Analyzing Chinua Achebe's Works on Social Changes in British Colonies

This essay delves into the works of Chinua Achebe, a pivotal figure in modern African literature, focusing on his portrayal of social changes within British colonies. Achebe, a Nigerian author, vividly depicted traditional African life and the psychological complexities of his characters, particularly during the tumultuous colonial era. His novels, including "Things Fall Apart" and "Arrow of God," explore themes of cultural clashes, the impact of white missionaries, and the erosion of traditional values. The essay highlights how Achebe's characters grapple with the introduction of Christianity, the imposition of colonial rule, and the resulting societal transformations. It examines the conflicts between indigenous customs and beliefs, the resistance to colonial influence, and the fragmentation of communities. Achebe's masterful storytelling reveals the complexities of identity, power dynamics, and the enduring legacy of colonialism in Africa. The essay references critical perspectives to provide a comprehensive understanding of Achebe's contributions to literature and his insightful commentary on a pivotal period in African history.

The aim of this paper is to describe the works of Chinua Achebe and his contributions
towards social changes within the British colonies. Achebe is one of the stalwart authors
of the modern African literature who has contributed to literature by reflecting upon the
society during the British colonial period in the African countries. He belonged to Nigeria
and he had depicted the social life or traditional Africa (Idowu 2014). His works also
portray the confusion of people’s psychology. His books describe the critical conditions
of Africa during its emerging times. The values had been changing in the world, which
Africans found it very difficult to cope up with (Mpofu 2014). Some of the major works
written by Chinua Achebe are “Arrow of God”, “Things Fall Apart”, “No Longer at
Ease” and others. The characters of the book had witnessed the social changes and are
considered to be moral reflections of that time.
“Things Fall Apart” is one of the finest literary pieces produced by Chinua
Achebe. This book has reflected several themes that are very interesting for the portrayal
of the contemporary society (Idowu 2014). The author has portrayed several instances
where the white missionaries from Europe had made huge impacts on the tribal groups of
Africa. The changes are seen throughout the course of the novel as Achebe’s description
moves on the timeline that includes the description of the lifestyle of the tribal
community before the arrival of white missionaries. Their life had been happy and
undisruptive in spite of the events that took place outside their society (Mpofu 2014). The
arrival of the whites were followed by the process of supreme colonial powers are the
tribal community. The colonization process followed slavery, immense torture, had been
imposed on them and forceful conversion to Christianity (Tobalase 2016). The arrival of
the white missionaries led to a complete change in the thought process of the tribal

community by a complete transformation of their thought process and belief system
(Ahmed 2014).
According to the critics, the changes in the indigenous community took place
after their introduction to Christian beliefs, ideas, and lifestyle (Ogude 2015). It is
significant to point out that the changes did not take place overnight; a lot of resistance
were witnessed from the community are being forced to denounce their age-old beliefs
and practices among whom Okonkwo, Nwoye, Ikemefuna, Ekwefi, Unoka, and Ezinma
are worth mentioning. Okonkwo is regarded as the central protagonist of this book and he
is also the leader of the African Igbo community named Umuofia. Chinua Achebe, the
author, has spoken about a girl named Nneka who gave birth to sets of twins many times.
After these events of births, she had left those children in the forest (Mpofu 2014).
Eventually it was found out that she eloped to join the Christians. It is also worthwhile to
point out that these tribal people had some stigmatic belief but they were able to get over
these practices after Christians had arrived (Tobalase 2016).
Through various characters of the book, the author also raises questions about the
tribal customs in African countries and the effect of the advent of Christian customs
(Ogude 2015). According to Achebe, the reason of conversion behind the tribe to convert
to Christianity was lack of belief in their traditional beliefs and customs (Ahmed 2014).
The author had also highlighted the fact that some of the tribal beliefs and customs were
very harmful for the society (Tobalase 2016). In some ways the conversion of the faith
became somewhat helpful for them indeed. One example can be given and it is the fact
that the Umofia people had the belief that twin babies were very detrimental for the
future welfare of the individual and society (Lakshmi 2016). This is why they had

dispersed the twins in the jungle to get rid of them. This was a superstition in their minds
and it was definitely very painful custom. Despite this common sense for all people, these
tribes believed that this kind of sacrifice would definitely bring the peace within the
society (Jweid 2016). According to the tribal beliefs, forests were also considered unholy
and unsafe that led to the belief that the trees were under threat.
Likewise, there were several beliefs in their customs and cultures that were believed to be
very natural for them but it seemed to be very uncommon for other people (Lakshmi
2016).
The hatred of tribal community were rooted in the fact that the colonizers were
invested in convincing the community and ensure their obedience in the process (Gilley
2016). On the contrary, it was very evident that benevolent behavior and assuring people
of good future helped them to earn the trust. People of the Umofia tribe were no
exception to this. The missionaries began to teach them about the truths (Gogoi 2014).
This marked the beginning of changes in the society. The Christian missionaries taught
them the fact that forests and woods were not at all harmful or evil (Jweid 2016). These
were the gifts of nature and treasures for human life. So they should be preserved at any
cost. Many people began to believe in the words of these Christian missionaries. So,
people remaining in these regions became very angry. They believed that their teachings
had been insulted and they were in fear of losing their positions within the society. In this
context, the cohesion of the Ibo culture and their community began to “fall apart” (Alam
2014).
Chinua Achebe’s portrayal of the text and the characters proved that he was a
master craftsman of conceiving perfectly, the contemporary culture of the African people

(Gogoi 2014). The conflict between the social changes and traditions was the main
talking point of this novel. The main motive of the white missionaries were to challenge
the existing thought patterns, ideas, culture, and belief of the community followed by the
penetration of Christian ideas, thoughts, and ideas only to ensure the community’s
submission to their own superiority. Achebe has portrayed the ongoing social changes
within the African society in his novel “Arrow of God” as well in other novels. According
to the critics, “Arrow of God” is another example where the author has been able to
depict his mastery over authorship (Alam 2014). The social conflicts presented in this
book, too, had gathered the attention of the people as well.
In this novel “Arrow of God”, cultural conflicts have been presented widely and
social changes are quite crucial to note. The society of the sub-Saharan Africa has been
discussed in this book. Chinua Achebe is regarded by many as the most well-known and
famous authors of all time belonging to Africa. The conflict has always been on the basis
of forceful introduction of foreign cultures and the practice of traditional beliefs,
thoughts, and ideas. The British colonial encroachment on the lands of Africa has been
one of the most crucial reasons as to why these conflicts had begun. In this novel, Achebe
has presented the village lives of these Igbo people (Gilley 2016). Therefore, he wanted
to make the changes very much plausible to people of these tribal communities.
The issues and challenges regarding identity of people were also raised during the
British colonial period. It is quite evident when the character of the novel named Ezeulu
did not agree to become the chief of white man. Such was the outrage of village
communities on the British colonizers. The colonizers wanted to build up their group
within that community by accumulating many members from the local village

communities (Bekler 2014). They believed only then they could form the superior
community within the region. As per the notion of the critics, social identity during that
time was completely based on the relationship of Igbo people within their own people
and colonizers of British communities (Gikandi 2018).
Critics have identified the problems that had been faced by the Igbo people to
construct the society in unification because the colonial process became very strong by
all the means and hence became extremely difficult to resist. The reflections of the social
change have been shown by the social patterns before the colonial period and during it.
Many social conflicts have been seen during this period (Bekler 2014). Mr. Achebe had
very beautifully crafted the social conflicts between the two sides when the Igbo people
tried their best to resist the changes through holding up their cultural norms, values and
traditions. They did not want to embrace this culture as they despised it to some point.
Therefore, various social layers of their cultural beliefs showed how well they could
design their society without being influenced by this encroaching culture (Wehrs 2016).
However, it should be kept in mind that, the communities struggled with their
own problems that significantly slowed down their process of unification. The political
crisis between the Umuaro and Okperi tribes revealed these conflicts to be self-
destructive (Fagrutheen 2014). The British colonial powers had taken the advantage of
these conflicts as well. The conflicts between the Ezeulu and Nwaka had also exposed the
social conflicts between the tribes as well. These issues worked as the gateway for British
colonial powers to settle in the region permanently (Wehrs 2016). The breakdown of
communication between these groups was the primary reason that helped to bring social
changes by the British colonial powers (Idowu 2014). Apart from that, these societies in

Africa were patriarchal; colonizers respected women at the beginning in order to
convince them about their good nature and intentions. Thus, they won the faith and this
solidified the social changes in these regions.
In conclusion, it can be said that Chinua Achebe as an author has been very
successful in the overall portrayal of the African cultures and communities. The cultural
clashes and conflicts between the tribal groups had been quite interesting in this matter.
The British colonial powers used these clashes to win the hearts and minds of tribal
people. They did so with the help of Christian missionaries and their kind and benevolent
words. The missionaries were able to get rid of the social and cultural challenges that had
to do with the local communities. Therefore, they worked hard to implement various
policies that were instrumental in bringing changes in the society. Lack of
communication, unity, and faith in the communities paved the way for British
colonialism to bring more radical changes in their society for future.

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