European Imperialism In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

In the village of Umuofia, the Igbo people worship a religion of many deities. Their polytheistic religion consists of gods related to nature such as rain, sun, etc. The most important deity is the goddess of the Earth; Igbo people frain from committing sins against the goddess of the Earth in fear of complete genocide. The European missionaries introduce Umuofia to a monotheistic religion, Christianity. The Igbo people fear what they can’t understand, such as medicine. Igbo people feared the “white man”, however, missionaries successfully convert some Igbo people into Christian, causing them to be shamed by the hierarchy of men in the village. The conversion caused changes in Igbo culture and influenced the Igbo people to behave in a way that was unheard of before the European missionaries arrived. Enoch, a recently converted Christian, committed one of the worst crimes in

Upon an initial reading of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, it is easy to blame the demise of Okonkwo’s life and of the Umofia community on the imperialistic invasions of the white men. After all, Okonkwo seemed to be enjoying relative peace and happiness before then. He did have a few mishaps; one of them resulted in him being exiled for eight years. Nonetheless, he returned to his home town with high spirits and with prospects of increased success. However, everything has changed. The white men have brought with them a new religion and a new government. Okonkwo’s family falls apart. The men in his village lose their courage and valor; they do not offer any resistance to the white men. Consequently, Okonkwo kills

Brown’s arguments began to have an effect, more people came to learn in his school. They were not all young, these people who came to learn. Some of them were thirty years old or more” (181). This goes against everything that these Igbo people were ever told to believe. They’re betraying not only their brothers, but their fathers and grandfathers as well.

Upon his return, Okonkwo wants people to see him as a leader again with many titles. However, that wasn’t the same as before. He was even shocked that none of his people wanted to go to war after the Europeans have taken over. Okonkwo realize that his old village and the people there have converted and changed, including his son, Nwoye. He even proposed to go to war with the European men and the missionaries. “‘The waiting backcloth jumped into tumultuous life and the meeting was stopped. Okonkwo stood looking at the dead man. He knew that Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers escape. They had broken into tumult instead of action. He discerned fright in that tumult. He heard voices asking: ‘Why did he do it?”’(205). This illustrates the enormous change in their society. At the start of the novel, everyone is willing to fight one another and to show that they are better and well respected than others. In this situation, we can see that everyone is following stringent rules set up by the Europeans. This change in religion will bring an end to the Igbo

Following Okonkwo’s seven year exile, the village Okonkwo once knew has changed due to the influence of Christianity and the influence of the British missionaries and officers. Okonkwo’s initial reaction is to arm the clan against the Colonisers and drive the British people out of Igbo.

The destruction of Okonkwo was revealed slowly throughout the books. He started to make some poor decisions, which became the beginning of his downfall. He killed Ikemefuna just because he didn’t want to be thought weak. He made unwise decisions to only appear to be strong and manly to others in the village. He did not realize how he lost so much from living that way. When, Okonkwo kills Ogbuefi Ezedu’s son, the real tragedy begins. Other tragic heroes usually have a steadier downfall, but Okonkwo had a direct fall in society due to this event. This puts his family into exile for seven years. After a short period of time, white missionaries arrive to Umuofia. When “The

“We have albinos among us” (Achebe 141). The words vocalized by Uchendu, a wise African villager and Uncle of Okonkwo in the novel Things Fall Apart by author Chinua Achebe. Achebe does an excellent job at giving the reader an insight of life before and during the beginning of English imperialism over Africa in the 1800’s. This essay will identify and explain the effects imperialism had on the African villages.

Throughout the novel, we see Okonkwo struggling to deal with the constant changes that take place in his tribe. Before the introduction of the white missionaries, he is known as one of the strongest, most honorable tribesmen many have seen. Affected by his father’s weakness, he works to remove the title that was passed on. His actions and display of strength quickly gains him the respect he desired from the other tribesmen. However this benefit does not fall through later effecting Okonkwo, whom has lived a life of power. When Okonkwo kills the colonial head messenger near the end as an attempt to 'save' his tribe from the influence of the white Christians, no one backs his attempt. Okonkwo, realizing that all is lost for what he once called

He refused to even listen to such a person, for he was afraid they might make his belief in his culture waver. When the missionary came to visit Okonkwo after his return to Umuofia, Okonkwo, “had driven him away with the threat that if he came into his compound again, he would be carried out of it”. Achebe added this detail in to show to the readers Okonkwo’s refusal to try to find acceptance for these new people. The people in his tribe could find it in themselves to accept their co-existence with the Ibo people, but Okonkwo could not. It only became clear to Okonkwo, toward the end of the novel, that the tribe was not like him.

The fact that these missionaries have started to really make an impact was unprecedented by the Ibo people; their continuous misunderstandings of one another contribute to make this situation frustrating to both the Ibo clansmen and the Christians that view their religion as superior. Okonkwo returns back to his home village of Umuofia after his exile to Mbanta, and he arrives to see missionaries have overtaken the village, created a government, and many Umuofians have joined the church. As Okonkwo and his friend Obierika are talking, Obierika says of the missionaries and their impact, “He says that our customs are bad; and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us?...He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart” (176). The white men and missionaries have been successful in coming in and gaining power. They believe the customs to be “bad”, showing their disregard of Ibo culture, and how their motives for infiltrating Ibo life is based off of selfish ideas- only to gain more followers to their religion. Furthermore, by actually being successful in drawing Umuofians into their religion, they have turned

The accumulation of a congregation was a slow process.  Mr. Kiaga, the interpreter in charge of the congregation, was "firm" and it was this trait that "saved the young church" (157, Ach).  His strong faith and new beliefs were inspirational to those clansmen that had ever questioned the Ibo practices.  Mr. Brown, a white missionary, was characterized as "respected even by the clan" (178, Ach).  Mr. Brown was even offered a gift by one of the neighboring villages, "which was a sign of his dignity and rank" (179, Ach).  He did not simply preach his ideas, but educated himself in the tribe's culture through conversations with the clansmen.  Mr. Brown opened a school and hospital in Umofia.  "And it was not long before the people began to say that the white man's medicine was quick in working.  Mr. Brown's school produced quick results" (181, Ach).  Achebe chooses to characterize a missionary such as Mr. Brown favorably to create for the reader a respectable and exemplary view of the missionary.  This benevolent perception of missionaries is neutralized with Mr. Browns contrast: Reverend James Smith.

Okonkwo was influenced man many external forces. Okonkwo beats his children and his wives because “He had no patience with unsuccessful men. He had had no patience with his father” (4). Unoka, Okonkwo’s father, was a very lazy man and an outside force that helped craft Okonkwo’s lifestyle. Okonkwo saw the way his father lived and hated how useless, he was in the world, so he was influenced to not become lazy and especially not to allow his kids to become anything like his father or they got beat. Okonkwo was a brave and powerful man “ But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (13). Okonkwo didn't want people to see him as weak, and because of this Okonkwo was very wealthy. In Okonkwo’s clan, how many titles the person has taken and the number of barns full of yams was the way to tell if someone was wealth and success. In these circumstances, Okonkwo had two tiles and two barns full of yams, so he was a extremely successful and wealthy man. In Okonkwo’s clan, British colonialism settled to try and convert the Ibo people to Christianity. Okonkwo did not like this and wanted to kill them all but his clan said no. Okonkwo ends up killing a Christian

In chapter twenty, Okonkwo returns to his clan of Umuofia. Okonkwo was deeply upset that he lost all those years because he lost his role as a egwugwu, lose his role as a war leader of his people against the rising population of the opposing religion. If he didn 't go into exile, he could 've gained so much political power. But not all was at lost, while he was away, his yams prospered in Mbanta and in Umuofia and his friend, Obierika would give them out to the local sharecroppers. Also upon his return, his daughters were indeed very beautiful, easily finding suitable husbands. He found out that many people of Umuofia had converted to the opposing religion. The white men also brought government to Umuofia where there was a district Commissioner who judged and made decisions. With him, he appointed messengers (kotma). These men were highly despised by the people of Umuofia. Obeirka then told Okonkwo of the story of Aneto and how he killed Oduche over land. When he fled, he was captured and hung by the white man. Okonkwo wants to

Okonkwo is a strong and confident man who has vowed to never be like his father Unoka. His father was lazy, unsuccessful and carried no titles. The relationship between Okonkwo and his father motivated Okonkwo to gain titles and become successful inside the clan. In this sense, Okonkwo has gained many titles, has three wives, and respected by the clan. Okonkwo chose to feel that identity in the clan was most important, and through this he had become a presence in the clan, noticed by the elders. However after the arrival of missionaries, who had come to convert the clans to Christianity, Okonkwo’s view is completely contradicted by the missionaries. Okonkwo had grown accustomed to members of the clan being ranked by certain tiers, while the

This paper reflects the novel “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe in 1958. Achebe gives an overview of pre-colonialism and post-colonialism on Igbo, detailing how local traditions and cultural practices can “fall apart” in some scenarios through some introduced, externally created hassles elevated because of colonization. The protagonist named Okonkwo mentioned in the story is a proof showing the lifestyle of the tribe. My main objective and focus is to lay emphasis on Africa specifically the Igbo society, before and after the arrival of the Europeans in Umuofia community; the results of their arrival concerning Igbo culture, thus leading to the clash of cultures between the two categories. I will also draw on post-colonialism with respect to globalization.