Chinua Achebe, in the famous novel, Things Fall Apart, goes on to delve deep into the culture of two different communities through the story of the life of the protagonist, Okonkwo, who is a heroic character of his village in Nigeria. The protagonist is an acclaimed man who has three wives and many children. He is someone who has shown his valor and warlike skills for which he is known among all. The character has a tragic flaw, nonetheless, that leads to his ultimate downfall. He is obsessed not to reveal any sign of emotion or weakness to people.
However, in the course of the novel, the readers come to comprehend how the Umuofia clan of Okonkwo is regulated by a structure, much different to that of the Western world. The clan has its own procedure of the justice system, religion and marriage. Hence, when a boy gets killed by the protagonist accidentally, he is not spared. Okonkwo and his family are exiled from the village for a span of seven years as a punishment.
In spite of having a system of governance that is carried out by a council of elders, the community does not have a sole leader or a king of the tribes. This is a reason why the people of the society are susceptible to invasion by the Westerners. The imperialist colonizers from Britain come to the region, and endeavor to establish their hegemony. They take the help of missionaries first, only to bring in the authoritative men who are determined to have a government led by Europe. The novel portrays the inevitable clash between the two cultures owing to this friction. Both the cultures being very different from one another, and both being supreme in their way, the people refuse any blending of cultures. This leads to tensions in the region.
There are violent conflicts between the people of the two communities in a bid to establish the supremacy of their cultural identity. Eventually, Okonkwo, the protagonist of the novel, is arrested by the colonial government of the British people. Since the protagonist never acknowledges his weakness, he hangs himself before the British can imprison him. Thus, his tragic flaw makes him meet his inevitable end.
The novel is an intricate scrutiny of the ways of colonization that were followed by the imperialists. The British people established their authority all over the globe, and religious penetration was one of the most tactful ways that they used to take in control the communities that had so long been away from any sort of external influence.
It is the cultural and ethnic identity of a man that binds him to his roots. For an imperial overlord, loosening the tie with the roots is one of the most important ways to alienating the colonized from his motherland and the emotion related to it. The novel shows how this way was implemented in the community of Nigeria. The equilibrium of the native community was perturbed by the actions of the missionaries.
It was only after the religious invasion that the show of strength by the colonizers was evident. The real intention of the British people was to establish its colony there, stripping the natives of their rights of freedom.
The book delves deep into the customs and traditions of the villagers of Nigeria. The novel shows how the people of the land are advanced in their societal structure and governance. They have their own ways of justice and life. However, the West has always viewed any other culture as inferior, refusing to acknowledge the cultural richness of any other community. This is, in fact, a vehement stereotyping and bias that has been a trait of the colonizers. The book intertwines the issues of cultural omnipotence and encroachment, and he explores the consequences through the portraiture of the lives of the native villagers.
In a way, Okonkwo’s death is symbolic of the refusal to bow down in front of the imperial overlords, who bring nothing but misery and haplessness to the native people of Nigeria. The book embodies the vehement struggle between tradition and change. The friction between the Igbo cultural values and the Christian value system is the central theme of the novel. Chinua Achebe focuses on the fact that the Igbo culture gives paramount importance to storytelling and language. Thus, a shift to the English language, initiated by the colonizers is a threat to the identity of the native people.
Works Cited
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1958. Print.
