9mm handgun and fired nine shots at close range. He was shot nine times: in the hand (a round hit his right thumb, to where the bullet passed through and out his little finger), arm, hip, both legs, chest, and his face (his left cheek).^[9][14][28] The face wound resulted in a swollen tongue, the loss of a wisdom tooth, and a small slur in his voice.^[13][14][29] His friend also sustained a gunshot wound to the hand. They were driven to the hospital where Jackson spent thirteen days.

Baum, the alleged shooter, was killed three weeks later.^[30]

Baum was also Mike Tyson's close friend and bodyguard.^[31]

Jackson recalled the incident saying, "It happens so fast that you don't even get a chance to shoot back.... I was scared the whole time.... I was looking in the rear-view mirror like, 'Oh @#!*% , somebody shot me in the face! It burns, burns, burns.'"^[14] In his autobiography, From Pieces to Weight: Once upon a Time in Southside Queens, he wrote, "After I got shot nine times at close range and didn't die, I started to think that I must have a purpose in life... How much more damage could that shell have done? Give me an inch in this direction or that one, and I'm gone".^[11] He used a walker for the first six weeks and fully recovered after five months. When he left the hospital, he stayed in the Poconos with his then-girlfriend and son. His workout regime helped him attain his muscular physique.^[9][14][32]

While in the hospital, Jackson signed a publishing deal with Columbia Records. However, he was dropped from the label and "blacklisted" in the recording industry because of his song "Ghetto Qu'ran".

Unable to find a studio to work with in the U.S, he traveled to Canada.^[33][34] Along with his business partner Sha Money XL, he recorded over thirty songs for mixtapes, with the purpose of building a reputation.

According to Shady Records A&R Marc Labelle in an interview with HitQuarters, Jackson shrewdly used the mixtape circuit to his own advantage saying, "He took all the hottest beats from every artist and flipped them with better hooks. They then got into all the markets on the mixtapes and all the mixtape DJs were messing with them."^[35] Jackson's popularity rose and in 2002, he released material independently on the mixtape, Guess Who's Back?. Beginning to attract interest, and now backed by G-Unit, Jackson continued to release music including 50 Cent Is the Future. The mixtape revisited material by Jay-Z and Raphael Saadiq.^[23]

2002–09: Rise to fame[link]

In 2002, Eminem listened to a copy of Jackson's Guess Who's Back? CD. He received the CD through Jackson's attorney, who was working with Eminem's manager Paul Rosenberg.^[27] Impressed with the album, Eminem invited Jackson to fly to Los Angeles, where he was introduced to Dr. Dre.^[9][21][27] After signing a $1 million record deal,^[21] Jackson released the mixtape, No Mercy, No Fear. It featured one new track, "Wanksta", which was put on Eminem's 8 Mile soundtrack.^[23] He was also signed to Chris Lighty's Violator Management and Sha Money XL's Money Management Group.

In February 2003, Jackson released his commercial debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin'. Allmusic described it as "probably the most hyped debut album by a rap artist in about a decade".^[36] Rolling Stone noted the album for its "dark synth grooves, buzzy keyboards and a persistently funky bounce" with Jackson complementing the production in "an unflappable, laid-back flow".^[37]

It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 872,000 copies in the first four days.^[38] The lead single, "In da Club", which The Source noted for its "blaring horns, funky organs, guitar riffs and sparse hand claps",^[39] broke a Billboard record as the most listened-to song in radio history within a week.^[40]

Interscope granted Jackson his own label, G-Unit Records in 2003.^[41] He signed Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, and Young Buck as the established members of G-Unit. The Game was later signed under a joint venture with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment.

In March 2005, Jackson's second commercial album, The Massacre, sold 1.14 million copies in the first four days-the highest in an abbreviated sales cycle^[38]- and peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 for six weeks.^[42]

He became the first solo artist to have three singles on the Billboard top five in the same week with "Candy Shop", "Disco Inferno", and "How We Do".^[43] Rolling Stone noted that "50's secret weapon is his singing voice - the deceptively amateur-sounding tenor croon that he deploys on almost every chorus".^[44]

From left: With Olivia, Lloyd Banks, and Young Buck in Bangkok, Thailand, February 2006

After The Game's departure, Jackson signed singer Olivia and rap veterans Mobb Deep to G-Unit Records. Spider Loc, M.O.P., 40 Glocc and Young Hot Rod later joined the label.^[45][46] Jackson expressed interest in working with rappers outside of G-Unit, such as Lil' Scrappy of BME, LL Cool J from Def Jam, Mase from Bad Boy, and Freeway of Roc-A-Fella, some of whom he recorded with.^[47] In September 2007, he released his third album Curtis, which was inspired by his life before Get Rich or Die Tryin'.^[48] It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 691,000 units in the first week,^[49] behind Kanye West's Graduation, whom he had a sales competition with, as both albums were released on the same day.