Colonization in Things Fall Apart

Ivanova, Mina
11A1
9th November, 2010

Colonization – a Life Change in Things Fall Apart and “The Runaways”. A Transformation of Culture, Customs, and Identity

Are colonization and forced assimilation the “destroyers” of cultures and communities? The poem “Indian Boarding School: The Runaways” by Louise Erdrich and the novel Things Fall Apart by Achebe are illustrators of the downfall of two different tribes because of colonization. The “intruders” impose their beliefs and life style; they settle in their land and change it. However, the people are those who decide whether to forget their true selves or to remain loyal to their traditional customs. The difference between the two pieces is the reaction of the native towards the new, foreign influence. Things Fall Apart shows the collapse of an African community because people have chosen to assimilate to an unknown culture. They lose their true identities. They are ready to turn against their own “brothers”. “The Runaways” illustrates how despite colonization another tribe has not forgotten its real, native character. They might act like they are obligated to but deep in their minds they have remained the same old people. They have not changed truly. They stick together in hard moments like that one. The tragic novel This Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe illustrates the colonization of an African tribe by foreign missionaries which leads to the collapse of the community because people are no longer united. They forget their true identities. Missionaries come to their land and try to attract the people to their religion – Christianity. The new religion “defeats” the old customs of the clan. The ones who realize what is going on see what is happening to the tribe. “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” (176). Okonkwo and others are concerned about those who accept the new beliefs. They realize Christianity had demolished the old customs, traditions, and faith which led to the end of their unity. It has separated the clan which used to be one. Their harmony has collapsed. Okonkwo understands that he and his ancestors will be forgotten by his children. “He saw himself and his fathers crowding round their ancestral shrines waiting in vain for worship and sacrifice and finding nothing but ashes of bygone days, and his children the while praying to the white man’s god” (153). He is aware that the new population will not remember its roots. The folklore will fade away from their minds – Christianity will take its place. He is not the only one who sees what a disaster is approaching. The older and wiser realize it too. “But I fear for you young people because you don’t understand how strong is the bond of kinship. You do not know what is to speak with one voice. And what is the result? An abominable religion has settled among you” (167). The assimilation of the new faith and habits shifts what their ancestors had achieved throughout all those years. The white man destroys the “life” of an united community with unique customs and beliefs. For Okonkwo and those who understand this “things fall apart”. The poem “The Runaways” by Erdrich is another illustrattion of how colonization changes communities but it shows how despite the forced assimilation the native have not betrayed their old customs and have remembered who they really are. The place is the Americas, the victims – the Native Americans. Missionaries have settled in their homeland and had enslaved them. The piece points out how people had lost their “home”. Colonization has changed their land. Even if they are passing through the well-known areas they are not the same. “We watch through cracks in boards / as the land starts rolling, rolling till it hurts / to be here, cold in regulation clothes”. The surrounding is familiar but at the same time it is unrecognizable. It is “redesigned” by the foreigners. The native is now strange, unknown. “Home’s the place we head for in our sleep” is the verse that shows Native Americans long for their “home”, for their freedom and past life. Missionaries have destroyed their land, their habitat. Even though they have conquered their territory they have not killed their identity. During their punishment for their runaway they find memories - “and in the soak frail outlines shiver clear / a moment, things us kids pressed on the dark / face before it hardened, pale, remembering / delicate old injuries, the spines of names and leaves”. The children remember who they really are. Their names are like “spines”. They are inevitable part of themselves. Physically they are enslaved but spiritually they had not forgotten their true character. They have “frail outlines” but they are visible enough for them to remember. The “clear moment” reminds them their past. They might have accepted a new culture, a new religion but deep in their hearts they remember who they used to be. Both pieces are similar in their illustration of how colonization has influenced different communities but there is a major difference between them – the native’s reaction towards the foreign and the loyalty to its ancestral customs. Forced assimilation has changed their religions, cultures, habits, and land. The dissimilarity between Things Fall Apart and “The Runaways” is that in the novel the tribe loses its identity. They lose their union. They no longer act as one because of the new religion and customs. They forget who they are. Those who understand the situation realize that in the future their past will be forgotten and buried deep down so no one would find it. In “The Runaways” people had not lost their true identity. They remember their past and have kept it in their hearts. They might have lost their “home” but they had saved their true self. Knowing who they are means they have not truly accepted the new customs. Therefore, their true character is not forgotten. It still exists somewhere in their minds. Missionaries try to gain followers using different methods. Shame is one of them. In Things Fall Apart Okonkwo and the others are locked for their disobedience. That leads to his suicide which is unacceptable for his traditions. He is crushed. In “The Runaways” the children are punished to wear long green dresses and to clean. The difference is that they don’t feel ashamed. Even that is when they find their names carved in the stones. They remain true to themselves even when penalized by the colonist. They have faith. In Things Fall Apart the faith is lost. Colonization had changed religions, traditions, and habits. In some communities that had been a “destruction” of their identity. Things fall apart and had been forgotten from the new population. Others remained true in their mind and even though they had lived under foreign “rules” they remembered their past and real self. Therefore, colonization and assimilation did not really change the people but they themselves had “transformed”. The nation is the reason whether the native culture is lost or not. It is all in people’s mind.