Things Fall Apart: A Socio-political view - Essay Example

Things Fall Apart: A Socio-political view In Things Fall Apartand in his later novels, Chinua Achebe, the author of the story, wanted to counter demeaning and incorrect stereotypes of his social and political surroundings and Eurocentric presentations of the confrontation between the Ibo of Nigeria and the British intruders. In his novel, Achebe admits, he strives for artistic excellence but also wants to give a message. Just as the oral tradition of the Ibo people served their society by sustaining its values, so did the modern Ibo and then writing in English, should serve Ibo society. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe combines the Ibo oral tradition’s narrative style with the Western world’s traditional novel form. In the story, Achebe narrates an African tale in African style. The novel’s narrative voice could be Achebe’s or it could also be the voice of a village elder. In either case, the voice is connected to the world of the novel. Though the voice is objective, it is also a part of the scene depicted.(Gikandi, 22-28) To achieve an African voice, Achebe uses simple, plain and short declarative sentences. Also, throughout the novel, the characters narrate or listen to traditional stories from the society’s past and stories that illustrate and teach the culture’s values. The novel opens with the retelling of Okonkwo’s exploits in a cultural traditional wrestling match, the ritual by which young men proved themselves worthy of a high place in their clan. Achebe weaves Ibo proverbs into the novel’s dialogue, to clarify a point, to teach a lesson, and, usually, to provide humor. Also, many Ibo words are used in the text without translation. Some of these can be understood by the reader through context, but others may remain mysterious and create a distance between the non-Ibo reader and the Ibo world of Things Fall Apart. Taken together, sentence structure, Umuofian stories, proverbs, and language create a memorable colloquial narrative voice.(Wren, 12-45) Behind the story of Okonkwo and the pictures of Ibo society, the slightly disguised but clearly audible echoes the voice of the author which is in a philosophical voice; in the measured tone Achebe adopts toward his character, his people’s history, and the new order there is a humor andcalmness about it. Okonkwo, the main character of the story, reflects the voice negatively by his failure to achieve a logicaldetachment in his quest for personal fame, to evaluate personal desire within a wider frame of reference. Ibo proverbs, which record traditional wisdom, can guide the individual, but as in any society, the individual must be wise enough to apply them. Some Proverbs from the story: "Our elders say that the sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them." (Achebe 7-8) “The sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them.” (Achebe 8) "If a child washes his hands he could eat with kings." (Achebe 8) “Let the kite perch and let the eagle perch too. If one says no to the other, let his wing break.” (Achebe 19) "A man who pays respect to the great paves the way for his own greatness."(Achebe 19) "An old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb."(Achebe 21) "Looking at the king's mouth, one would think he never sucked at his mother breasts" (Achebe 26) "The Earth cannot punish me for obeying her messenger."(Achebe 67) “When mother-cow is chewing grass its young ones watch its mouth.” (Achebe 71) "As the elders said, if one finger brought oil it soiled the others."(Achebe 125) "A child cannot pay for his mothers milk." (Achebe 140) These proverbs themselves are likely to be, but not surprisingly, contradictory on any controversial matters. On the one hand, for example, the Ibo of Things Fall Apart acknowledge the presence of fate in human character, designated by one’s personal god, or chi. On the other hand, the Ibo recognizes individual ambition that makes success possible. After his return to Umuofia, his fortunes temporarily improve; Okonkwo seems more reliant on fate than on his own strong will: “His chi might now be making amends for the past disaster.” (Gikandi, 22-28) The seven-year exile has thus had a humbling effect, but it does not grant Okonkwo inner strength. Yet his perception of manly dignity is still inseparable from public honor within a provincial order.(Gikandi, 22-28) While Okonkwo bases his very identity on the absoluteness and immutability of his culture’s values while other elders who are more multi-cultured in their outlook, recognizes that what is true in one part of the world is not true in another. Obierika, the primary voice of reason in the novel, suggests a moderate response to the changing times. Uchendu asks the exiled Okonkwo not egotistically to consider himself a unique case but to observe the tragic suffering others endure. The new order with the white man must be seen within a larger tragic sense of life. The final authorial attitude would seem to be close to the philosophical stoicism of Obierika and the tragic awareness of Uchendu as they watch their world fall apart about them.(Wren, 12-45) In the novel, “Things Falls Apart”, Chinua Achebe carefully depicts and judges the encounter of two civilizations and the ways how the people respond to it. Obviously defying the stereotypical views of the two civilizations he attempts to delve deep into the drives that opened the ways for the disintegration of the African indigenous societies and cultures. Though Achebe moans this disintegration, he has not glossed over the deficits, deficiencies and superstitions that the tribal culture holds at its heart. By assuming this neutral stance he puts forward the proposition that the African tribes are not as savage and brute as what any European stereotypical view about the African professes; rather the Africans have their own culture, cultural standards and values, justice system, society, etc unlike the Europeans’ stereotypical anticipation; that the western culture is not as whimsical as the Africans commonly assume it. The protagonist, Okonkwo, of Achebe’s novel serves as the living symbol of the values and standards of the tribal culture and his silent death necessarily symbolizes his culture’s failure to compete with the invading culture and its subsequent death. Okonkwo also represents of the author’s affinity for the African indigenous culture. He strongly resists the disturbing presence of the colonial people in his society. His response to the European colonial presence is obvious in the following lines: “Does the white man understand our custom about land? How can he when he does not even speak our tongue? But he says that our customs are bad; and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad” (Achebe 45). He protests against the conversion of the members of his tribes to Christianity. For Okonkwo, the colonizers are the agents of destruction. So he strongly despises them. In the novel Achebe shows that social institutions like justice, sense of right and wrong, culture, family and familial values, etc are context-specific social constructs. The society in Igbo has its own social and cultural values. But the white missionaries in Igbo disturb this system, to a great extent, for the people’s good. In Okonkwo’s society what the members consider manliness is brutality according the values of the Christian missionaries. Evidently according to the author’s proposition that a society may justly have a culture, values and other social institutions, these social constructs are quite right for the people of that particular society. But in no way, he could deny the harmful impacts of the gullible values of the society of Igbo. A society in which hierarchy and social rank is determined by one’s masculinity that often turns into cruelties like infanticide and oppressive patriarchy can never be based on a universal sense of justice. Indeed Achebe shows that such superstitious sense of right-wrong and justice must succumb to a better and more universal one. The first and foremost theme of Achebe’s novel is the disastrous significances of the encounter between European and African civilizations. He depicts the social and psychological conflicts of the self-contained African tribal society with the invading whites’ culture. Obviously a part of this conflict consists of the subsequent dismay of the African consciousness. The rise and fall of Okonkwo represents the encounter of the African culture with the Europeans and the following disintegration the best. Indeed the central character Okonkwo himself represents the best and worst of the culture which he belongs to. Thus, he symbolizes this disintegration. Having the most powerful and being the most renowned one, Okonkwo has to suffer the disintegration of his culture the most. The most important thing in his society is the unity among the members based on their loyalty and absolute obedience to the elders. Since Okonkwo occupies the leading position in his society, he becomes the most frustrated one to see his people gradually distancing themselves from these values, as he notes, “How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever.” (Achebe 67) The tragic flaw in Okonkwo’s character is that he could not conform to the white culture and values, because of his position at the extreme end of his society. From his position at the society’s leadership, he enjoys the advantages that his position yields. He is one of those few who refuse to conform to the encroaching white cultural values and standards of life. By committing suicide he refuses the invading culture as well as his own tribe for its cowardice. As a man, Okonkwon’s death is his emotional self-withdrawal from the competition hall of the two civilizations as well as his failure to cope with his rapidly changing society. Things Fall Apart is the first of four novels by Chinua Achebe tracing the recent history of the Ibo people as they become part of the Nigerian state. Arrow of God(1964) which picks up the story twenty-five years later is in the confrontation of an Ibo priest and a firmly entrenched British colonial power. No Longer at Ease (1960) presents the experience of a Western-educated Nigerian during the 1950’s, and the ironicA Man of the People (1966) focuses on political instabilities in the postindependence period of the 1960’s. Such historically oriented novels about traditional life and the impact of colonialism are typical of African literature since World War II. They are, at the same time, Western in language, form, and preoccupation; generally suspicious, however, of Western civilization; and genuinely concerned about losing a way of life, a cultural heritage, and an ethnic identity. (Wren, 12-45) Of all these and all of the other attempts to re-create Africa’s past, Things Fall Apart is probably the best known and most widely read. Though not intended specifically for young audiences, it not only is accessible to the adolescent reader but also provides an introduction to a non-Western culture through an entertaining medium. Achebe takes seriously Uchendu’s warning that all stories are true and proves that not only proverbs but also novels “are the palm-oil with which words are eaten.” (Gikandi, 22-28) He raises Ibo socio-political culture to life in which it is through a management of English style and the novel form. The narrative abounds in Ibo proverbs and repeatedly uses turns of phrase and an indirect manner of speech to achieve an Africandialect. Further, Achebe employs a narrative technique characteristic of the Ibo — “skirting around the subject and then hitting it finally” — (Gikandi, 22-28) that not only reproduces the mentality of the people but also allows him to survey the culture while gradually narrowing the focus onto the fate of Okonkwo, which is an appropriately African strategy since the fate of the individual is intimately tied to the fate of the community. I believe this to be as equally important is the outcome message for a Western audience. Achebe manages to break the stereotype of a so-called primitive, that is, non-technological cultures. He gives a convincing, realistic portrayal of intelligent human beings living within a complex socio-political system.(Gikandi, 22-28) The plot line of Okonkwo’s struggle and fall reveals not only his complex character but also the strong social fabric of the Umuofian people. Like Okonkwo’s character, this society is complex, having both strengths and weaknesses. Its traditions create a stable community in which each individual finds some sort of meaning. The oral storytelling and rituals for planting, harvesting, and human passage sustain an orderly society. Some of the harsher customs, such as killing the innocent Ikemefuna, exiling Okonkwo for an accidental killing, and banishing some persons to live their entire lives as outcasts, raise some doubts about the ultimate wisdom of the Umuofian customs. Some, like Nwoye and Obereika, question what was always done and suggest that change is necessary. Others, like Okonkwo, stand fast in defense of the tradition. When the newcomers come with a new religion and laws, the fabric of Umuofian society weakens. Social justice is a subtle but overriding theme in Chinua Achebe’s novel, “Things Falls Apart”. In the novel justice has been presented as a social construct that varies from society to society, according the values of people’s sense of right and wrong. The society in Igbo has its own judicial system and values of justice. Achebe shows that the concept of justice is not universal; rather it is a social construct. In Okonkwo’s society what the members consider masculinity and justice is cruelty and injustice according the values of the Christian missionaries. Obviously according to the author’s thesis that asserts that a society may justly have a culture, values and other social institutions, the justice system of Okonkwo’s society is, to a great extent, right for the people of that particular society. But in no way, he could deny the hemorrhaging impacts of the superstitious values of the society of Igbo. A society in which hierarchy and social rank is determined by one’s masculinity that often turns into cruelties like infanticide and oppressive patriarchy can never be based on a universal sense of justice. Indeed Achebe shows that such superstitious sense of right-wrong and justice must succumb to a better and more universal one. In the novel, Achebe depicts a society that primarily pivots on a rigid sense of fairness and justice. He shows that the African tribal society is a fully functioning organism, in contrary to the European assumption of the African tribes as something anarchic, savage and brute, like most other civilized societies. If Okonkwo’s society is to be considered a savage brute, it is because of the savagery within the society’s values and system of belief. In opposition to the European concept of a savage and cannibal Africa, Achebe shows that like most other organically functioning society of the world, Igbo’s society has both positives to be proud of and negatives to be criticized. Achebe depicts Okonkwo’s society as people with admirable social institutions such as communal democracy, consensus-based social decision-making procedure, traditions and laws, etc. Simultaneously the society has also other objectionable traits such as patriarchy, superstitions, etc. Obviously Igbo’s society consents to the murder of Ikemefuna, an innocent young boy on the basis of Oracle’s message. Such murder is quite justifiable in a society that is typical of pre-modern clannish zeal and puts the collective and social interests above individual interests. Indeed such tribal laws and values of justice are objectionable to modern individualism-induced colonial laws and justice. Yet the newcomers also have strengths and weaknesses. They offer a gentler religion and some different laws. With their excessive passion and righteousness, they also can provoke the anger of the people the newcomers want to win over. Refusing to grow an understanding with the people of Igbo to bring about the changes in the society, as Mr. Brown proposes in the first half of the novel, the colonial power runs into conflict with the established social system to throw it into anarchy. Enoch’s, a fanatical convert in Umuofia, disrespectful act of ripping the mask off an egwugwu eventually materializes the climactic conflict between the native and colonial justice systems, as in the epigraph of the novel, the author refers to the anarchic impact of the colonial rule: “Turning and turning in the widening gyre / The falcon cannot hear the falconer; / Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world” (Achebe 45). Finally, the Umuofian people and the newcomers share a common weakness. Few attempt to learn each other’s language, customs, or beliefs, but conflict is inevitable. The situation and characters that Achebe draws in his novel are fraught with complexity. It is this complexity, as well as Achebe’s masterful writing style, that make Things Fall Apart a classic novel as far as the socio-political aspect is concerned.(Wren, 12-45)   Works Cited Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. London: Heinemann Press, 1958. Gikandi, Simon. Reading Chinua Achebe: Language and Ideology in Fiction. Portsmouth, N.H.: J. Currey, 2001. 22-28 Wren, Robert M. Achebe’s World: the Historical and Cultural Context of the Novels of Chinua Achebe. Washington, D.C.: Three Continents Press, 2004. 12-45 Read More