Chinua Achebe; Dialogical Self theory; Hubert Hermans; Internal vs. External I-positions; Things Fall Apart

Abstract

This article attempts to provide a new reading of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (1958) from the perspective of Dialogical Self Theory, which views the self as a complex set of interrelated positions developed through social interaction. This study illustrates how Okonkwo’s self moves from one I-position to another according to changes in situation and time. In Okonkwo’s interactions with other people, he invokes various internal and external I-positions, where different people arouse different parts in his “self†and perform inner dialogues between these positions. These internal and external I-positions disagree with each other. However, despite this dialogue, new positions failed to emerge. Okonkwo’s decision to kill himself at the end illustrates his failure to form a successful dialogical relation among his multiple I-positions.