African Literature : Colonialism And Communal Disintegration

Throughout “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, aspects of Igbo culture are presented to the reader in order for them to obtain a grasp on how people from a part of Africa live. For the majority of Part I, different sides of Igbo culture are relayed to the reader predominantly through the 3rd person, as well as through the perspective of Okonkwo, in order to gain the understanding that these people do indeed, have a rich, intricate, and sophisticated way of life. However, things turn for the worse and in Parts II and III, where Achebe recreates the conflict between European and Igbo cultures at the turn of the twentieth century by focusing on the cataclysmic changes introduced by the forces of Christianity and colonialism, and how they destroyed the strong foundation of the once proud Igbo people.

Chinua Achebe’s, Things Fall Apart, is a story of a traditional village in Nigeria from inside Umuofia around the late 1800s. This novel depicts late African history and shows how the British administrative structure, in the form of the European Anglican Church, imposed its religion and trappings on the cultures of Africa, which they believed was uncivilized. This missionary zeal subjugated large native populations. Consequently, the native traditions gradually disappeared and in time the whole local social structure within which the indigenous people had lived successfully for centuries was destroyed. Achebe spends the first half of the novel depicting the Ibo culture, by

Chinua Achebe was educated in the West, though he hails from an African tribe. His exposure to both African and Western thinking gives him a unique perspective on the colonization of Africa, which is argued to be barbaric by some, but beneficial and necessary by others. In “Things Fall Apart,” Achebe perspective comes through as he masterfully describes a pre-colonization African tribe, and how colonization percolated through it. His authentic accounts of the positives and negatives of both tribal society and colonization leave the reader to answer the question of whether imperialism was morally justifiable or not.

Throughout human history, different cultures from different places have converged which could result in peaceful acculturation or malevolent assimilation. These cultural collisions are derived mostly from the result of exploration, colonization, and war. These cultural collisions continue to transpire in the 21st century because many countries have become a melting pot of different cultures. The result of what took place when the European and Ibo cultures converged is demonstrated in this work of literature. In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo’s reaction to the cultural collision between the Ibo and the European missionaries displays that not everyone has a positive reaction to change and that intolerance towards diversity

Pre-colonial Africa, or the “Dark Continent”, is mostly viewed negatively throughout the world, but people don't notice how rich their cultures and traditions are. Chinua Achebe, an African writer, proves this misconception wrong in his first novel by proving examples of Ibo cultures and society. Altogether, in the novel Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe incorporates Ibo’s judicial system, ceremonial practices, and diplomacy with other clans to successfully combat the stereotype of pre-colonial Africa as “uncivilized”.

Throughout the novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, one can see how the Igbo and Nigerian natives crumble at the hands of British settlers. The author uses this title to simply explain what he really thinks happens during colonization - they fall apart. During this time period, it’s obvious that the native people begin lose their customs and traditional African ways due to the British influence. Religion is an important topic discussed throughout the novel and it’s interesting to see how some indigenous people struggle to follow the missionaries settlers and let their religion of Christianity creep into their lifestyles; some villagers are punished and even killed for trying to stick to their traditional ways. Some may argue that the introduction to christianity may have benefitted the indigenous people during this time because these missionaries were willing to give the Africans education, but they were forced to learn a Christian lifestyle and were deprived of their original beliefs and

The single story of Africa has been reinforced by European hegemony, which has led to the changed perceptions of Africa in the West. Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, attempts to reverse the single story towards Africa by depicting African culture and customs which has led to the closer study of African way of life that couldn’t be justified with a Eurocentric perspective.

Things Fall Apart, the novel penned by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, portrays the daily struggles of its protagonist Okonkwo. Alongside Okonkwo are his family and the villagers of Umuofia, whose culture and religion are ridiculed by white Christian missionaries. The missionaries ridicule Igbo culture due to their belief in preconceived stereotypes that assume Africans are helpless and needy. In an effort to combat such stereotypes, Achebe’s purpose in writing Things Fall Apart is to normalize African identity by incorporating various universal and mundane aspects of Igbo culture, including oral tradition in the form of proverbs, cultural tradition, and familial relationships.

Our humanity is defined by feelings, sympathy and compassion, as well as our beliefs. During the invasion of Africa, Europe was seeking out the resources and labor that could provide for better profits. The Europeans did not approach the situation in a humane manner. In Albert Chinualumogu Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, we are demonstrated the effects that colonialism had on Nigerian tribes. In the novel, we follow the main character Okonkwo, who is trying to erase all of the wrongs caused by his lazy father. Okonkwo is not a kind hearted man; he commits questionable actions

Imagine a person who has been successful and independently for years living by their own personal standards. Now imagine that same person having every aspect of their life changed and controlled by a ruler who says the person’s way of living are outdated and savage. Also, imagine that if that person refuses to follow these new rules, and sticks with their original ways of living, that person will see his or her demise. Would this person be happy? Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, is a story written to show Christian missionaries and colonists invading African clans with the intent to take over and reform every aspect of the African clans’ traditional culture, customs, and traditions with their modern culture, customs, and traditions that they are executing their plan wrong, as cultures do not easily blend. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe shows how old culture, customs, and traditions do not easily blend with modern culture, customs, and traditions through the event at Abame, the conflicts between the church and the Ibo clan, and Okonkwo’s ultimate demise and failure.

Western cultural imperialism in Africa was one of the greatest events in African history. British colonists, referred to in the novel “Things Fall Apart” as the white men, felt morally obligated to go to Africa and civilize the African community because of the concept of the white man’s burden. At the time of the novel, England had a viceroyalty government. The queen of England sent a missionary, Mr. Brown, along with other white men to civilize the African clan that was made up of nine villages. In “Things Fall Apart” Chinua Achebe shows how Western cultural imperialism was able to penetrate the African community by showing the African people the better sides of Christianity, gaining an understanding of the African culture, forcibly taking away the their power, then stripping them of their cultural identity.

In Things Fall Apart, post-colonial author Chinua Achebe is effectively telling two distinct but related stories. The first establishes the traditions and customs of the Ibo people, particularly those living in the powerful village of Umuofia, while the second documents the culture clash between the old ways of the Ibo clan and the newly arrived white man, all of which is connected by the common thread of the fall of the tragic hero, disgraced warrior Okonkwo. Unsurprisingly, the demarcation between these two halves falls right at the point of the arrival of Christian missionaries in the region. Achebe’s episodic chapter style details a plethora of different reactions to this by the Ibo people, which can be broken up into three groups; acts of violence and rebellion, conversion and the embrace of Christianity, and relative inaction and indifference. All three reactions played roles in the downfall of the Ibo clan, but the most damaging in Achebe’s view is the actions of those who decided to ignore the new dynamic of the white man’s presence, and through their arrogance lead the African people as a whole to cultural eradication.

Achebe’s Things Fall Apart moved me in a way that had once been unreachable by non-Western literary works regarding the state of foundation in the pre-colonialization period of Africa, and of course the subsequent rule from European powers. It is clear that Achebe sought to paint a truer picture of the sophisticated culture and traditions embedded in tribes that had only been smeared by Europeans who were solely after conquest, commerce, and Christianity.

For many cultures, religion is a glue that holds a community together. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, religion is at the base of the Ibo people’s culture. All of the clansmen and their families are adherents to a polytheistic religion, and credit both good and bad happenings to their many gods and goddesses, and live in a constant fear of displeasing them. Religion was very important to these peoples, and was a common thread that kept the villages united. One day, Europeans came to the villages looking to spread their religion of Christianity. After that day, nothing was ever the same. The new religion attempted to reshape the villages and people in them, altering their values, actions, and morals. Before long, more people converted and outnumbered those left to fight for how it has always been, creating conflicts between both man vs. society and man vs. self. In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, it is seen how religion can control a person or group of people by destroying physical things, affecting mental wellness, and challenge one’s morals by dictating right and wrong.

In my reading of Things Fall Apart, it has better informed me of a culture that I did not know of before, and by reading it helped correct some broad misconceptions that I previously held of the people and their cultures of Africa. Reading the novel also gave me another perspective on the effects of imperialism/colonialism by the Europeans on the Africans. I believe Achebe has succeeded in enabling the West an opportunity to have them "listen to the weak" (Achebe interview), but whether or not Western society decides to listen will come down to the individual within the society--if they do choose to listen to the call of the "weak." In this essay I will share