Abstract
Some researchers (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980 and Gibbs, Jr, 2017) posit that metaphor is not primarily a figure of speech but a thought pattern that extends to language and other semiotic systems. Researchers assert that the set of identities that make up the self are dynamic, fluid and constructed through time. Critical Metaphor Analysis (Charteris-Black,2004) combines Pragmatics, Cognitive Linguistics and Critical Discourse Studies in the analysis of metaphorical expressions. It contributes to uncover the ideological nature of discourse, the hidden intentions of discourse participants and the power relations enacted in discourse by analyzing metaphorical expressions. The linguistic forms exhibited in metaphors of identity and identity loss from Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the conceptual domains that they embed and the conceptual keys point to a clash. The analysis of the selected metaphorical expressions shows identity shifts in characters and in the Umuofia clan at different time frames. The discussion of these identity shifts through the force-dynamics system confirms identity as a key issue in the plot of Things Fall Apart.

Achebe, identity, ideology, force, loss, metaphor.