John+Macklin

 My first impressions of the novel __Things Fall Apart__ by Chinua Achebe were that the Igbo culture is far different from what is depicted in most media and history: godless and uncivilized "savages". The story shows that everyone has at least some sense of civility no matter what culture they may have. I think that the novel is a good representation of the way that the Igbo live, and it shows that they are not that different from us. One thing about the book, however, is keeping the characters separate from one another due to the pronunciation of their names. Those were my first impressions of the novel. I feel that their culture is different from ours because they are more morally "sound"- if you will- than we are. The Igbo keep things closer to their religion than most of America which has strayed rather from from it. I will say that we may be more technically advanced, yes, but that has somewhat allowed the corruption of our society to further itself, much unlike the Igbo. We are alike them in the way that we still depend on the basics, the Igbo more so than ourselves, however. Those are the ways in which we are alike and different to the Igbo.