Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe - Essay Example

?Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe in his Things Fall Apart focuses on the typical African notions of power and success in the line of which he characterises Okonkwo. Okonkwo represents the African tribal spirit at the eve of the colonial control. In an unbiased and non-judgemental narration Achebe has tried to explore and uphold the disappearing aboriginal culture of the Dark Continent. His attempt had been to draw home the point that each to his own. He was against the colonialist strategy to mark the African Igbo tribal culture as primitive and retrogressive and going head on to modernise it. By giving a vivid description of the customs and traditions in his novel Achebe aimed at establishing its identity and significance for those belonging to it. However he did show his disapproval of certain aspects of the tribal code of conduct. Okonkwo is the agent who at one time becomes the spokesperson of Achebe and at the other is turned into a foil to prove the injustice and egotism of the African male. Okonkyo’s desire for the title of the land and exercising his power over villagers and his desire towards material possession shows that people like him found success in control and dominance, which in turn gave them material success. Okonkyo’s idea of success lay in having and doing everything that his father could not have or do. According to him his father s womanly in nature due to his lack of material wealth and his love for music and songs, which he considers as a feminine character. He therefore ends up beating his wife (which earns him a punishment of six months by the law of Umuofia, his village) and hating his son whom he thinks to be weak and feminine (Achebe 21). The people of the village respect him owing to their need for protection and military skills, which Okonkyo has in plenty. He is ‘battle-tested’ and extremely respected amongst the members of the tribe as his name is able to produce fear in the hearts of his enemies. The story essentially begins by the show of valour and strength by Okonkyo in a wrestling match. However the villagers are accommodative in nature, as they even have place for people like his father irrespective of his material failures and debts. I find this idea of success a contrast to the modern society where the artistic performer is blessed with material success and the promotion of metro sexual men epitomizes the idea of feminine virtues and emotions which Okonkyo, a representation of an Igbo male, strongly rejects. In order to prove this maleness he agrees to sacrifice Ikemefuna to whom he has been a guardian and whom he loved as his own son. He once brought him home and handed him to Nwoye’s mother. He orderererd the boy to be treated as a member of the clan and as expected his wife does not have any say (Schebe, 11). Despite his restraints, deep within the womanly emotions gnawed at his heart for days. Material pleasures and achievements in our day to day lives obviously provides a feeling of success and a satisfaction but the hymn of music which refreshes the heart is equally appreciated due to which the musicians and singers get attractive payment for their performances. The idea of success is not separable from emotions and artistic tastes. This is unlike the beliefs of the Igbo male dominated traditions represented by Okonkyo. Their superstitious practices of treating the twins as a taboo and killing them (thrown away at birth), beating women and other activities derogatory to humaneness are criticized by the Christian beliefs (Achebe, xxxvi, 111). Even the people treated as outcasts thought that they would be welcomed by the new religion. Okonkyo realises that in order to stand against the notions of equality generated by the church, he has to preserve the traditions of the Igbo tribe in order to hold on to his title and the power it has generated for sometime. Only the tribal narrow traditions and beliefs could make him successful and powerful. He does not learn his lesson even after being banished for seven years for killing his friend accidentally by the incorruptible law of the village. The shift in order therefore poses a challenge to his position and hopes for success, as the people no longer paid much attention to his title and possessions. These tribal people who has once been blinded by futile traditions in the name and hope for success now find shelter under the peaceful umbrella of the Church whose laws treat everyone equally and condemned activities related to killing out of beliefs. The tribe is given a second chance to live as a holistic life while Okonkyo’s position is demolished with his frequent words against womanly emotions and men without titles. In his opinion the religion of Christianity also has its weakness like that of a woman. He therefore attempts to revolt against the white man who resides in he village and the villagers according to him are acting like women when they refuse to participate in acting against the white man. Okonkyo, who represents the typical Igbo tradition, is weak and this weakness lies in his ignorance and inability to accept any woman as a part of his life and the society in general. He is unable to honour and respect the position of women and event he characteristic feminine virtues. He fails to accept that every person has right to express one’s emotions and will feel the same grief under tragic circumstances. He feels the grief for his son Ikemefuna but does not accept the same. His egotism gets the better of him in the end, which stands against the virtues of honesty, generosity, compassion and contentment taught to an individual as the seeds to grow into a successful person. Both the tribe and its leader have their weaknesses in terms of ignorance and these finally bring on their fall. Such means of success which are acquired through force and fear do not hold in the context of a modern democratic society where people’s sentiments and emotions deserve as much respect as the honour of a man’s title which is usually earned by a complete and balanced display of both material success and virtues. One’s goals and intentions require proper evaluation apart from simply acquiring material success at the cost of socio economic equality. The people belonging to the Igbo tribe of the Umuofia therefore display fear when they respect their leader and let him have the material comforts along with power determined success but when this fear is taken away they care nothing about titles and Okonkyo loses his position along with the waning of the typically dark customs of the tribe which hindered them to merge with the mainstream civilization. Work Cited Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart, Heinneman, 1996 Read More