This essay aims to reveal the significance of Okwonko, the central character in Chinua Achebe’s, Things Fall Apart. It exposes the characteristics of Okwonko, the village hero by how he relates with his family, friends and community. In addition, it traces his love for his community, passion for war and violence. Finally, it displays his hopelessness when his community accepts the British.
In his most acclaimed book, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe depicts Okwonko as a hero. The story is set in colonial Africa under the rule of British imperialists in Nigeria. Okwonko is man who believes in African values and customs, but he has a big ego. He treats his mates and family (Nwoye) arrogantly and shamefully.
Okwonko thinks he should be the leader of his community. He also feels Africans should not imitate white man’s traditions and customs. In addition, Okwonko thinks women are supposed to be slaves to men as revealed in the way he treats them violently. When finally his community embraces the ways of the white man, Okwonko commits suicide to show his hopelessness.
In behaving this way, Okwonko is proving his manhood in a society that does not respect women. He also calls his mates ‘women’. It reveals that he is a boastful man who does not value his friends. Okwonko is also obsessed with war and violence. This is revealed the way he picks quarrels with his friends and challenges them for a fight.
He also beats up his wives and children (Nwoye) whenever they have done wrong. On the other hand, Okwonko is a community defender. This is by sticking to the African customs and traditions. Finally, in killing himself, Okwonko reveals the despair that engulfed most communities when the colonialists succeeded in corrupting the minds of Africans.
Okwonko depicts many African characteristics in his behavior. First, his passionate defense of his community reveals Africans had their own ways of living. They had their methods of schooling and entertainments in the form of village duels where Okwonko became a hero by beating his rival. Second, the way he treats his wives without respect and decorum show Africans who looked down upon women. Their roles were only to cook and sire children.
Third, by treating his friends arrogantly, Okwonko displays a community that believed in manhood. A man had to stand up to be counted. Lastly, on taking his own life, he becomes the voice of hopeless Africans who detested the imperialists. Generally, Okwonko is a symbol of uncolonised Africa.
Okwonko does all these to make an African point. First, when he bullies his wives and sons in the homestead, he reveals to the white man that, in Africa, a man is the head of the family. Second, when he calls his mates ‘women’ and challenges them for war, Okwonko proves to his community heroism and strength is the epitome of a village warrior.
Okwonko is ready to defend his community at all costs. Third, his hatred for British colonizers and adoration for African values e.g. their own governance, education and entertainments, the village hero confirms to the white man the superiority of Africa. Finally, in committing suicide, Okwonko demonstrates to his community a terrible hopelessness of accepting the British values and customs.
In conclusion, Chinua Achebe aims at revealing Africa that had it forms of education, governance and entertainments before coming of the British. Through Okwonko, the writer reveals the village fights, the family traditions and the challenges of Africa. Heroism of Okwonko is the courage of Africa during the colonial period. In addition, his destruction is the hopelessness and despair Africa felt under British colonization.
Chinua Achebe, an African author with his origin in Nigeria mainly focuses on the colonization of African countries and the role of women in the society in the village of Umuofia in his book Things Fall Apart. The position and the role of women in Umuofia territory are depicted throughout the entire book. In his book Things Fall Apart, women are portrayed as second class citizens who cannot channel their way of life on their own. The village of Umuofia treats women as property and tools of work that are supposed to be led and used by their male counterparts.
The treatment of women in Umuofia village as property and tools is described in various chapters of the book. It is well elaborated that, the Umuofia village was strongly rooted in their culture and the entire community was expected to adhere to the traditional ways of governance. Women in the village under the leadership of Okonkwo had well-defined duties which were limited to house chores. They were supposed to be submissive to their husbands and the entire male community. The female gender was not supposed to question the government policies that were formulated by their male colleagues in the village and this portrays women as second class citizens.
Women in the village of Umuofia are also treated with a little dignity and are seen more as property rather than people. A good example where women in the territory are seen as the property is a scene where one daughter of Umuofia is murdered by people from the neighboring village. Instead of the two villages going to war a deal is reached whereby two people, a young man and a virgin lady from the accused village are exchanged and given to Umuofia village. The young virgin lady is married against her will by the victim’s husband and this is a clear indication that women are not allowed to make their own choices, but instead, choices are made for them whether popular or unpopular.
The village treats women as subjects of authoritarian rule which starts right from the household level. At one instance in the book, Ikemefuna who was the senior wife of Okonkwo is separated from the family and later given a young man from the neighboring Mbaino village to stay with him, but she never dares to question her husband though she is frightened. The prosperity of a man is determined by the number of wives one can afford to marry after paying dowry price to the bride’s parents as defined by the traditions of the Igbo people. This again symbolizes that women are seen as property in the village of Umuofia.
Women in Umuofia village are seen as failures and treated as people who lack economic success. This notion is illustrated where at one point Okonkwo doesn’t want to be seen as womanly because women in this society represent economic failure. This is a clear definition that the role of women despite being limited to household and baby care which is considered important, it’s not recognized anywhere else thus the society does not bother to empower women who are therefore associated with failure. Society does not expect women to interfere with men’s activities whereby women are not allowed to attend important meetings presided over by men.
In one of the chapters in the book Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo identifies a man as a woman which is a clear indication that the man had contradicted himself and referred to a woman who is not supposed to attend the elder’s meeting.
Umuofia territory treats women as objects who are mindless and cannot make decisions on their own. They cannot make their own decisions as most decisions are made by men. This is indicated by the fact that all leadership positions are occupied by men. The Okonkwo’s beating of his second wife during the village week of peace illustrates how women are treated with contempt and are beaten by their husbands whenever they make simple mistakes such as failing to make meals for their husbands.
Umuofia village despite treating women with a lot of contempt, the role of women as defined indicates how important a woman is to society. Women especially mothers are responsible for instilling discipline in their children which goes a long way to maintaining morality in the entire society. Women are also seen as sources of solace during men’s hard times and sorrow. This is outlined in the book where Okonkwo is expelled from his village to return to his motherland where he expects to be comforted. Women also represent stable and presentable homes where they are supposed to take care of their families and maintain their houses. This is portrayed in the book where women painted the houses of Egwugwu. This indicates that the role played by women in the village is very important.
In conclusion, the Igbo community in the village of Umuofia looks down upon the female gender right from baby girls to older women. The coming of the Europeans who were missionaries gave solace to women as the culture of Igbo people started to erode. Missionaries championed for the rights of women as well as representation something Okonkwo could not put up with and caused him to commit suicide.
Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart vividly depicts Africa before the arrival of the colonizers, as well as the way of life, and traditions of the Ibo people. A short novel, which became the debut for Chinua Achebe, dwells on the author’s tribe because he is a native of Ibo, although he was born in a family that has long been converted to Christianity. The main theme of the Things Fall Apart is the confrontation of the old and the new world, and the eternal struggle of traditions with innovations, in which there are no winners.
First of all, the confrontation is expressed between the young and old generations. Okonkwo is the father who embodies the old world and adherence to traditions, while his eldest son Nwoye symbolizes the new world and the enlightenment that the colonizers bring (Achebe 20). The author shows that the traditions of Ibo are cruel and terrible: twins cannot be left alive, they must be thrown into the Forest immediately after birth (Achebe 23). A captive child can be made practically an adopted son and then killed, because the great god wished so (Achebe 26). However, at the same time, the new world is no less cruel than the customs of Ibo.
The lively and very atmospheric novel Things Fall Apart shows the culture and uniqueness of the Ibo people, as well as their destruction by greedy white people. Since civilization came to their land using barbaric methods, punishments and whips, it was no less harsh than the traditions of the indigenous population. Therefore, there is nothing more humane in the struggle between the old and the new world, they are both equally cruel.
Works Cited
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Penguin Publishing Group, 1994.
Chinua Achebe’s “Things fall apart” is one of the most influential pieces of literature from the African continent. The paper shall examine why this is the case, especially through textual examples.
Why Achebe’s novel is so influential
Achebe succeeds in giving an African viewpoint of colonialism thus breaking the stereotype that Africans’ opinions are insignificant during cultural interactions with the West. In so doing, he renders meaning to the traditional African way of life and he also dignifies the people of the continent. Achebe is able to do this through several mechanisms. (Achebe, 2003)
First of all, the entire novel focuses on African characters while white colonialists are merely mentioned. This means that the writer explores the strengths, weaknesses, insecurities, traditions, beliefs, motivations, and other characteristics of the African people. In so doing, one can then identify with their struggles as well as their assertions. This means that Chinua Achebe’s novel has succeeded in rendering legitimacy to the African culture. There are several ways in which he has been able to do this. For instance, he talks about the political system of the Ibo people. (The Ibo are a tribe in Nigeria and the focus of the entire novel) the latter group did not have a king, chief, or a single ruler; instead, they settled matters through a council of elders. For instance, after the village made a peace treaty with another village, the council of elders decided that they would take a boy called Ikemefuna as a peace meal offering. Achebe also reveals the religious beliefs of the Ibo people; they worship a god known as Chukwu as well as a harvest god, rain god, and other nature gods. The culture of the Ibo people is largely patriarchal in that women play a minor role in childbirth and child-rearing. This is the reason why the main character Okonkwo was ashamed of his father because he had ‘feminine traits’ i.e. he was lazy. Also, the people of Ibo valued hard work as was seen through Okonkwo’s superior status in the village. “long stacks of yam stood out in his barn.” (p, 10) He had acquired this position as a result of his farming activities.
More importantly, Achebe is able to bring an insight into the social values that drive individuals in any society. Through the main character, we learn that persons are defined by the values in their society. Okonkwo believed that one’s strengths lay in one’s wealth as well as one’s masculinity. The latter traits were highly valued at the beginning of the novel before the Ibo were colonized. However, towards the end of the novel, both these traits became insignificant as colonialists dominated the economic and social systems of the land. This was why the main character became distraught and disillusioned. He lost a sense of place and ended up committing suicide.
This novel also illustrates what occurs when two cultures come together. When one culture perceives the other as being suspicious or superior, then this usually ends up in tragedy. The colonialists regarded African culture as inconsequential and thus mistreated and oppressed the African people. They paid the price for this by losing their place in Africa through independence; where the people of Africa reclaimed their sovereignty. On the other hand, Africans also mistrusted the colonialists who were seen as selfish individuals interested in taking what was not theirs. This level of mistrust caused many Africans to lose much of their cultural identity. In other words, the novel illustrated that the best stance for any two interacting cultures is to treat each other as equals and to learn from one another.
Achebe also shows that change is a must in life and those who try to resist it will only be phased out. Okonkwo wanted to be seen as strong and as masculine as possible. These traits were valued in the past but were rendered insignificant later on in the novel. Okonkwo’s ability to adjust to those modifications made him what he became at the end of the novel; a suicide case. Achebe asserts that “Okonkwo was not a cruel man but his entire life was driven by fear of failure”. Change is a necessity in life and one cannot escape it.
Conclusion
Achebe helped the African people as well the world to understand: how cultural interactions occur, the truth about the African people as well as change in general. This is why the novel is so influential.
References
Achebe, C. (2003). Things fall Apart. New York: EMC Corporation
Examples of how the artist has disturbed the peace in the novel
In the novel “things fall apart,’’ there are various instances in which Chinua Achebe has distracted peace. The changes experienced later on was unexpected by the Igbo African community. The novel concentrates predominantly on the cultural, social and political set up of the Igbo community.
Therefore, the peace that Chinua Achebe disturbs is that of the traditional life of the Igbo society. The author illustrates the disruption of peace by the arrival of white-men in the Igbo community. Many changes are experienced especially when their leader Okonkwo returns from a seven-year exile and most of all when the white missionaries come into the community.
The peace that Achebe does disturb is that of including the intrusion of western culture on the Igbo African culture. Previously, a woman who gave birth to twins was considered bad omen and therefore treated as an outcast and the community rejected the twins as well. Nevertheless, the showing up of the white man and Christianity led to a change in this practice, the women who gave birth to twins were accepted back into the community and their children treated equally as all the rest were.
In another instance, Achebe tends to disturb the peace by rendering the traditional religion questionable by the whole community. An example being when the missionaries were given a piece of land in an area considered full of evil spirits. Many people in the community expected some bad omen to befall the white man unfortunately, nothing happened in a long while. Therefore, this led to a huge number of conversions into Christianity as people began to believe that the white man had super natural powers.
Before Okonkwo was exiled he had beaten up his wife for having forgotten to prepare him food and on another instance he did the same during the week of peace for which he faced a penalty (Achebe 89).This was a patriarchal society hence the women were always under the men, had to obey them as well as respect them. But the moment the missionaries stepped in, things changed as the women were taught that they were all equal in the eyes of their God and they should not allow their counterparts to look down on them.
Chinua Achebe brings about conflict when he describes clearly how everyone under the Igbo society is subject to the law. Under the traditional laws, no one is superior under any circumstance. For example, the leader Okonkwo had to face a penalty for beating up his wife during the week of peace.
Unfortunately, with the decent of the white man to the community some individuals seemed to be above the law. For instance, the white man himself had the power to execute and pass judgment over the indigenous community.
We also get to see that Okonkwo is a firm believer in masculinity. Therefore, he disliked how weak his father was for having a feminine name in the first place. Achebe brings out Okonkwo as a firm believer in male power he therefore ends up being very harsh. This as a result led to the withdrawal of his son from the family and into the warm embrace of the new religion. At some point Okonkwo began wondering how he “a flaming fire could have begotten a son like Nwoye” (Achebe 143).
Achebe further brings out the aspect of loyalty by his people when he was chosen to be their leader until he was exiled. He then suffers a big blow when he comes back to the sad realization that his people were no longer under him. The white man had taken over the leadership and no one was ready to listen to him.
His people let alone his son had betrayed him. Therefore, it is clear that the peace that existed had now been disturbed. It is clear that his clans’ men were not ready to fight against the white man. At this point, he ends up remembering the old days when “men were men” (Achebe 184).
In another instance, a white man had been killed by the clan elders who had previously consulted the oracle. After the consultation, they had been advised to get rid of the white man since he would soon be the source of problems in their society. The white man would lead to the disintegration of the traditional leadership system as well as other clans’. This led to further confrontation between the different communities.
Chinua Achebe shows that Okwonkwo goes ahead and agrees with Uchedu one of the village elders that people had committed an offense for killing the white man. They claimed that this was not right since they did not know anything about him yet they went ahead and killed him. On the other hand, towards the end of the novel we get to see that Okwonkwo gets mad now that his people had ignored his leadership and embraced Christianity and all it stands for.
In addition to all the changes that were taking place in the Igbo community, there was an escalation in the number of conflicts. For instance, the egwuegwu had to burn down a convert’s house including a church. Why so? This is because the convert known as Enoch had exposed the egwugwu hence they decided to retaliate.
The arrival of the white settlers clearly stirred up irrationality and violence among these people. Peace therefore became a far-fetched principle.
The Igbo community experiences many changes, which includes change in the social order. The missionaries came in and changed the way of life of Igbo community. These white people made the outcasts feel more important given the kind of treatment they used to receive from their fellow community members.
More so, the clan elders’ power was diminished by the arrival of the white missionaries. Therefore, the reintegration of the outcasts into the community in the beginning brought about a lot of disagreements but they were later on accepted by the rest of the people.
Being a leader, Okwonkwo chooses to commit suicide. This he does by fighting the white man all by himself given the betrayal by his followers as well as the clans’ men. The people’s betrayal as well as his very own son’s makes him so bitter he contemplates suicide. This on the other hand, violates the principles that the Christian missionaries are up against.
This to some extent brought about a number of misunderstandings. It is also evident that people never considered the killing of twins a wrong act. This is because it was considered to be a normal cultural act.
Was it really the fault of the missionaries that the peace in Igbo land was transformed according to Achebe?
As Achebe winds up in his novel, we get the notion that the social integration of the Igbo community is beginning to fall apart. People are no longer unified due to the introduction of Christianity. There are those that allow to get converted into the new religion but there are those who do not especially the older Igbo generation.
There is no longer central leadership since the white missionaries undermined this as very backward. The judicial system begin to change too as the missionary introduces a court system traditional laws are ignored and termed as barbaric.
The key factor therefor that leads to so many changes and conflicts in the traditional community is the introduction of Christianity. On the other hand there are other factors that led to the distraction of peace in Chinua Achebe’s novel. Christianity is not entirely to blame for the things that took place in the traditional society.
Before the emergence of the missionaries there were internal conflicts already, therefore it is only when they showed up that they escalated. For instance, Okwonkwo was being penalized for having being beaten a woman during the weak of peace.
There were changes in the political and social organization where instead of the people being united by the clan of elders from the nine different clans, the missionaries thought otherwise. Most of the work was done communally, for example, women did the building of houses among other things. However, the white man had a very different idea of doing things. Religion was an important unifying factor in this particular community. To the missionaries, this religion was based on superstition and promoted more evil than good.
Work Cited
Achebe,Chinua. Things fall apart. United Kingdom: William Heinemann Ltd. 1958.
In the novel, Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the whole plot is permeated with tragic thought. In the words of Toni Morrison, literature “turns sadness into meaning” (Morrison, 2009, p. 23). The novel’s problem is deeply embedded in the chain of events. Okonkwo does not show his love to the boy for fear of appearing weak. As a result, this fear goes so far that he not only kills Ikemefun but also renounces his family, religion and decides to commit suicide. Destruction is the main idea of the novel and it takes on different scales: from the personality to the entire religion.
Okonkwo’s mental conflicts and the examples given in the excerpts, with the help of metaphors, immediately reveal a whole layer of problems. Such destructions they describe always leads to emptiness, sadness but at the same time opens up space for new traditions. The old habits are depicted with the help of allegory, as “ancestors” in the first passage – “The life of a person from birth to death was a series of transitional rituals that brought him closer and closer to his ancestors” (Achebe, 1994). This implicit sadness contains the eternal conflict of generations and traditions.
Toni Morrison develops a similar idea in her lecture. She tells the story of a bird and a blind woman, using allegory to represent the language and the writer under their images. The woman is asked if the bird is alive. Her answer reflects, among other things, the position of the author of the novel Chinua Achebe: she does not know whether she is alive or dead, but in both cases, the responsibility lies with the person who holds her (Morisson, 1993). In the novel, the culprit for the destruction of Okonkwo’s personality, the disintegration of the clan, which Elder Mbata speaks of in the second passage, the destruction of family ties and religion, is the person himself who has taken control into his own hands.
The traumatic events that Toni Morrison talks about lead to tragic outcomes (Morrison, 2009). The story will not pass without a trace for every surviving participant in this novel. District Commissioner Gregory Irwin thinks Okonkwo’s story will make a “sensible” chapter in the book. Okonkwo’s followers tarnished his reputation after learning of suicide. Christianity is introduced in Umuofiya (Achebe, 1994). This novel shows us that change is unavoidable. However, it is not worth changing the principles, which casts doubt on the entire spiritual basis of the personality. Okonkwo should have listened to his heart even in the first part of the work; perhaps, many could have avoided tragic consequences.
Elder Mbata, in his monologue, compares a man to a hunting dog that has gone mad (Achebe, 1994). It is the destruction of personality, which is shown in detail to us on the example of Okonkwo. However, he is not the only antagonist of the entire story. For the age-old traditions of the Igbo people to be shaken, either a strong influence from the outside is needed, or a lot of people, in whose minds the destruction of the old foundations has occurred. In the novel, like dominoes, one after another, destruction occurs, the shocks of which were given as the actions of Okonkwo, to the same extent, and the time that requires changes.
References
Achebe, C. (1994). Things fall apart. Anchor.
Morrison, T. (1993). Nobel lecture. The Nobel Prize. Web.
One of the main qualitative aspects of the ongoing discourse of post-colonialism (concerned with defining the actual effects of political independence on the formerly colonized countries), is that it often addresses the issue of what can be considered the indications of one’s endowment with the so-called ‘post-colonial’ identity.
The inquiry is usually being applied in defining what account for the psychological differences between those individuals who were born and raised during the colonial era, on one hand, and their post-colonial descendants, on the other. In this respect, the reading of the novels Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (1958) and Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (1981) will come in particularly handy.
The reason for this is that the mentioned novels do contain a number of in-depth insights into the subject matter in question. In this paper, I will explore the validity of the above-stated at length, while elaborating on what account for the colonialism and post-colonialism’s effects on the formation of one’s sense of self-identity.
Body
As of today, it became a commonplace practice to suggest that there was hardly anything positive for the native people of Africa, within the context of how Westerners went about subjecting them to their rule in the late 19th century. This suggestion is thoroughly logical. After all, while pursuing with the mentioned undertaking; Western colonizers never ceased being solely preoccupied with turning the representatives of Africa’s native populations into the subjects of merciless exploitation.
There was, however, even more to it – by ‘bringing the light of civilization’ to the ‘poor savages’ in Africa, Westerners undermined the structural integrity of African native communities, where the social dynamics are being effectively defined by the factor of kinship. The reason for this is apparent – Europe’s colonial expansion in Africa proceeded in close collaboration with Christian missionaries bringing the ‘good news’ to the natives. And, as we are well aware of, Christianity deems the animistic traditional beliefs of African natives ‘wicked’.
Yet, it is namely because of having been endowed with these beliefs, that their affiliates were able to lead the communally-integrated (collectivist) lifestyles, which in turn ensured the emotional well-being of the individuals in question. Therefore, there is nothing odd about the fact that, in the aftermath of having encountered Christian missionaries, Okonkwo (the main character in Achebe’s novel) could not help feeling utterly offended, and consequently angered.
As he pointed out: “If a man comes into my hut and defecates on the floor, what do I do? Do I shut my eyes? No! I take a stick and break his head” (Achebe 119). This helps us to identify one of the main indications of a person’s endowment with ‘colonial’ identity – his or her tendency to experience the sensation of strong resentment towards White people, who presume that they have the authority to tell ‘non-whites’ how they should be living their lives.
In this respect, the workings of one’s ‘post-colonial’ psyche appear somewhat different, because the ways in which it operates, imply the perceptual/cognitive ‘hybridity’ of those who have been indirectly affected by the legacy of colonialism. According to Bhabha: “(Post-colonial) hybridity is the sign of productivity… Hybridity is the revaluation of the assumption of colonial identity through the repetition of discriminatory identity effects” (159).
In plain words, it is in the very nature of the formerly oppressed people of color to strive to adopt the identity of their oppressors, which in turn results in these people becoming simultaneously affiliated with the traditional (often religious) values, on one hand, and with the highly secularized (westernized) lifestyles, on the other. As the direct consequence of this, ‘post-colonial’ individuals often exhibit a number of the seemingly incompatible behavioral traits.
The validity of this suggestion can be illustrated, in regards to the character (narrator) Saleem in Rushdie’s novel. For example, throughout the novel’s entirety, Saleem never ceases to act as an individual committed to the ideals of a collectivist living, reflected by the character’s strive to remain in close touch with his numerous relatives. Saleem acts in this manner quite despite the fact that he found out early enough in his life that he was not the biological son of Amina and Ahmed: “(Pereira): Saleem my piece-of-the-moon, you must know that your father was Winkie and your mother is also dead” (Rushdie 278).
What it means is that, while fitting into the earlier provided psychological definition of a ‘post-colonial’ individual, Saleem was naturally predisposed to appreciate being in the state of kinship with his relatives, on one hand, and to refuse the idea that a true kinship is necessarily the ‘blood-based’ one, on the other. This, of course, effectively exposes Saleem as having been equally affiliated with the seemingly incompatible notions of ‘tradition’ and ‘progress’ – a classical existential trait of the majority of Indians who were born after 1947 (when India attained independence) onwards.
Thus, there is nothing odd about Saleem’s anxiety of ‘atomization’: “I shall eventually crumble into (approximately) six hundred and thirty million particles of anonymous, and necessarily oblivious dust” (Rushdie 30). This, of course, it signifies that the sensation of a ‘post-colonial ambivalence’, described earlier, was not solely unique to the narrator. Apparently, it used to be experienced by great many young Indians, as well.
What has been said earlier, can be well interpreted as such that implies that there is much perceptual flexibility to how ‘post-colonials’ go about assessing the surrounding social reality and their place in it. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about those people who have been exposed to the most graphic extrapolations of White racism, which used to ‘fuel’ the process of colonization throughout the 19th century, while their countries still remained under the colonial yoke.
Even though these people remained thoroughly aware of the fact that they would be much better off being left alone by Westerners, they nevertheless were not in the position of adopting an active stance, while trying to defend their land and their way of life. This simply could not be otherwise, because European colonists/missionaries were much better armed and organized, as compared to what it used to be the case with the native ‘savages’.
Partially, this explains why, as the plot of Achebe’s novel unravels, the mentioned character of Okonkwo grows increasingly more vulnerable to the strikes of depression (which in the end brings about his ultimate demise): “Okonkwo was deeply grieved. And it was not just a personal grief. He mourned for the clan, which he saw breaking up and falling apart” (134). We can speculate that the mentioned grief was induced by Okonkwo’s realization that the members of his tribe would not stand even a slight chance, if decided to oppose ‘whites’ in any explicit manner.
Thus, it will be thoroughly appropriate, on our part, to suggest that, as the earlier provided consideration implies, another integral part of one’s endowment with the ‘colonial’ sense of self-identity, is the concerned individual’s disgust of its own powerlessness. Just as it happened to be the case with Okonkwo, a colonial subject refuses to recognize the objectivity of his or her socially oppressed status. However, being unable to find the way out of this situation, he or she eventually ends up yielding to depression.
This brings us to identify yet another prominent difference between the psychological phenotypes of ‘colonials’ and ‘post-colonials’. Whereas, the former consciously refrain from associating themselves with just about anything that they perceive as the part of their oppressors’ identity, the latter tend to do something entirely opposite – they actively incorporate the unmistakably Western cultural noumenons into the very essence of their ‘post-colonial’ self-identification.
Nothing illustrates the full validity of this statement better than the scene in Rushdie’s novel, in which Saleem provides a highly allegorical account of his first year of life: “When I was fed, my eyes did not flutter; when virginal Mary set me across her shoulder, crying, ‘Oof, so heavy, sweet Jesus!’ I burped without nictating” (Rushdie 122). As it can be well seen, Saleem was not only fully aware of the Christian fable of Jesus’ birth – he considered it having been thoroughly reflective of whom he felt he was on the ‘inside’. Initially, the described state of affairs may appear as such that does not make much of a sense, whatsoever, since the novel’s main character is a Muslim.
Yet, despite the particulars of his formal religious and ethno-cultural affiliation, Saleem appears thoroughly comfortable with the archetypal images of the West, to the extent of thinking of them as his own. It is understood, of course, that this cannot be interpreted as anything else, but yet another proof that Saleem’s mentality is indeed ‘post-colonial’.
This will also explain why, even though he is shown suffering from different injustices throughout the novel, Saleem does not seem to experience any problems, while communicating with other people – regardless of whether he happened to be in India, Pakistan or Bangladesh. Apparently, ‘post-colonialism’ implies that, as time goes on, those young ‘non-whites’ whose ancestors used to be subjected to the colonial exploitation, grow increasingly similar in their attitudes towards the challenges of life. In its turn, this empowers them rather considerably.
When it comes to defining the existential posture of Okonkwo from Achebe’s novel, the earlier mentioned suggestion does not quite apply. The reason for this is that, even though the character in question did in fact experience the sensation of ‘oneness’ with the members of his clan, he also tended to regard other clansmen with suspicion (sometimes even with hatred). This, of course, points out to the fact that Okonkwo possessed a clearly defined tribal mentality, the main feature of which is its affiliates’ acute sense of kinship with their closest relatives, which extrapolates itself in the tribally minded individuals’ inability to find a non-communal purpose in life.
Partially, this explains why, until comparatively recent times, European colonists were able to keep most of Africa under their control – this was nothing but the consequence of these people having been thoroughly aware of how to take advantage of the sectarian divisions among native Africans. As one of the Umuofia tribe’s elders pointed out: “The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion… Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one.
He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart” (Achebe 130). Thus, it can be safely suggested that one’s tendency to stick to the conventions of a traditional living, even when it proves disadvantageous to the person in question, is another indication that he or she happened to possess the ‘colonial’ sense of self-identity.
As the case of Okonkwo suggests, White people’s true agenda in Africa was to claim as many of the continent’s natural resources, as possible. The spreading of the ‘good news’, on these people’s part, came quite in handy, in this respect, as it was naturally undermining the sense of communal solidarity in native Africans – hence, making them increasingly alienated from each other.
Conclusion
What has been mentioned earlier, in regards to the identity-related themes and motifs, contained in both novels, allows us to summarize the main discursive differences between the ‘colonial’ and ‘post-colonial’ senses of self-identity, as follows:
As opposed to what it happened to be the case with people directly affected by the colonial oppression; their ‘post-colonial’ counterparts appear to be much more existentially flexible – especially when the formation of their emotional attitudes towards the surrounding social reality is at stake. In its turn, this can be explained by the fact that, as Rushdie’s novel implies, these people do not experience any discomfort, while becoming simultaneously affiliated with the euro-centric ways of life, on one hand, and with that of their ancestors, on the other.
The main qualitative aspect of one’s endowment with the ‘colonial’ sense of self-identity appears to do with the fact that the colonially oppressed individuals suffer from the sensation of being utterly powerless. And, as the case of Okonkwo implies, this often causes them to end up being affected by depression. On the other hand, even though ‘post-colonials’ are no strangers to this sensation, as well, they nevertheless are capable of overcoming it with ease. Probably the main reason for this is that, as it can be well exemplified, in regards to the character of Saleem, many of these people are thoroughly aware that their personal problems cannot be thought of in terms of a ‘thing in itself’, which in turn prevents ‘post-colonials’ from focusing on negativity.
Unlike those individuals that used to be subjected to the ‘direct’ colonial oppression (Okonkwo), the ones affected by the legacy of colonialism indirectly (Saleem), appear more than capable of addressing their deep-seated psychological anxieties. In its turn, this can be explained by the fact that, as a result of their ‘hybridization’, these people have ‘powers’, which often appear mystical to the white-skinned descendants of colonial oppressors – something that can be well illustrated, in regards to the character of Saleem.
I believe that the earlier deployed line of argumentation, concerned with the discussed subject matter, and the gained set of discursively relevant insights, are fully consistent with the paper’s initial thesis. Thus, there is indeed a good rationale in referring to the discussed novels as being potentially capable of enlightening readers on what account for the qualitative differences between the notions of colonialism and post-colonialism.
Works Cited
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Penguin Classics, (1958) 2006. Print.
Bhabha, Homi. The Location of Culture. London: Routledge, 1994. Print.
Rushdie, Salman. Midnight’s Children. New York: Random House, 1981. Print.
It remains evident that the culture has a vehement influence on the personality and traits of an individual (Heillriegel and Slocum, 38). In this case, the identity is connected to the perception of being the part and attachment of the significant cultural group (Littlejohn and Foss 90).
In turn, it could be assumed that the vehement feeling of connection to the particular culture influences perceptions and identity of an individual about the place of his/her culture in the world due to the distortion of the personal identification and inability to see his/her culture from the different angle.
The primary goal of this essay is to define the influence of the connection of cultural history to one’s identity and determine how the sense of identity modifies the perception of the culture based on the analysis of Okonkwo from Things Fall Apart by Achebe. In the end, the conclusions are drawn.
As was mentioned earlier, culture has a strong influence on the personal identity of an individual due to the cultivation of particular qualities. The studies reveal that the representatives of different cultures have different perceptions of the world, as the cultures focus on the significance of the particular traits (Eap et al. 630). People have a tendency to follow the cultural principles, as it is considered as a commonly accepted social norm.
The traces of this phenomenon can be noticed in the book Things Fall Apart by Achebe, which portrays the story of Okonkwo, who is the leader of the tribe (Achebe 20). Nonetheless, it remains evident that Okonkwo is the production of the society, which has to face the conflict of interests between historical and cultural aspects (Whittaker and Msiska 80). In this instance, the culture of the region plays an essential role in the formation of Okonkwo’s personal traits, as the power of culture cannot be underestimated.
Nonetheless, the cultural identity determines the position of the culture in the world in the eyes of the individual. The individuals tend to view the world from a different perspective, and their personal traits, which are influenced by the culture, determine this vision. Speaking of the tragedy of Okonkwo, the leader of the tribe is located in between the controversial perceptions of the world in the context of the book Things Fall Apart (Achebe 20).
In this instance, his perception of the world experience changes, but the cultural influence still has dominating positions in his perceptions of the world and the structure of society. It could be said that the cultural identity has a vehement effect on the position of the culture in the world in the eyes of the individual due to the cultivation of particular qualities. In the end, the role of the culture while forming the perception of the world cannot be underestimated, as Okonkwo was not able to overcome the power of his tradition.
However, the misconceptions and distortion occur due to the inability to accept the changes and monitor the position from a different angle. One of the tragic examples of an adverse impact on cultural identity is the tragedy of Okonkwo. Okonkwo is the head of the tribe, which is often depicted as a tragic hero (Booker 202). In the context of the story, he plays the role of an individual, who is able to unite all the members by the portrayal of his identity (Booker 202).
Being in between the cultures is the primary cause of his inability to define his position towards the traditions of his tribe, as he seeks the ways to protect his culture and overwhelmed with it simultaneously. The perceptions of his traditional culture cause the distortion in his mindset, as he is not able to adapt to the changes in the flow of life. In this instance, being in between his cultural dogmas and controversial perception of the world causes the distortion of his personality since cultural history has a strong influence on his life.
In conclusion, it remains evident that there is a wide variety of the example, which underline the fact the cultural history and personal traits are interdependent. Okonkwo’s example revealed that the individual’s personality could be distorted by the inability to define his position in the world and see the place of his culture from a different perception.
It could be said that despite being able to spot the change, Okonkwo was not able to entirely adapt to the modifications due to the strong power of culture. In this case, it remains evident that the power of culture cannot be underestimated due to its ability to control the perceptions of the individuals about the position of culture in the world and affect the individual traits of one’s personality.
In turn, the culture also the distortion of the personality, as one is not able to entirely define whether his position was determined by the culture or by personal understanding. A similar situation occurred with Okonkwo, as he was placed in between the controversial opinions, which did not correspond with either side.
Works Cited
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. London, Penguin Random House, 2013. Print.
Eap, Sopagna, David DeGarmo, Ayaka Kawakami, Shelley Hara, Gordon Hall and Andra Teten. “Culture and Personality among European American and Asian American Men.” Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 39.5 (2008): 630-643. Print.
Heillriegel, Don, and John Slocum. Organizational Behavior. Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.
Littlejohn, Stephen, and Karen Foss. Theories of Human Communication. Belmont: Thompson Wadsworth, 2006. Print.
Whittaker, David, and Mpalive-Hangson Msiska. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. London: Routledge, 2007. Print.
Things Fall Apart is a story about the artistic effect on Okonkwo’s village. Chinua Achebe, the author of the book, uses Okonkwo as the main character to aid in telling the story. The writer put forward themes as well as a prediction to bring out the kind of community the village was. The village was in a way brought together by the social structure. Okonkwo was brought out as a character with strong terror as well as with much annoyance, he, in no time, wanted to be like his father. He longed to have a different personality and that was one of the reasons why he behaved in different ways to maintain the character as well as the good judgment the village had bestowed on him.
Due to the fact that the conventional structure of the village was growing weaker with time, this resulted in Okonkwo shifting his center of interest as his personality was consequently weakening (Achebe 1994).
That was one of the reasons why things were emotionally falling apart. This was mostly brought about by the fact that the village was being intruded by the whites who were aiming at abolishing the kind of practices going on in the village by introducing new customs that some of the members in the community started adopting. This was because the whites regarded the practices as inhuman and, thus, they came up with different customs that people were expected to learn and go by them. To Okonkwo, this was against their traditions and, therefore, had deeply rejected this and spent a lot of time-fighting the whites who tried to invade the village.
Body
Achebe, in the story, advocated the significance of one the social order from the other. The book was written during the pre-colonial time and the author portrayed the western practices as of value to the people in the village. This is seen when he tries to bring out the main character as one who is weak in fighting the colonizers since the character died at the end. This indicated that Okonkwo died with the traditions and from the time of his death, the author shows us how the traditions died with him, and, from that time, people started interacting with the whites as well as changing their way of Christianity (Achebe 1994). For instance, the son of Okonkwo is revealed as one who had accepted the western way of life by the fact that he eventually became a priest something that was against the traditions.
The people in the village are also portrayed as having changed to Christian life and, as well, leaving behind their beliefs from superstition to believing in God. As well, the people did away with such practices as the killing of twins and people from other communities. Via this, Achebe greatly supported western society by illustrating the death of Okonkwo as the end of traditions. Achebe brought out Okonkwo’s village as one that had a lot of cultural practices that ought to be replaced by western cultures. This due to the reason that the western cultures were brought out to be more valuable to the people in the village. Some of the villagers had changed their religion a sign that they had accepted the changes that came along with the whites.
In his story, Achebe utilized various tools to put across the profound picture of the community. Some of the tools used by the author included death, foreshadowing as well as themes. The death of the main character is used to show the end of the tradition and introduction of western cultures (Achebe 1994).
The theme of foreshadowing is also brought out when the village was invaded by locusts indicating the coming of a more hazardous situation in the region where the place turned bare and the people suffered hunger. This indicated that the missionaries were coming introducing their cultures and the traditions would fade away, thus, replaced by the new customs. This was experienced when the people started converting to the missionary’s faith.
The thing fell apart for the main character when he was sent into exile after accidentally killing a son of one of the elders during a burial. Thing changed from a smooth life when Okonkwo was freely doing anything in the community to where he had to vacate the village leaving behind his properties being destroyed as a way of purification.
In reference to the poem on the white man’s burden, Achebe brings into view suggestions that the whites had pressure to decree as well as heartening cultural modernism of individuals from their cultural settings to the world both socially as well as economically. This portrays the themes that Achebe brought out in the book (Achebe 1994). This was a clear indication of the perception by the people in the areas that were colonized since they adopted the colonizer’s way of living. This diminished most of the traditions that the various communities practiced.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Things Fall Apart introduces the western linguistic structure as well as traditions via proverbs, tale, and storytelling ethnicity in order to conserve the oral traditions from Africa and as well to undermine the cultures and the language of the colonists.
Works Cited
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. 1st ed. New York: Anchor Press, 1994.
Things Fall Apart is one of the greatest novels in Africa and is widely read across the world. The author wrote this novel in order to help demystify the myths that the African culture was primitive and needed civilization. The novel is considered to be a classic tragic novel, as we see the main character that is Okonkwo raises high in the society but at the end of the novel he kills himself. This is because he was trying to fight against the invasion of his culture by the British. The Umuofian culture was complex and its invasion would bring its disintegration. In this society morality governed the lives of the people and the society at large. Every action that was taken was controlled by the moral values that helped to control the community. These moral values were quite complex, for example at the end of the novel when Okokwo kills himself, the people in the community cannot touch his body. In spite of the fact that he was one of the greatest men in Umuofia and a leader of his community he was hence not given the burial ceremony that he deserved as an Umuofian leader. The Umuofian culture therefore had a lot of moral complexities. This paper will discuss the moral complexities in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. I will use the definition of morality as, one’s ability to judge what is right or wrong, or good or right conduct.
Discussion
Things Fall Apart is a novel that has a lot of intrigue in the sense that the reader is left with so many questions about the Umuofian culture, Especially since the story is told by a third person narrator. The complexity of the Igbo community is highlighted in their moral values and the general way that they conduct their lives. Hence certain actions that were to be taken by the society were silently questioned by some of the community members. Obierika, For instance questioned the killing of the twins. But he could not complain about this tradition to anyone. This is because ancestral spirits, gods and goddess, governed the society and as such they could not be consulted with such issues. Obierika wondered whether it was good to throw away the twins or not, on one hand it was seen as a way of protecting the community but the individuals who were forced to throw away the twins, like obierika suffered from this action. These are some of the moral complexities highlighted in Things Fall Apart.
Morality in the Igbo community is governed by the will to do good in the society. Moreover, there are certain traits that one should possess in order to be recognized by the community. For example, Okonkwo who is the main character hated his father since he was considered to be lazy. He hated everything about his father, but this does not mean he did not have good qualities because he did. Okonkwo should have at least admired some of the positive traits that his father had but his desire not to be like him clouded his judgment. Some of the positive qualities that Okonkwos father possessed include “and his happiest moments were…when the village musicians brought down their instruments…Unoka would play with them, his face beaming with blessedness and peace”. He also loved nature: “He loved this season of the year, when the rains had stopped and the sun rose every morning with dazzling beauty” (pg. 4). The society through its moral traditions had forced Okonkwo to hate everything about his father, for example, his father was gentle and caring but these were seen as feminine qualities. Okonkwo did not show any affection as this was taken as a “sign of weakness” and therefore he kept any positive comments to himself. Okonkwo never showed any emotions except those of anger since showing affection was seen as a sign of weakness. It would have been reasonable for him to show emotions but according to his traditions this was not acceptable. Another instance where Okonkwo refused to show any emotion was when Ikemefuna died. Okonkwo even went ahead and participated in killing the boy later it is said that he was feeling distracted but his moral values would not allow him to show any emotions or signs of weakness. Okonkwo put off his feelings by asking, “when did I become a shivering old woman?” (pg. 59). Even during death of a loved one, a man was not allowed to openly show his emotions. Okonkwo believed that it was bad to show his soft side openly, and so he kept these feeling to himself. This further explains why Nwoye could not say anything about Ikemefunas death, he knew that what was happening was wrong but he could not dare raise his voice.
Moral complexities in the Igbo community are found in several other areas. For example while as killing was forbidden, those people who committed these offences even accidentally were severely punished. Hence Okonkwo had to be banished from his community after he accidentally killed Ezeudus son. The punishment is highly questioned by Obierika. The community aim is to preserve and protect life but what if certain actions are accidental, do they warrant such severe punishment? Hence a reader feels that Okonkwo did not deserve such punish since the action was witnessed by everyone that it was accidental. But due to the complexities of their moral values Okonkwo had to be punished.
Morality in the Igbo community was decided by tribal traditions and verbal sayings. These tribal traditions were also complex in that, in order to avoid war between two communities, the offending community had to sacrifice a boy. One mistake was followed by yet another. Even after Ikemefuna had stayed in Umuofia for so long and had already been integrated into the community, the tribal traditions still demanded that he should be killed. This action was meant to appease the earth goddess. Morality of the Igbo community demanded that the good of the community should be put first before the feelings of an individual. For example, Nwoye Okonkwos son was so much against the killing of Ikemefuna. This is because Ikemefuna had lived with them as a brother and he could not understand why he had to be killed. Such traditions were somewhat harmful to some people in the community but still they had to be done. The feeling or well-being of an individual were not considered since the Igbo community believed the wrath of the goddess would befall the whole community but not the individual. This is why the feelings of Okonkwo would not be considered, as he had loved Ikemefuna as a son.
In spite of this, the Umuofian culture valued life and the position that one acquired through hard work. These values were safeguarded by sayings such as “Let the kite perch and let the eagle perch too. If one says no to the other, let his wing break” (pg. 17). These values were meant to discourage unfair treatment and unnecessary competition. This is why the Umuofian culture encouraged hard work regardless of his age. This saying emphasized this moral principal “If a child washes his hands, he could eat with kings” (pg. 8). Therefore the Umuofian culture did not judge people by their past but rather their present. That’s why Okonkwo was able to work his way up in his community. Hence the main reason why Okonkwo was able to work his way up in his community despite the misfortunes that he had, starting from a lazy father, being banished from his community and his son converting to Christianity. His community still gave him a chance to work his way up.
Family cohesion was highly regarded in the Igbo community and so it was governed by the laid down structures. Anyone who deviated from these structures was punished; this explains why Okokwo beat his wife during the peace of week. Though breaking the peace of week was not acceptable, punishing those who broke the cohesion of the family was acceptable. Polygamy was also accepted in this community, and the cohesion between the wives and their children had to be maintained. Hence the elder wife was allowed to send the children of the younger wives to run errands. It was also acceptable for any of the wives to look after the children if one wife was absent. For example, Nwoyes mother fed Ojiugos children when their mother went to plait her hair and did not make the afternoon meal (pg. 27). That was the acceptable conduct of the wives. It is also noted that younger wives would not receive anything brought by the visitors before the first wives, this is clearly illustrated when Nwakibie younger wives had to stand outside and wait for the first wife to come and drink the palm wine (pg. 18). The family cohesion was achieved by this strict adherence to etiquette. Another example of moral complexity in the novel Things Fall Apart is highlighted in the marital bond between a husband and the wife. This is given in the story of Ogbuefi Ndulue and his wife Ozoemena. This story shows that there is supposed to mutual dependence between a husband and a wife, Obierika mentions that “It was always said that Ndulue and Ozoemena had one mind…I remember when I was a boy, there was a song about them. He could not do anything without telling her” (pg. 62). The main character Okonkwo, who thought this was a sign of weakness, questioned this bond.
Morality is not easily understood or questioned; this is why certain actions had to be taken in the Igbo society regardless of them being good or bad. This kind of actions explains the moral complexities in Things Fall Apart.
References
Chinua, Achebe. Things Fall Apart, London: Anchor Books. 1994.