The Effects Of The White Man In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, it is shown that the African people had their own complex culture before the Europeans decided to "pacify" them. The idea that the dignity of these people has been greatly compromised is acknowledged in the essay "The Role of the Writer," which is explanatory of Achebe's novels. A writer trying to capture the truth of a situation that his readers may know little or nothing about needs a sense of history in order to appropriately address the topic. It is not enough "to beat" another writer to the issue. Writers should make the attempt to express a deeper understanding. Without proper mental investment in a written work, the

Through the novel Things Fall Apart the concepts of diversity and justice arise quite a bit. Some reoccurring concepts that have to do with diversity and justice include assimilation, culture, and oppression. Power to define and labeling also contributes to conflict all through the book. In the book many things fall apart, like the Ibo way of life and also Okonkwo’s life as well.

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.

Because of the lack of acceptance from his family, especially his father, he is forced to make a choice between his new culture, or his loved ones. He chooses to leave, and when ask by his father’s friend, obierka, Nwoye says [quote about Okonkwo not being his father]. Okonkwo doesn’t take it well either stating to his children [the thing about them being dead to him or something]. This action shows Nwoye’s willingness to value his new faith in Christianity over his own blood. His troubling past with his father and sense of belonging makes it easy for him to change his life for the better by leaving. The missionaries offer Nwoye a better alternative to the oppressive life he is living, which gives him peace of mind as he leaves his family behind. In the wake of Nwoye growing up and struggling to find himself, he managed to go through a cultural shift and completely change his identity. As some Ibo people also choose to convert also, the missionaries gain more and more power over the village. Things begin to fall apart for the Ibo clan as they are divided because of the forces within themselves. The village of Umuofia is ultimately destroyed because of the split between the people living there. Although Nwoye never felt quite in the right place before, he finds peace of mind in his new sense of self, and easily forgets his past to start a new and better

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 history, colonization was a truly popular tradition practiced by great and powerful empires in order to extract and retrieve all materials necessary to support their homeland. However, in order to achieve such sense of commerce and well-being, those colonists who had the power, had to colonize weaker and far less advanced societies. Great powers such as Britain and France would then travel to these societies and implement their rule in order to gain prosperity. Some, those who benefited from colonization, felt that the practice of colonization was an obligation to better the “uncivilized,” societies and help them advance, but the emotional and physical hurt that came from colonizing outweighed the positive aspects. The intention was good, but the manner in which colonization was carried out was poor. This topic is immensely controversial that pieces such as Kipling’s poem, “A White Man’s Burden,” and Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart,” have been written in order to support or go against colonization. But despite much debate, colonization has been a tradition that has caused those regions being colonized much struggle and negativity.

An archetype in literature expresses “a realm of human experience in many myths and fantasy stories” that can go deeper than “any rational or intellectual thinking” (Gillespie). The archetype of the monomyth, or “The Hero’s Journey” first originated from a mythological researcher named Joseph Campbell. The monomyth consists of “several basic stages that almost every hero-quest goes through, no matter what culture the myth is a part of” (Hamby). The Hero’s journey is vaguely apparent in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, which depicts the African clan leader, Okonkwo, as the archetypal hero. Achebe reveals throughout the novel that Okonkwo’s ability to

In the beginning of the book Chinua sets up the story by explaining about the tribe of Umofia, and the people who live there. Okonkwo is a powerful native with 3 wives, and several children. The story continues on until he is banished from the clan and forced to live on his mother’s land. During his time there, his friend Obierika visits him and brings him currency from yams sold that belonged to Okonkwo. He learns that during his exile Christian missionaries came to the tribe. His own son Nwoye has been interacting with the missionaries. In the text, Obierika asks Nwoye how his father is and Nwoye responds, “I don’t know. He is not my father.” when Oknokwo heard this, he did not want to speak about Nwoye (Achebe 52). This is the first example in the story where the European missionaries have directly affected the main character. Although Okonkwo did not like Nwoye, this event opened up the story to deeper interaction with the Christian missionaries. These people were beginning to implement themselves into African territory, and

In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe highlights the destruction of Igbo culture and the lives affected by British colonialism. Before colonialism, the Igbo people live a tribal lifestyle. They have festivals and rituals to promote harvests. The Igbo people also practice a polytheistic religion and hold strong value in spirituality. After colonialism, the Igbo people begin to take on a more western lifestyle. They stop believing in the power of rituals and convert to Christianity. This sudden change within the structure of the tribes shocks and angers some of the more traditional Igbo people. One of the lives that the structural change effects is Okonkwo. Okonkwo shows confusion towards the new culture that is surrounding him. Okonkwo does not understand and does not wish to understand the cultural changes within his tribe.

the responsibilities of an old man as a young boy and had the mind set of

Africa was always a savage place with no civilizations or so the white man thought. When the British first came to Africa to colonize it, the British writers wrote about how it was a savage land and had no makings of a civilization. That was completely wrong. A group of people cannot survive for thousands of years without some aspects of civilization. The novel Things Fall Apart (by Chinua Achebe) talks about and shows examples of all seven elements that make a civilization. Things Fall Apart shows some aspects of civilization such as religion, government, and social structure. In the novel, Achebe shows the Igbo culture is a fully functioning civilization.

The whole clan visits the funeral of the once great warrior, owner of three titles, Ezuedu. Oknonkwo takes part in the funeral by firing his gun as the drums are hit. His gun goes off unexpectedly, killing a 16 year old, Ezuedus son. Okonkwo is immediately sent to exile in his motherland of Mbanta for committing this crime against the earth goddess. He slowly began to start his life over “without the vigor and enthusiasm” he once had in his youth. Okonkwo was not pleased with his new work of developing a farm and when he got a break “he sat in a silent half-asleep” (131). Okonkwo felt as though “he had been cast out of his clan like a fish onto a dry, sandy beach, painting” (131). Obierka visits Okonkwo four years into his exile to tell him that Christian missionaries have been seen in ufomia. They had already built their churches and built a community of evangelist that had welcomed the new faith. Initially, most of the followers were known as efulefu, worthless, empty men” (143) but soon enough the whole clan had converted to Christianity. Okonkwo was upset with the news and even more raged when he realized his son, Nwoye had converted too. The missionaries “caused a considerable stir in the village” (144). Soon the missionaries’ word had spread and most of the village had converted despite the many setbacks and conflicts. Back in Mbanta,

In Things Fall Apart, the church and the missionaries pose a threat and “cut apart” the Igbo culture. The white culture at first threatens Junior and his way of life, but then slowly Junior makes friends with the white culture. The white culture does not necessarily “cut apart” the Indian culture, but it definitely cuts Junior apart from the Indian culture. In Things Fall Apart, the missionaries ways of life intrigue a numerous amount of Igbo people.

“Civilized Society is when the culture has a social order characterized by a government, a system of justice, a social structure, and some kind of belief system”. The Igbo people are indigenous people of Southern Nigeria. The Igbo culture has many unique attitudes. They comprised of polygamy marriages, beliefs in polytheism, farming customs, and showing of masculinity. In Things Fall Apart, the Igbo society is civilized because it established a justice/ government system as well as gender roles/ relationships.

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.