Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe - Essay Example

Things Fall Apart,’ a book by Chinua Achebe has a Nigerian Igbo community setting of the 1890s, a time when colonialists started their exploration of the West Africa inlands. In this book, Achebe gives a perspective of the Igbo people before the influence of the West. Conspicuous in this book are the complex ceremonies that constituted the daily lives of the Igbo people. For example, the wedding ceremonies in this community were accompanied by periodic sacrifices directed to numerous gods and goddesses. Legal disputes involved several ceremonies with the egwugwu being the judge. Even more interesting, mundane tasks like cooking were governed by cultural guidelines, where, for example, yams were said to be manly crops because they were complicated to cultivate and harvest while staple foods like cassava had minimal significance. In this community, breaking of the kola nut was synonymous with receiving visitors at home. The Ibo religion with its reverence of many gods dictated the raising of children, ruling of the society and entertainment and communication with others. The community believed in one’s personal god, chi. According to Achebe, being in agreement with something causes chi to also agree (27). This divinity would therefore ensure the protection and success of such an individual. The Igbo had the belief of god being the ruler over the affairs of people. To support this, Achebe uses the character of Unoka, Okonwko’s father, being told that the greatness of the harvest of man who is at peace with the gods and ancestors would be determined by the strength of his arm (17). In seeking to bond the community together, the Igbo culture upholds hospitality and observes religious principles. Nonetheless, the community is not under the rule of religion interpretation by spiritual or political community leaders. Regardless of gender, everyone makes individual decisions regarding their lives. This has more freedom than was the case with the society where Okonwko lived in. 2-This book depicts Achebe’s criticism of the insensitivity towards the helpless in the traditional Igbo community. Achebe uses various events and characters to show the misgivings of the traditional life of the Igbo. For example, the author uses Obierika, Okonwko’s best friend to appeal to Okonkwo to balance his emotions. Unlike Okonkwo, Obierika is a responsible father, husband, friend and member of the Igbo community. This character appeals to Okonkwo to think of more critical issues such as universal morality and truths. He becomes a good example for Okonkwo’s beastly tendencies. There is Nwoye, the elder son of Okonkwo, who is opposed to his father’s disruptive definition of masculinity and opts for Christianity rather than his community’s beliefs. The murder of Ikemefuna, his adopted brother, by Okonkwo, the man who was to protect him, further caused Nwoye to seek for a gentler society. From the beginning, Achebe portrays the flaws of Okonwko. The book gives an account of Okonkwo as a man with numerous abilities including wresting and fighting. He is a respected man, a revered egwugwu with several titles. However, all these are drained away with him choosing to kill his adopted son. This could be attributed to observing the Igbo traditions. With this murder, the misguided reasoning associated with the Igbo is revealed. The downfall of Okonkwo is an indication of Achebe’s disapproval of the brutal practices enshrined in traditional societies. 3- The destruction of African traditional governments and cultures could be attributed to the European powers that fostered the establishment of enslaved communities that were politically, technologically and even economically dependent on colonialists. These European powers used Christianity as a tool for dividing and conquering. This would be deduced from the division in Okonwko’s home and the Igbo community through the acceptance of the new religion by some members. During the historic times, the African communities adopted Christian missionaries’ cultures without interfering with their traditional and cultural values. This would be evidenced by the Fulani and Hausa chiefs from Northern Nigeria who adopted Christianity but were also keen to preserve their traditional and cultural institutions. Communities that exhibited resistance to Christian doctrines suffered separation though. In his book, Achebe uses Mr. Smith, a staunch Christian missionary, as a representation of people who perceived the Igbo religion to be heathen. Together with the District Commissioner, Mr. Smith dismisses the complexity and richness of the Igbo society. 4-The image of Africans has been tainted such that it would be difficult to appreciate them as people occupying and entire continent where different tribes coexist. ‘Things Fall Apart’ is one of the books that fight against this notion, focusing on real human beings as opposed to animals or the varied environmental features in the continent. Criticizing the broad generalization by the West of insignificant issues on Africa, Binyavanga Wainaina is a writer who has contributed greatly to this African course. It would have been expected that with African nations attaining independence, such misplaced ideologies would end. However, the current situation is even worse. The difficulty in handling such sentiments by Europeans is in the fact that they do not markedly qualify as racist. They are merely clichés repeated by the international media over years despite their misrepresentation. Humorously, Wainaina notes in one of his texts that “whenever I read some White writer’s material on Kenya, it is always filled with wild game at breakfast time, snakes that drop into the baths, and lions that maul calves. However, I have only seen a single snake in my whole life; I am also not aware of anyone who has ever been bitten by a snake.” According to this writer, a judgment based on what the Western media displays would depict all Africans as adorning the Maasai or Zulu dressing. These media do not ever show the myriad skyscrapers filling in the African cities such as Cairo, Nairobi and Johannesburg among others. They would paint a picture of Africa as a continent full of thin, tall, tribal and starving beings who do not engage in any respectable work like the Westerners to earn a living. Moreover, Africans would be depicted as people who do not favor ordinary foods such as beans and rice but rather eat traditional delicacies including insects, crabs, worms and monkey brains. They are creatures without souls suffering under the hands of hungry rulers, only to be saved by the Westerners. On the other hand, the animals found in Africa would be depicted as more lively than humans; complex and constantly depicting the American qualities; and having names, endless ambitions and desires for their vast families. Specifically, the caring big cats and elephants impart values to the children. The National Geographic entertains Westerners with African animals, being the only creatures in Africa given human characteristics. Read More