Colonialism and Igbo Culture in Things Fall Apart
Added on 2020-04-07
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Running Head: THINGS FALL APART BY CHINUA ACHEBE1Things Fall Apart by Chinua AchebeName of the StudentName of the Institution
THINGS FALL APART BY CHINUA ACHEBE 2Things Fall Apart by Chinua AchebeCulture plays significant roles in the society and more so to a person. It is the totality ofpeople's beliefs, traditions, values, language, attitudes, and rituals. Notably, many cultures existacross the world and are central to the formation of an individual's sense of belonging or identity.The existence of numerous cultures across the world, however, does not render some superior orinferior to others although some tend to conflict. Chinua Achebe is one of the Nigeria authorswho attempt to portray the culture of the Igbo people in his Things Fall Apart. One would arguethat Achebe, to a greater extent, images the dominant culture in the African continent before thecoming of the colonialists. He, therefore, creates a scenario where there emerge some opposingcultures which were a result of the Igbo people contact with the colonialists. The role of thispaper is thus to discuss the cultural transformation of the Igbo community, and the role played bythe white's foreign culture in influencing these cultural changes. Achebe's Things Fall Apart provides a significant model that frames a differentperception of the African continent (Abel, 2017). It is a remarkable text that sets a firmfoundation on which African literary discourses and cultural nationalism are built. Moreover, itis a text that questions the rather negative perceptions of Africa as depicted in some books, news,and articles (Eze, 2014: Sen, 2013). In his book, Achebe constructs arguments that negotiate forthe African culture while in the same sense reconstruct the image and identity of Africa (Abel,2017). He, therefore, brings to the light the cultural values that define Africa. Essentially, ChinuaAchebe deconstructs the language of colonists mainly their definition of African history andculture (Alam, 2014). The book thus reimages Africa and dejects the negative conceptualizationof Africa by the colonials.
THINGS FALL APART BY CHINUA ACHEBE 3The Igbo community had a sophisticated culture which was defined by various beliefs.They believed in the existence of many gods and the ancestral spirits. The goddess Ani who wasthe earth goddess and the goddess of all fertility was the most significant of all the Umuofiagods. Ani judged the morality and conduct of the Igbo people. The Igbo culture was alsocharacterized by many beliefs including the belief in the Evil Forests and the bad omen ofwhistling in the night and calling snake by its name (Achebe, 2009). They had several festivalsthat preceded planting and harvesting seasons and one of them was the feast of the New Yam aswell as the festivals of the Peace Week. Wrestling was also an important festival that broughtpeople together. The Igbo community was patriarchal and polygamous. A man was supposed toexpress masculinity in all aspects and own titles and feed for his family. A man who failed tomeet the standards was considered an Agbala or a woman (Achebe, 2009). Women, on the otherhand, were passive objects whose roles were restricted to the domestic sphere. Achebe from his first to the fifteenth chapter describes the Igbo community and its ninevillages. Conversely, the disintegration of the Igbo culture assumes another face upon the arrivalof the missionaries in the sixteenth chapter. The arrival of the missionaries and conversion ofnew believers was going to trigger numerous cultural changes. To some, the period marked thebeginning of abandoning their culture and adopting the new one. It was turbulent and culturalcrisis period for the Igbo people. Okonkwo, the story's protagonist, suffers as a result of thecolonizer's intrusion. He could not withstand their massive influence to the Igbo people and theconsequent erosion of the once elaborate Igbo culture (Islam, 2014).
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