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The First World War On African People By Tim Stapleton

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At the same point in time of the novel, political unrest was in action. Author Tim Stapleton writes in his article "The Impact of the First World War on African People that “During the First World War the westernized African elite, a product of European missionary schools, was still in its infancy. It represented a tiny minority who had achieved success within the western educational system, mastered the colonial language, converted to Christianity, and usually occupied junior positions within the colonial hierarchy such as clerks, teachers, or clergymen” (Par.28). This type of change in society is pretty accurately depicted in the novel. One of Nnu Egos son’s choses to go to a university in the United States after he becomes educated and this was something that would have never happened before British influence came about. The way that Nnu Ego has to send her two eldest sons to go to school represents the impact that the western colonization had on the African culture. This influence also, causes her and her family moved into a small apartment verses the typical huts made of mud and leaves. In relation, the British saw the domestic slaves as illegal. Nwokocha Agbadi knows how important slaves are to his village household, but he also wishes to please the British. Emecheta writes that eventually, he “stop[s] dealing in slaves” and “offer [s] freedom to the ones in his household. He even join [s] a group of leaders who encouraged slaves to return to their places of origin….

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