In the book ”Things fall apart”, Chinua Achebe takes us on a thrilling, but sad adventure. We get to follow Okonkwo’s strife to gain more power over his people, and how colonization affected the Igbo society, located in modern day Nigeria. Achebe gives us the feeling that the fall was all the white mans fault, but was this really the only factor? Was the Igbo society doomed to fail even at it’s start?
Power is a dangerous thing, and one of the main reasons for the Ibgo society’s disintegration. Old, powerthirsty men controlled the village with iron fists, doing anything to keep their power, and always craving for more. Killing young boys and sacrificing humans to the gods are just two of many rituals performed to show their power to the people. The fact that you can climb the ladder, and gain more influence by hard work does not help. Searching for power makes many people blind, both in the western world today, the and in Nigeria in the 19th century.
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Light punnishment for those with a good title, and a worse one for them without, rituals of leaving newborn babies in the jungle, claiming they are cursed, and owning women like one owns their land are just a few examples of how unequal the rules were. The community was very divided, which made it very easy for the white men to take controll of the
In emphasis, Achebe wrote this novel in response to the literature of the time that illustrated Africans as savages. Achebe shows the complexity of Igbo society by showing the intricate nature of society because of the pressures put on people in the
The novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, defines an important literary example of the historical conflict of European colonialism in Nigeria during the
It was then seen as the mug that you broke. Your breaking of the mug made way for change to occur, changes to the Igbo culture and a transition to the missionaries’ culture. The cultural changes of religion and institutions that the missionaries brought convinced many that their own culture was no longer worth saving and so they did nothing to try to stop the change from occurring; however Okonkwo still believed that the Igbo culture was worth saving but with this belief came the realization that he no longer had the power to stop such a change because the theme of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is that change is inescapable. The Igbo culture underwent much change: transitioning from a polytheistic religion of many gods to a monotheistic religion of only one god, and transitioning from a religious and community based “government” to a moral and secular based government. Along with all these cultural changes, Okonkwo went through his own change from powerful to powerless.
Even though in the book “Things Fall Apart” it shows us how important women are to the men because of their valuable resource they have to offer. Yet you'll think why wouldn't they want to treat a woman with respect? A women in the Igbo tribe have many responsibilities to take of like for instance having children, cooking, cleaning, and farming. These are important responsibilities for that a women has to do. With all of these responsibilities they have to take care of you'll think they would given them much respect and also treat them as a human rather than a slave.
Colonialism brings many new ways of life for the nations they colonize, including new tools to work with, working techniques, and language, but the most significant are new beliefs. As cultures interweave, and religious ideas interchange, some people will start to adopt this new foreign ways, while others reject it for different reasons. The Nigerian author Chinua Achebe wrote about this in the book Things Fall Apart, throughout Nwoye’s persona and his transformation throughout the story due to the nascence of British colonialism around the Igbo culture. Nwoye is introduced as the firstborn of Okonkwo, the main character. Although young, he is put to hard work by his father and is constantly belittled by him, which builds up for them to not have a healthy relationship.
It is evidently visible that many people stereotypically view Africa as a country that is primitive and uncultured. However, some novels that have been distributed over western society introduce the fact that Africa in reality does have established civilizations and is filled with culture just like any other country. Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart, exemplifies this idea by demonstrating the rituals performed, the government structure, and other aspects of the Igbo tribe. Achebe believes most people are ignorant to African culture and clearly indicates this view to his audience. His main character, Okonkwo, is a wealthy Igbo member who struggles with the missionaries’ arrival to Umuofia.
The author of Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe, demonstrates colonization in Africa as a positive impact in the Igbo culture. The colonization of these Igbo villages showed a great impact to the future of the clan. These villages were introduced to missionaries that advised a change in culture and law which inevitably allowed these clans to establish a society. The Christian missionaries were able to change the religion from being that of fear to one of positivity. In Things Fall Apart, a conversation between Mr. Brown, a missionary, and a clan’s member spoke of fear dominating the life of an Igbo villager.
We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.” In which achebe’s purpose was to condemn the white colonists for altering the Igbo culture, religion, "Igbo." - Introduction, Location,
Acting as miniatures of contemporary societies, these works clearly depict how tribalism can either hinder or nurture positive progress in societies, emphasizing the importance of open-mindedness that is not strained by prejudice for peaceful coexistence. In Achebe’s most famous work, Things Fall Apart, Achebe introduces the concept of xenophobia and how one who harbors a xenophobic attitude may strictly adhere to a group identity that may prove harmful to maintaining peace in a society. Things Fall Apart is a story about a highly respected man named Okonkwo, who values strong group identity, is stubborn, and is xenophobic. Okonkwo fails to tolerate the differences between his own culture and that of white colonists, and thus suffers negative consequences.
“If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.” (Angelou) The white missionaries coming to the igbo tribe really pushes the tribe’s unity to the limit. In Achebe’s book Things Fall Apart the Igbo tribe goes through many trials with change.
In conclusion, the Ibo society needed to fall apart at the hands of the white men. The village of Umuofia profited from the foreigners being invading there society. Their religious beliefs were essential in all parts of their lives. The hierarchy between husband and wife needed to come to an end. The constant killing of other human beings was inhumane.
Although Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart shows traces of gender equality among the Igbo, the European audience views the culture as sexist. In Things Fall Apart sexism is shown in many ways like the abuse of women, social expectations and the power of males. The Igbo people don 't look at women the same way as Europeans do. Europeans treat women with respect and dignity while The Igbo dismiss the importances of
The villagers take great pride in ‘’The Week of Peace’’ (2006; 17) showing that the African people do not lack dignity in what they do. We also find out that the Africans aren’t just bad, violent or mindless people as they were made out to be by the Europeans, because they dedicated an entire week to being
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the positive and negative impacts of colonialism. Key words: - Colonialism, Religion, Culture, Civilization, Conflict INTRODUCTION Things Fall Apart was published in 1958 just two years before Nigeria’s independence from the British’s rule in 1960. Achebe, who was born in 1930, had experienced colonialism in his country. The novel depicts the pre-colonial and early colonial Nigerian society.
The novel, “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe talks about post colonial life of Nigerian society and transformation by the Europeans. In the novel, things fall apart for the lead character Okonkwo, who was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness. Okonkwo was a man of action and a war, he was not afraid of war but all his life was dominated by this one fear of being unsuccessful and lazy like his father. So, he lived a life completely opposite to which his father lived. In this story we get an exclusive view of fear, masculinity, family, missionaries and racism.