Africa in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart - Book Report/Review Example

 Chinua Achebe’s Africa Upon its discovery and for centuries afterward, the continent of Africa has been considered by more developed nations as a region open and available for every kind of exploitation. Chinua Achebe’s presentation of the land and its peoples in his book Things Fall Apart is quite different from these ‘traditional’ Western ideas. In Achebe’s novel, the people spend most of their time engaged in subsistence farming as they survive almost entirely on yams, which are considered a man’s crop. This crop was supplemented by the various types of vegetables and fruits that the women are able to grow out of their individual kitchen gardens within the family complex. In the story about Unoka’s visit to the priestess Agbala about why his crops always fail, her answer provides the clue that even the native tribes people had a tendency to view the land as something to be exploited. “When your neighbors go out with their ax to cut down virgin forests, you sow your yams on exhausted farms that take no labor to clear” (Achebe 17). This statement reveals that the common practice of the tribes was to indiscriminately cut down the virgin forests, thus exploiting the resources of the land rather than learning more effective means of soil maintenance. At the same time, this passage reveals the importance of tradition to these people and the importance of women within the society. It is nearly impossible to pass off the black men of Achebe’s story as the mere beasts of labor portrayed in the words of white men through other novels as they work and struggle to eke out a survival in a harsh land. As the quote from Agbala reveals, farming comprises a great deal of the men’s lives to the point that their social status is determined by how hard they are seen to work for the benefit of their family. Although Unoka is a well-liked man among his contemporaries and evidently has a unique talent for playing the flute, this is not sufficient to help him overcome the stigma of being a poor or lazy farmer. He is seen as lazy because he plants on cleared and exhausted fields and, because he plants on exhausted fields, his crops are often much lower in yield than he needs to repay his debts within the community, which further brings down his status and reduces his ability to provide for his children. His talents as a performer are appreciated, but not compensated in any way. Within Unoka’s story is the revelation that the culture has a strong appreciation for art and music, but this is vastly overwhelmed by the constant struggle to survive in a harsh landscape that concedes life only grudgingly. Although it was often believed that the black men of Africa had no true established traditions, the statement by Agbala reveals that tradition and spirituality played a significant role in the African society. Another example of this is discovered in the ceremonies of the ancestors in which the various clan leaders dress up in raffia and take on the form of the tribal gods. As the figure of Evil Forest is described, Achebe comments, “Okonkwo’s wives, and perhaps other women as well, might have noticed that the second egwugwu had the springy walk of Okonkwo … But if they thought of these things, they kept them within themselves. The egwugwu with the springy walk was one of the dead fathers of the clan” (Achebe 89-90). Another example is the story of Ikemefuna, the child ransom charged by the Umuofia to Mbaino for the murder of one of an Umuofia daughter. Although the boy is easily supported by Okonkwo, has proven himself to be a willing and able member of the group, has assisted in bringing about positive change in Okonkwo’s household and has been a member of the family for three years, not to mention that he really had nothing to do with the girl’s death, it is eventually determined that he must die. Okonkwo is made known of the decision when Ogbuefi Ezeudu simply advises Okonkwo to take no hand in the boy’s death because the boy calls Okonkwo father. “Yes, Umofia has decided to kill him. The Oracle of the hills and caves has pronounced it” (Achebe 57). Although Okonkwo is surprised by the decision, he makes no attempt to argue on behalf of the boy and even takes part in the killing in order to make it quicker. Achebe provides a great deal of information about the traditional tribal life of the black woman as well, which is also hinted at in the scene with Agbala. There are plenty of women included in the story, such as Agbala, who is the prophet of the caves and hills and one of the most respected and listened to members of the community. While Okonkwo’s first wife is never given a name, his second and third wives are both named and discussed with stories and histories of their own. The pain of Ekwefi as she suffered through pregnancy after pregnancy only to lose her children while still in early childhood is poignant and heartrending, causing the reader to fully sympathize with her when the beloved Ezinma falls ill. Although Okonkwo has three wives at once and seems to rule his compound like a tyrant, women are also seen to have a measure of their own space as well as the right to divorce an abusive husband. By including the scene with Uchendu following Okonkwo’s exile, Achebe makes the position of women clear within the social group. “A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland … And that is why we say that mother is supreme” (Achebe 134). Should she need to, an African woman seems perfectly capable of supporting herself and her children, yet can seemingly always fall back upon her birth family for support whenever it becomes necessary. Achebe’s insights can be seen to reach deeper than traditional ‘white’ accounts of Africa, illustrating the death of a rich and vibrant culture rather than the simple imposition of unfamiliar practices on an otherwise blank slate of African peoples. While Achebe’s portrayal suggests that the Africans might have benefited from improvements in agricultural technology as a means of more appropriately utilizing their land, he indicates that his society was equally capable of exploitation and abuse when given the opportunity. He provides indications that the black man can be reduced to little more than a beast, but this process is equally attributable to the white man as it occurs as a result of the twisting of the mind and the loss of self-control following the loss of an entire way of life as expressed by Achebe. The women, too, are highly misunderstood. Achebe reveals that the women of Africa are actually largely constrained in much the same way as those found in Europe, but retained a much higher level of honor and respect from their men as well as the strength to affect change in their lives. Achebe does not provide any greater criticism of the white man per se, but his illustration of the white man’s role in destroying the traditional society is much more insightful than ‘normal’ thanks to its internal viewpoint. Through this type of analysis, it can be seen that it takes an internal viewpoint such as Achebe’s to fully present the African case on more equal footing with the white man. Works Cited Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor Books, 1994. Read More