Cosmopolitanism In Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

Novels and plays often depict characters caught between colliding cultures-national, regional, ethnic, religious, institutional. Such collisions can call a character’s sense of identity into question. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, there is a cultural collision that takes the form of the missionaries coming to Umuofia and forcing their religion upon the people. Different people react differently to this clash of cultures, ranging from simply conforming to going as far as killing somebody.

Post colonialism deals with cultural identity in colonized societies and the ways in which writers articulate that identity. Things Fall Apart is a good novel that serves as a reminder of what Nigeria once was. It shows how a society can deal with change, how change affects the individuals of that society, and how delicate a change can be; so much so that the people themselves are surprised at the change.

Change is a reoccurring theme throughout history. It destroys and creates. It displaces and introduces. It can cause death and life. The movement of imperialism in Africa brought great change to the native tribal life. Forcing the indigenous people to turn away from their century-old traditions caused violent rifts between the European settlers and the tribes, as well as internal problems between once amiable members of the Ibo culture. With the introduction of the foreign Western Society in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the tribe’s life and ideals are drastically altered as the new ethics and principles collide with the old traditions and laws, causing the members of the society to either adapt or be crushed underneath the foot of colonialism. Achebe’s character, Okonkwo, was impacted immensely by the cultural collision, as his previous way of life was pulverized before his eyes, and he found no reason to live any longer.

Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, presents the result of colonization of the Ibo people by the European missionaries. The Ibo culture is threatened to change by the European influence. Villagers are divided between resisting a new lifestyle or embracing it for better opportunities in society. The struggle to keep Ibo traditions alive is reflected in Okonkwo and Obierika’s relationship to one another. Okonkwo represents the resistance of change by keeping traditional values in high regard while, Obierika signifies the openness to opportunity by questioning the current Ibo values. The arrival of European missionaries persuades the exchange of traditional Ibo methods, customs, and community for Christianity, resulting in the community to fall apart.

Things Fall Apart is a story about personal beliefs and customs and also a story about conflict. There is struggle between family, culture, and religion of the Ibo people which is all brought on by a difference in personal beliefs and customs. There are the strong opinions of the main character, Okonkwo. We are also introduced to the views of his village, Umuofia. Finally, we see how things fall apart when these beliefs and customs are confronted by those of the white missionaries. Chinua Achebe is a product of both native and European cultures. This has a great effect on the telling of the story. When he tells the story with an understanding and personal experiences in both cultures. He does not portray the African culture and their

In Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, Mr. Brown, the first missionary in Umuofia, was a kind and respectful man. Not to say that Reverend James Smith was not, but his degree of kindness and respect were present in a whole different level. They both wanted to convert the lost, all those in Umuofia that were not in the church. Mr. Brown made friends with the clan and “trod softly on his faith,” (pg.178) while Mr. Smith told them how things were in a harsh voice and tried to force his religion on the people of Umuofia. The impacts the two had on the people and the church were exact opposites.

More and more villagers were falling under this new idea of a single God, not only villagers from Umuofia but from surrounding villages. The locals were no longer against the new religion. Okonkwo was one of the few who still was. The local villagers were sort of thankful for what the white men had brought to Umuofia. “The white man had indeed brought a lunatic religion, but he has also built a trading store and for the first time palm-oil and kernel became things of great price, and much money flowed into Umuofia.” (Achebe 178) The white men had slowly convinced the local people that what they were doing was productive after all. The arrival of the white men in Umuofia allowed for larger flow of commerce. This is yet another effect of imperialism over the African villages, though it isn’t negative. The next effect however, is indeed negative and

In the book Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, we are able to read about the social changes the white missionaries had on an African tribe. Mr. Achebe describes the way of life before the missionaries arrived and then records some of the changes, which occurred due to the changed belief system introduced by these missionaries.

Culture collision is not something that you hear about everyday. Culture collision is the clash of cultures or values. This can be triggered by many things and the way we react to it is due to our personality. When this does occur it can impact our lives in such a great way. It can have an affect on who we are and what we stand for. In the novel “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe we take a look at the character Okonkwo and see how he is affect by his Culture collision and see that his personality is the the factor in the way he reacts to it.

Introducing a new religion has the potential to bring a society to its demise because it has the ability to break apart families. This is evident when Nwoye, Okonkwo’s son, converts to Christianity, going against his father’s will. In Umuofia, abominations are taken very seriously. Okonkwo wants to be seen as the perfect role model of Umuofia; when he discovers that Nwoye becomes a convert, which is an abomination in his society, he gets frustrated because he is afraid of losing people’s respect.; he desires to command respect because he does not want to lose his authority within society. As a result, he warns his children by saying “ ‘You have all seen the great abomination of your brother. Now he is no longer my

Of Imperialism, English writer and composer Anthony Burgess once said, “Colonialism. The enforced spread of the rule of reason. But who is going to spread it among the colonizers?”. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe chronicles the life of underdog turned successful clansman Okonkwo, as well as the complexity of the Ibo culture in pre-colonial Africa. With the arrival of British missionaries, Okonkwo’s world crumbles as their cultures clash, and more African people begin to join the church. The Ibo people at first greatly underestimate the power of the colonizers, yet they make a deep and lasting impact on their culture. These missionaries completely change the lives of the Ibo people. Achebe’s main message is to communicate this clash of

Reverend Smith was dehumanizing and inconsiderate towards the Ibo people who remained strong in their faith. Reverend Smith only cared about the people who were educated, had converted to his faith, and he looked down on everyone else. When the elders of Umuofia came to ask the Christians to leave Reverend Smith did not try to argue against the District Commissioner when he locked up the elders of Umuofia. Instead he took part in it because he saw the Ibo people as sub-human. Reverend Smith was not constructive, he was destructive.

Imagine yourself stuck in between two different cultures. One of them, you have lived around and grew up around your entire life. The other is brand new to you and it offers many advantages over your old one. Which one do you choose? In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart Nwoye experiences these two choices in his life. He has to pick between his old igbo culture and religion or the new western ideas the missionaries bring. Achebe through his character Nwoye shows, culture can be influenced by many things such as outside world pressures and ideas and these ideas and pressures can give some people peace by offering them opportunities to a new life.

Secondly, the Christians unite the converts, but this unity does not prevent the new converts from demeaning others because of their religion or beliefs. When Mr. Kiaga, the missionaries’ interpreter, persuades the converts to accept the osu, or those who are cast out of the clan, Achebe writes, “‘Before God,’ he [Mr. Kiaga] said, ‘there is no slave or free. We are all children of God and we must receive these our brothers’”(136). The people are guided by Mr. Kiaga’s words as he teaches that they are all children of God and are, therefore, equal. One might think that converts would subsequently show the other religion in Umuofia an equal amount of respect as before, but they do not. While the church is still new to the village and does not perish in Evil Forest, Achebe says, “Three converts had gone into the village and

Change impacts everyday life, to the big picture in people's lives. People have dealt with change for ages. It is a challenge that people must face at some time in our lives. In Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart, he shows the effects of change on a civilization of people and their ways of dealing with it. It shows the story of the Igbo people and their story of change from colonization. From the arrival of Christian missionaries, things began to change for these people, they had to learn to deal with a new culture, turbulent results followed. Achebe portrays a positive change through constructive institutions and a peaceful religion, however with negative tradeoffs such as racist hierarchical problems.