The Importance Of Language In A Small Place By Chinua Achebe

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.

Kincaid clearly attacks the tourists for not understanding the value of Antigua and its heritage; they are “ugly human being(s)” (115) because of their ignorance. The vacant gazers are ugly because when they have reached the zenith of banality in their own lives, they use the poverty of the natives of a tourist destination like Antigua to feel better about themselves; the natives’ lack of wealth, opportunities and education all make that pasty-skinned tourist feel superior. The ugliness stems from the tourist’s use of the native’s backwardness to propel themselves forward.

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.

Jamaica Kincaid successfully convinces her audience that post colonial impact still remains. Through the use of rhetorical appeals such as pathos, logos and imagery she successfully explains her claim. Through this novel she gives an insightful explanation of what antigua is like from a person who comes from that area. Kincaid being born in antigua, she gives us a view from her eyes on what antigua is really like while going through post colonial impact. Kincaid incorporates historical background in text to convince her audience that this impact is holding back antigua from the good and enjoyable place it can really be. She develops a connection with the audience when she makes them feel like the tourist that is figuring out what's going on in the background of antigua. This connection serves as pathos as it makes the audience feel the emotion of anger and disappointment for not knowing what mess is really going on in this small island. This demonstration shows how cultures everywhere are affected by postcolonialism and how there is a negative global commonality between tourist and natives.

She feels that the Britishers showed their power everywhere and did not do anything that benefitted the Antiguans. For example, a library which was very near and dear to the author was not well-maintained by colonialists. She mentions in her book that there is a sign that says, “REPAIRS ARE PENDING” (Kincaid 9), and how there has been nothing done to repair the building. As the government was very corrupt, they were caring for themselves. Kincaid also mentions that due to racial segregation, she was very stressed and mentally weak. She describes how the natives should be treated equally without any racial discrimination and desires to be a tourist. She mentions, “Every native would like to find a way out… every native would like a tour”(Kincaid 18). This quote explains on how the natives will never get the feeling of being free, how they will never sense the feeling of luxury, and how they will always be in poverty. Jamaica Kincaid reveals that she lacks an actual culture to live up to. She always says that the English ruined it for her. As Hirsh and Schweitzer wrote, “Kincaid lacks a real homeland”. Kincaid also writes about the reason she changed her name, was wanting to express her cultural identity. In an interview with Hirsh and Schweitzer, she said that she renamed herself “Jamaica Kincaid”, because it suggested her West Indian

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.

The effect of imperialism on small colonies is sometimes intrusive and constrained. Jamaica Kincaid devotes her essay, Seeing England for the First Time, to her profound mysticism she has towards England as she grows up on the island of Antigua before it becomes an independent country. With descriptive language, Kincaid reveals her frustration for England within the classroom and at her home through use of imagery and satire.

A tourist is under no obligation to know about the history of an island, city, state or country. It should be acknowledged that Kincaid displays anger at nearly every entity in Antigua, but at the same time it is her anger at tourists which seems to be the most misplaced because they are the ones who have the least power in fixing the problems the people in Antigua have.

Yet an explicit affirmation of this hatred is not necessary; the reader is quick to appreciate the irony and utter absurdity of her situation and that of Antigua. Kincaid makes us want to condemn the imperialistic attitudes which fostered this indoctrination of English values and also the supposition that this culture was somehow inherently superior to any other. By putting her readers in her own position, and by appealing to their sense of the absurd, Kincaid is very effectively able to elicit sympathy.

From the start of “A Small Place,” the author establishes an unsettling position for the reader by using second person perspective to give the audience a personal experience, “The thing you have always suspected about yourself the minute you become a tourist is true: A tourist is an ugly human being” (Kincaid, 14). The act of being the tourist in respect to Kincaid's statement is being unaware of the surroundings and people who reside in this country you refer to as a paradise. She pushes the audience out of their comfort zone to an unsettling acknowledgment of ignorance - if you have traveled and expressed these behaviors. The author presents the idea that the act of traveling with the mindset that indigenous people are benefiting is a form of self-justification rather than reality. Kincaid acknowledges the audience’s ignorance of the situation as an institutional one that educated you to have this mindset. She describes this situation the people of Antigua endured, as something you were not taught, which exonerates your oblivious demeanor toward your surroundings,

Through language, writers can tell vivid stories and convey strong emotions to readers, Chinua Achebe and Joseph Conrad both use language quite effectively. In Heart of Darkness, Conrad uses language in regards to Africans with a very negative tone. Achebe, the author of the novel Things Fall Apart, illustrates the feel of tribal life in Nigeria during the time of African colonialism and the African culture and customs. Both Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart analyze the image of Africa and their perspectives of the African peoples during the time of colonialism.

As an author, a poet, a professor, a scholar, a critic, and a civil servant, Chinua Achebe (pronounced CHIN- you-ah Ah-CHAY) was a fascinating man. Chinua Achebe lived a long life, he surpassed the Nigerian lifespan by 30.01 years and the American lifespan by 3.1 years. He had a successful life, Achebe wrote many books and won many awards, he also lived a compelling life with a solid education and a successful occupation. Chinua Achebe was a successful and influential author.

In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe adopts a calmatious tone and utilizes diction, figurative language, and symbolism to capture the corruption of the Igbos culture with the arrival of the white colonists. Achebe used intense diction throughout the text to make the readers feel the tragedy and immersion into Igbo culture. He laces his sentences with words like “haggard,” (Achebe 4) “malevolent,” (Achebe 13) and “esoteric,” (Achebe 88) all of which were used to describe personalities or actions of clans men. His use of such words emphasizes the tragic and dismayed tone he utilizes and entices the reader to empathize with the characters. Alternatively, Achebe utilizes a plethora of Igbo words such as “ndichie,” (Achebe 12) which is the Igbo word for elders, or “Kotma,” (Achebe 174) which was a made up word for the fair skinned court messenger, that was a corrupted translation to mean “ashy buttocks.” The use of african words in Things Fall Apart helped emphasize the importance of their culture, especially upon its corruption. The Igbo language also created a sense of dramatic irony because the intentions of the translations from white men where altered and neither group, the Igbo or the “locusts,” truly understood what the other meant. In addition to diction, using symbolism, Achebe illustrated the Igbo values by emphasizing the importance of kola nuts, yams, and the gods to the reader. In the beginning of the book Okonkwo’s father Unoka was conversing with a man named Okoye,