Paradise or Hell? Conflicting Images of the Post-Colonial World

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The peculiarities of the post-colonial world have been discussed in many historians, sociologists, and political scientists. However, they can also be examined by looking at literary works that describe the experiences of colonizers and those who were colonized.

This paper will focus on the novel Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe and Margaret Atwoods poem Progressive Insanities of a Pioneer. These works show how colonial forces can impact community and how people can perceive the world that is new and probably hostile to them.

Although these novels differ significantly in terms of genre and themes, they can both show us that post-colonial world combines the images of both paradise and hell.

Overall, these authors show that these communities could have become a much better place to live if settlers and native people tried to understand the values and ideas of one another.

This problem is still relevant to contemporary societies that try to overcome the legacies of colonialism.

In the opening chapters of his novel, Chinua Achebe portrays a village that is not affected by Western culture and civilization. The action begins just before the arrival of European missionaries.

For instance, this is how the author describe the nature, he loved this season of the year, when the rains stopped and the sun rose every morning with dazzling beauty. And it was not hot either because the cold and dry harmattan wind was blowing down from the north (Achebe 2).

Such a description can imply that it is an idyllic community that is not affected by any external forces. It may be an exaggeration to call it paradise, but such associations can arise. It reminds readers of such things as peace and freedom.

However, at the same time, they can see that violence is imbedded into the culture of this community. For example, one can mention Ikemefuna, a boy, who was taken as a hostage and subsequently killed by Okonkwo for the alleged crime of his father.

This boy became attached to Okonkwo, but the laws of this tribe obliged Okonkwo to kill this boy. To some degree, this hostility between the two villages mirrors contemporary ethnic conflict in Nigeria.

As it has been noted by Rotimi Suberu, Nigerian population is comprised of many ethnic groups that may differ in terms of religion, language or income level (12). This is one of the reasons why ethnic conflicts occur in Nigeria.

The main tragedy is that in many cases, innocent people such as Ikemefuna suffer from these hostilities. These examples show that Chinua Achebe gives a conflicting portrayal of the community in which his characters live, and it does combines the elements of paradise and hell.

Furthermore, the problems that the author refers to in his novel may manifest themselves in contemporary Nigeria.

In turn, Margaret Atwood focuses on the experiences of British colonizers in Canada. At first glance, it seems that the opening lines of her poem describe the sensation of freedom, happiness, and serenity.

This is how the author describes the feelings of this individual,

He stood, a point

on a sheet of green paper

proclaiming himself the centre

with no wall, no borders. (Atwood, 60)

Yet, the readers can also notice that this person is by no means happy. The first thing that he says is let me out (Atwood, 60). Such an outcry is hardly compatible with the idea of paradise.

One can see that the colonizer desperately tried to protect the fruits of his labor and feared virtually everything. In fact, he believed that even nature was hostile to him.

Furthermore, Atwood intentionally uses the personal pronoun he in order to emphasize the idea that Canadian colonizers built a patriarchal society in which women were denied access to any positions of power.

Apart from that, one can notice that native people are not present in this poem, and their voices are silenced.

Overall, Margaret Atwood describes the complex and rather conflicting experiences of British settlers in Canada. These people were trying to establish a new society that could become a better place to live. However, at the same time, they felt rather insecure in these lands.

Thus, to some degree, this poem may describe a promised land, but it is full of fear and anxiety. This is the main paradox of colonial experiences.

These literary works have other details that refer to the images of paradise and hell. In his novel, Chinua Achebe describes people who adopt a very respectful attitude toward nature and animals.

Igbo people tended to describe and explain various natural phenomena with the help of animal stories. Moreover, some of the animals were even revered such as the royal python (Achebe 138). It was inconceivable for Okonkwo that Europeans missionaries could dismiss this tradition.

To a great extent, this cultural practice can conjure up such an image as the Garden of Eden in which people did not separate themselves from other animals and lived in harmony with one another.

The main tragedy is that they did not show similar respect to the dignity and life of other people. Again, one can mention the innocent boy Ikemefuna who was killed only because he was a member of a different tribe.

Thus, it is clear that this tribal society had many flaws even before the arrival of European settlers. However, colonization made the situation worse because it completely dehumanized local people.

Chinua Achebe shows that Europeans did not attach much importance to this tradition, beliefs, and value system of the local people. In their opinion, such beliefs were typical of the so-called uncivilized nations.

The problem is that the world described by the author is full of hostility and violence that are aimed against the outsiders. Everything that did not reach their standards of conventionality was rejected. Both Africans and European settlers did not even try to understand the values of one another.

Certainly, one cannot argue that the culture of Igbo people was perfect, but it could not be dismissed entirely as it was done by European missionaries. This is one of the reasons why post-colonial world is still ridden with conflict.

Margaret Atwoods poem gives readers a different insight into this problem. The thing is that she does not even mention those people who lived in Canada before the arrival of British settlers. A person, whom she describes, believes that he is the centre of the world.

It does not occur to him that there could be other people living in this land. It should be noted that this person lives in an environment that was utterly new to him. For instance, Mary Atwood writes, Things refused to name themselves; refused to let him name them (60).

On the whole, this quote suggests that colonizers did not even try to talk to local people in order to learn more about this place. Settlers could believe that local were either too primitive or hostile to them. Thus, one can say that the newly created community was very segregated.

More importantly, native people were practically excluded from this community, and their presence was disregarded. The problem is that nowadays Native Canadians are underrepresented in public life.

So, despite the fact that Margaret Atwood focuses mostly on the life of colonial society, her poem points to the challenges faced by the post-colonial society.

These authors also show how damaging the impact of colonialism can be. Okonkwo, the main character of Achebes novel resists changes that are brought by European settlers.

He believes that new customs, traditions, especially religion will deprive him of his social status and respect of other people. This is why he commits suicide when Igbo people refuse to support him in his struggle against European missionaries.

The person described by Margaret Atwood feels extremely insecure and alienated. His attempts to create an orderly life eventually lead to insanity. Thus, one can say that in both cases, colonialism produced damaging effects on individuals.

The legacies of these experiences are palpable nowadays. Certainly, colonial and post-colonial societies could not become an earthly paradise; however, many of their internal flaws could have been eliminated if Europeans and local people tried to accept the humanity and dignity of one another.

Unfortunately, this was not done. Surely, one cannot say that post-colonial countries resemble hell, but conflict, injustice and inequality are almost inseparable from them. In part, these social problems are the legacies of colonialism.

Overall, these literary works can be related to the field of post-colonial studies and some of its theories. One of them was developed by Edward Said in his book Orientalism.

In particular, this author argues that Western scholars, especially historians often overlook the experiences of those people who were colonized (Said 125). In his opinion, very little attention is paid to their values and perceptions.

In fact, they were considered to be primitive and irrational. The popularity of Chinua Achebe novel can be partly explained by the fact that he was one of the first authors who gave voice African people.

This novel enabled readers throughout the world to see how Igbo people viewed their colonial experiences and how they responded to them.

Edward Said also believes that Western colonizers immediately labeled non-western communities as backward, wild and unenlightened (Said 12). As it has been noted before, the folklore of Igbo people included a great number of animal stories and colonizers perceived it as a sign of backwardness.

Additionally, European settlers could not accept the idea that other nations could have different political structures. For example, they believed that tribal communities were essentially primitive.

People can long debate whether this argument is right or wrong; yet, the main issue is that Europeans immediately tried to impose their political structures on native people and in this way they disrupted local communities.

Apart from that, according to Edward Said Westerners could not accept the way of thinking and lifestyles of the local people (Said 125). For instance, they could not understand people who attached very little attention to property rights and land ownership.

In part, this idea is reflected in Margaret Atwoods poem. British settlers could not imagine the world with no walls or no borders (Atwood 60). The life of aboriginal people was not acceptable for them. More importantly, they became convinced that these communities were primitive or at least underdeveloped.

Later, these beliefs were advanced with the help of propaganda. Thus, these two works should the perceptions of aboriginal people and colonizers.

Admittedly, these experiences differed immensely, but the main issue is that they did not even try to communicate with one another.

The main problem is that such misunderstanding is typical not only of colonial world, but also of the post-colonial societies. The communities that are influenced by the legacies of colonialism still struggle to reconcile the interests and views of Western-European settlers and native people.

Such works as Things Fall Apart and Progressive Insanities of a Pioneer can help both sides better understand this conflict.

This discussion suggests that the world described by Chinua Achebe and Margaret Atwood may seem serene and peaceful at first glance. However, by taking a closer look at this world, one can see that it is full of hostilities, violence, and insecurity.

The authors describe different cultures and countries, but in each case, people are alienated from one another. More importantly, they realize that their conventional lifestyle is threatened. Maybe, it is an exaggeration to call these experiences hell, but they have a very adverse influence on them.

Okonkwo commits suicide because he is no longer a leader of the community, while the unknown settler described by Margaret Atwood is driven into insanity.

The main problem is that native people and colonizers did not make any effort to understand one another. Unfortunately, this problem often manifests itself in the modern, post-colonial world.

Works Cited

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart, New York: Anchor, 1994. Print.

Atwood, Margaret. Selected Poems, 1965-1975, Berkeley: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1987. Print.

Said, Edward. Orientalism, New York: Vintage Books, 1979. Print.

Suberu, Rotimi. Federalism and Ethnic Conflict in Nigeria, New York: US Institute of Peace Press, 2001. Print.

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Paradise or Hell? Conflicting Images of the Post-Colonial World

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