Cultural Rape in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart Essay

Things Fall Apart follows the events in the life of the main character, Okonkwo. Additionally, the book follows mini-storylines of other characters, such as Obierika. A family is very large in Ibo society because a man typically has more than one wife and children with each wife. Okonkwo has many children, but his oldest son, Nwoye, was crucial in the development of ideas in the novel. Nwoye did not conform to Okonkwo’s ideals, therefore, Nwoye felt out of place in his family. The missionaries aimed to convert people who were outcasts or out of place in the village, to give them a sense of belonging. When the Christian missionaries came to the Okonkwo’s village of Umuofia, the primary people converting were outcasts. This is explicitly said when the Achebe remarks, “None of his converts was a man whose word was heeded in the assembly of the people” (Achebe 143). The detrimental effects of Christian acculturation on the Ibo people are shown in both Achebe’s novel and Adichie’s story, but however, the contrasts are that Achebe concentrates on the methods used whilst Adichie directs attention to the lasting

The novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe discusses the rise of an Igbo chieftain who came from great poverty to power and the eventual loss of Igbo traditions, rites, and the influence of his clan through his eyes due to western imperialism and colonialism. The intended audience for this novel is very broad, but if we tried to define it would primarily be people who have not experienced the Igbo culture and westerners or people who speak English. In this essay I will be focusing on the last six chapters: chapters 20 to 25. These chapters highlight the loss of power and customs of the Igbo people who have succumb to colonial rule. I fell Achebe is rhetorically effective and

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

Starting with the first effect of imperialism, the introduction of Christianity in Umuofia, Okonkwo’s fatherland. Four years into Okonkwo’s exile, his good friend Obierika payed him a visit, informing Okonkwo of the arrival of missionaries in Umuofia. The Christian followers had to come to Umuofia to build a church and to convert locals into their anomalous religion. Most importantly, “what moved Obierika to visit Okonkwo was the sudden appearance of the latter’s son, Nwoye, among the missionaries in Umuofia.” (Achebe 143) The introduction of Christianity was one of the many effects set upon the African villages. Locals were becoming

Soon after the missionaries began to teach the tribal people about the Christian faith, their tribal customs began to be questioned. This caused a sense of unrest in the village. The missionaries were trying to bring with them new ways of life, and mostly better ways of life. Mr.Achebe tries to show us that the missionaries showed people who were hurt by

Initially, “Things Fall Apart” contains no traces of colonization. Instead, Achebe describes many of the customs of the people

The Effect of White Missionaries on an African Tribe in Things Fall Apart by Achebe

In Things Fall Apart, Achebe indeed demonstrates that the lack of an open mind drives destruction and havoc through the character of Okonkwo. His stubbornness and intolerance for Christianity leads him to devastation and frustration, tearing himself apart. First and foremost, Christian missionaries come and influence the people surrounding Okonkwo. In one case, his son Nwoye ‘had been captivated’ (147) by this new religion in Nigeria and saw it as a relief in his life. To demonstrate, Nwoye consistently visits the church and observes the missionaries’ practices. Another example of Okonkwo’s negative opinions on Christianity is when he is talking to Obierika about how ‘their own men and their sons have joined the ranks of a stranger’ (176).

Chinua Achebe suggests that the missionaries promoting Christianity in his novel, Things Fall Apart, both guides and destroys the Igbo society by providing refuge to the outcasts, bringing wealth to the village, and destroying the community. As the missionaries arrive in Umuofia, they convert many osu, outcasts, to Christianity giving the outcasts a sense of refuge. Some native citizens of Umuofia do not agree with all of the beliefs taught in the Igbo religion receive the label osu. The osu began to feel refuge when, “ seeing that the new religion welcomed twins and such abominations, thought that it was possible that they would also be received,” (136).

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a critique of colonization by Christian imperialism through the interactions between the missionaries and natives. In chapter 16, the missionaries try to convince that the natives are worshiping false gods by telling them about their one true god. Some natives are convinced by this to convert but most of the community stays where they are. Achebe uses this chapter to enforce how the missionaries are trying to destroy their culture. To Achebe the culture is more important than a man so he stresses this interaction because for Achebe, it's the beginning of the destruction of native Ibo culture. In chapter 23 Achebe writes about the district commissioner imprisoning the Umuofia leaders and threatening

The colonization of the Igbo people in Chinua Achebe’s debut novel Things Fall Apart showed the cultural collision between the people of Umuofia and Christian missionaries. In this novel, the character Nwoye is the only apparent member of his family that is shown to convert to the new religion being presented by the white men. This collision does not change what Nwoye feels but rather allows him entrance to a world that he can finally understand. It gives him answers to questions not satisfied while simultaneously showing the real reason the Igbo’s way of life fell apart. Throughout the book, one can clearly understand the feelings of many of the characters, especially as the white men ingrain themselves more and more into the Igbo’s life and government.

Chinua Achebe’s novel “Things Fall Apart” chronicles the life of Okonkwo, a strong man whose existence is dominated by fear and anger, and the Ibo tribe, a people deeply rooted in cultural belief and tradition. As events unfold, Okonkwo’s carefully constructed world and the Ibo way of life collapses. The story of Okonkwo’s fall from a respected and feared leader of the Ibo tribe to an outcast who dies in disgrace dramatizes his inability to evolve beyond his personal beliefs, affecting the entire Ibo tribe beyond measure. The “things” that fall apart in Achebe’s novel are Okonkwo’s life – his ambition, dreams, family unity and material wealth – and the Ibo way of life – their beliefs, culture and values.

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.

“… African peoples did not hear of culture for the first time from Europeans; that their societies were not mindless but frequently had a philosophy of great depth and vale and beauty, that they has poetry and, above all, they had dignity.” (Chinua, 1964) The above statement summarises the essence of this essay, which will discuss the manner in which Achebe attempts to restore the dignity and self-respect of the African people in Things Fall Apart. Europeans, arrive to introduced Christianity to the village, and thereafter reinforce it, with a white colonial government. This is when the culture, dignity and respect of the Igbo people is tested the most. As religion clashes with the traditional culture and traditions of the Igbo people. The

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