I read this book in High School. There needs to be more mention of yams. Those people loved yams.

A little cultural context that I think would help. Okonkwo believed in reincarnation, and one of the rules to reincarnation is that you die a clean death as your soul will have to be allowed to return by the earth (Ala) via a woman (your mother). By killing himself Okonkwo is not only evading European judgement, but he is also categorically saying he doesn't want to return to the world to come.

I love that Igbo quote at the end: "If you want to see it well, you must not stand in one place."

Thumbs up for making a real effort to pronounce "Igbo" and "Okonkwo" correctly. It really means a lot to me being a Nigerian and an Igbo man..

This book: displays complex emotions and has a compelling story Comment section: We WAnT MorE YAmS

I as a Nigerian am fascinated to see crash course review things fall apart. Accuracy was a 100% although not being from the igbo tribe myself. Good job John Green..

These videos are so much better and more interesting when you've read the book. . . . reminds me disturbingly of actual literature classes.

woah I just realized that the three c's are equal to the three g's commerce, christianity, and civilization = glory, god, and gold

Read Things Fall Apart in 10th grade and hated it because of the way my teacher taught the material. Very much enjoyed returning to it thirteen years later (oh geez!) and getting a much more satisfying experience out of it. Thank you, Mr. Green!

you forgot the biggest thing. THE YAMS!!!!

Please do five videos on Babysitter's Club 26: Claudia and the Sad Goodbye

I had never even heard of this novel until Crash Course Literature. When I saw it was due after Jane Eyre, I hunted a copy at my local bookstore so I could keep up with the series. I had no idea it would be so profound, so illuminating, so deeply moving. Thank you so much John Green and the Crash Course team for sharing such important and great works of literature with us! As an Australian, it has really made me reflect about colonisation here too. Proud to be a subbable subscriber!

When I was a kid I wasn't a fan of the Babysitter's Club books... but the Boxcar Children were AWESOME

I wish my English teacher were half as good as you are in communicating an understanding and appreciation of literature. Seriously, it's as if she expects teenagers to gain an appreciate of books by filling out worksheets for homework (not to mention that we never discussed the historical contexts of this particular book beyond what is said in the book).

Very well summarised and analysed. I was also hoping to hear of the reference to Heart of Darkness and Joseph Conrad when the British district commissioner says, perhaps not a chapter but a reasonable paragraph.

OMG I AM SO EXCITED BECAUSE THIS IS NIGERIAN LITERATURE IN A CRASH COURSE VIDEO!!!!!!!!! AHHH!!!!!! EXCUSE ME WHILE I SCREAM IN DELIGHT! on a lesser note, as a Nigerian, I of course have this book even if it isn't compulsory literature in schools. Also John Green, It's pronounced "eegboh" (e as in eleven)

Okonkwo's hatred for his father and his fear of being seen as weak reminds me of Tywin from GoT.His fear heavily impacts his relationship with Tyrion(because being a dwarf is associated with being weak).The black and white view of a missionary and battle between light and darkness reminds me of opinion of the followers of the lord of light towards "the others" I wonder if GRRM was influenced by this novel.

Not enough yams

I'm glad that in my English Class we read this book and Heart of Darkness, it allowed us to do a real compare and contrast between the two novels that practically told the same thing just from two different perspectives. I loved the book Things Fall Apart, Heart of Darkness not so much.

great episode John, you really killed it on both videos about this book

I had to read Things Fall Apart in high school in my World History class. When introducing the book my teacher said it was about 'colonialism destroying the lives of African people'. As I read it, I was confused - a lot of the violence in the book occurs before the first missionary ever shows up. The protagonist brings suffering on himself and his family by reacting to every crisis (or non crisis) with anger and violence. But I didn't dare say so in class lest people think I was saying "gee colonialism couldn't have been that bad, it was the violent natives who destroyed themselves". I knew colonialism was horrific and caused misery for countless indigenous people around the world, but I couldn't see how *this book* was an example of that. Thank you John Green for giving a balanced perspective, and helping to make it more clear to me how it is about both. The colonization process (in this book) was not a violent conquest but a quiet, kudzu-like engulfment of cultural imperialism.

So happy with that Civilization 5 reference. That was great. Thanks Thought Bubble.

This story reminds me of the Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingslover. But it's told from the perspective of the four women in a missionary family and their time in the Congo. It's a great book that would be a wonderful comparison for Things Fall Apart

This book allowed me to learn about African/Nigerian history from a literary point of view, artfully representing reality with powerful words and stories

I've always loved Crash Course, but I especially love it because my real AP Lit teacher is so much like John Green! He finally found John and now every time I go to class he looks at me (and another nerdfighter friend of mine) and tells us, "John Green has my room bugged! He said exactly what I would have said about [insert book/poem title here]!" I don't think my teacher realizes it, but is now almost certainly a nerdfighter, made of pure awesome :D

John: "Umufia" Me: "Umu-oh-fia" John: "Umufia" Me: "Umu... ah forget it"

That Sid Meier civilization reference was too clutch Crash Course

John Green has great stuff to say, and is epic in helping me study this book (read: study, not cheat on) However, it's also important to consider while reading this book that people, no matter what ethnicity, skin color, culture, history, etc. all have issues with understanding human life and its worth. People, throughout all history, have destroyed one another, race against race, culture against culture. It's not merely one race against all the others simply because it has some inferiority complex; rather all people are against each other and are aimed for each other's destruction.

This video has been so helpful with summarizing the story of Okonkwo and his tribe. Thank you so much :)

7:42 Coke = Civilization. Totally Legit.

Civ 5 reference 4:41 LOLOLOL. I LOVE CRASH COURSE!

Love that he gives some meaningful analysis and connects this stuff to the real world at the end.

both these episodes are really really good analyses of the piece. read it a long time ago and i realize i'm due for a re-read

Thank you so much for making this book the subject of two videos. It made me read this thoughtful book, for which I am grateful.

Love the Civ 5 reference

Love the Civ5-like visuals :)

"The book was written in post-colonial Africa, when British colonies were pulling out of Africa." Are you serious? Neither the British, nor any other European powers EVER pulled out of Africa, not completely. Most of Africa's resources don't stimulate their countries' economies, but the economies of Europe. You don't need a strong presence to control a populace if you've already tricked them to think like you. Why do you think the U.S. has military bases all over the world?

this is really helpful you know, i have this assignment based on this novel ''things fall apart'' on how would i use it in teaching African history

I love how emotional the subject of colonization was to you, this is a great overview.

I'm mostly stoked about how KZfaq have fixed the low framerate issue we've been having. Tought Bubbles look so much better when they aren't horribly choppy. :P (Also loved the Civ allegory)

I love all the crash course series' for many reasons. The Thought Bubble referencing a civ game is definitely up at the top.

We're currently reading TKAM in our English class, and I have to say for a "slice of life" type book, I love it.

Claudia and the Sad Goodbye was the first documented case in my life of Feels from media. Thanks for reminding me, John. Forever upset about dear Mimi.

I enjoyed the subtle jab that the Civlization games are a western expansionist fantasy and not a neutral story of civilization.

I totally want them to do episodes about The Babysitter's Club. Those books were my childhood.

I feel like I gain a few whole IQ points with each video.

YAY To Kill a Mockingbird! That's my favorite book. I can't wait till the next episode!!!!!!!!!!!! John I've been watching your and hank's videos for awhile now, and I can say with complete certainty that not once, have either of you EVER, forgotten to be awesome. Your videos make me laugh, your books make me cry, and hearing all the great things you are, and do make me feel so happy to be part of this amazing community. Nerdfighteria is my one and only, true home. I would be so lost without you guys. So I just want to thanks, keep doing what your doing, and DFTBA.

I found what he said about the perception of African civilizations being perceived as either barbaric or idealized very interesting, because I think we can draw parallels with that and the way people (specifically Americans) perceive Native Americans. I read a (historical fiction) book for English, "The Son," (great but seriously graphic) that really showed that Native Americans were not the victimized innocents that we like to complain about (in our safely settled European-styled towns). In the book, Comanche chief himself actually explains how the Comanches took the land from the Tonkawa, but the main difference between the Comanche and Americans is that the Americans thought they were entitled to the land simply because they were white, while the Comanche knew they were stealing but understood that if you had the capability to steal the land then it became yours. Also, the book does a good job of showing that yes, the Americans did a lot of killing, but the Comanche were equally as brutal, though somehow perceived as savage because they were brutal in a different way (ex: scalping). DISCLAIMER: my only knowledge of Native American history comes from a very biased American history education and one (very well researched, but nevertheless) fictional book that features them. If you find a flaw in the facts in the above paragraph (I'm sure there are many) PLEASE point it out. Thanks for reading this massive paragraph, haha :)

I'm actually studying No Longer At Ease but our teacher said to read Things Fall Apart first. Thank Gods I found a Crash Course on it! 😂👍

Civilization Reference in the thought bubble! I love that! Your videos always feel like your talking to me, not over me like Khan academy. Keep up this great work, can't wait for your new video next week! :)

things fall apart resonates well with the entire theme of crash course world history and the critique of history in general where the stories of a conqueror is preferred and advertised in place of the stories of a collection of populations.

4:37 love the Civ 5 reference

I have been waiting all week for this!

Things fall apart is out of print in my country (Italy), so I decided to read it in english thanks to John and his amazing lessons. Thank you!

I read this book for school over spring break. It's not my favorite (nor is it my teacher's) but I do see the importance of it and the lessons it teaches. You helped with my understanding, so thank you. Hopefully I'll see you May 7th, John!

This was amazing. We just finished things fall apart in my 10th grade language arts class, and this vide was fantastic to start interesting conversations within the class. Although, we would totally love it if you did farewell to arms.

Sounds like a very awesome read. I am definitely going to pick up a copy next time I'm at the bookstore.

Loving the pop culture references during this episode CrashCourse! And the video content of course!

Great Video! I'm thinking about rereading this novel. I don't think I had the same appreciation for it back in high school.

Wow - this has made me appreciate Things Fall Apart much more than when I read it in high school! I think that was a combination of how I was taught it and how I had yet-unrecognized privilege but now Okonkwo's narrative is much more powerful.

The district commissioner ends up getting exactly one paragraph where his inner thoughts are expressed but Okonkwo gets hundreds. God this book is good

ahh I read this book a year ago for a college interpreting literature class. wish this video was up then. it's such a good book.

Very awesome the allegory with the 3C's

One of the deepest episodes. Thanks!

Really good Thought Bubble

We're currently reading this in my AP lit class and connecting it to Heart of Darkness. This helped so much!

Okonkwo . . . -His life is dominated by fear of failure and weakness -Has three wives and a bunch of kids -Famous Sound familiar?

THAT CIVILIZATION REFERENCE!!! YES!!

This really helped me with my report. Thank you John Green!!

Watching this in 2020. Thanks CrashCourse. Thanks John Green.

The 'g' in Igbo is used for emphasis n the 'b', so it would be pronounced Ibo (ee-boe).

A quick and helpful analysis. Thanks thanks thanks.

Love the Civlilization reference :)

This book was so turn up. My high school history teacher gave me this book as a graduation present. I read it 6 years later and after reading it I all I thought was, "you can plan and do the right thing but nothing can prepare yourself for the rising tide." It's crazy that was the message I was given before going to college. If I had read this book sooner it might have given myself a perspective of the possibility of failure but at the end to give up is the worst option someone can do.

You really need to take a break man. I really appreciate all your works and would like to hear that great voice of yours at its fullest potential.

Nice Civ5 reference CrashCourse. Yet another reason to be subscribed.

Get better soon John!

I had never heard of that novel. Thank you.

Try Ginger and Garlic tea ... great for colds....

Can't wait for next week!!! TKAM is one of my faves!!!!

This is an interesting novel. Full of emotion and is deeply felt.

I have a paper on this book due in just over a week, so THANK YOU this has been very helpful.

Great JOB!! love this video!!

Excellent explanation!

love the civ part keep up the great work guys

Please do Crime and Punishment!!! I love your videos and would love one on that book. (such a great book)

this is my favorite episode because of the civ 5 ref... how sad...

damn, I want to read this book.

Hmm...........Needs more yams

Awesome video!

Oh my gosh thank you! We had to read this for IB English...definitely watching before the IB Exam!

Maaaaan, i wish this was out 3 months earlier when i was writing an essay on this book

I'm sorry you still seem to have your cold. Hoping you get better soon.

My 8th grade class just read To Kill a Mockingbird! can't wait to see it next

Excellent... Now I have to read the book!!

I love the Civ 5 reference.

Thank you John Green.

This is awesome!

Mr Green first let me say that I am glad to find this book in your list. I usally do not find people who add African book in their list or book that are from any other culture than western European or simply European culture. Second as a Nigerian have to say your pronunciation of Igob is interesting. Also the names of igob charactes. I am not Igob but this book as a special place in my conutry. I am glad that difficult in pronouncing the names did not stop from exploring it.

A life saver is what you are. I thank you for your help. now I'm confident i'll pass my exams. ^.^