The Center Cannot Hold Chinua Achebe purposely utilizes the “The Second Coming” by William Butler Yeats to support his themes throughout the book. He also chooses to name his novel “Things Fall Apart.” This would not be the only similar theme between the poem and the novel. When you compare both “The Second Coming” and Things Fall Apart, you can see many similarities between the two pieces. There are many “events” from the book that …showed first 75 words of 611 total…

…showed last 75 words of 611 total…book. It gives the reader of something to expect, so they can somewhat respect the cultures. He could also use it to as a suspense builder; it captivates the reader and makes him wonder the possibilities in this book. If Achebe used the poem so that we could analyze it AFTER we read the book and consider the many possibilities of coincidence, he has succeeded. After reading the poem and analyzing it, many similarities emerged.