Examples Of Imperialism In Things Fall Apart

Dustin Avery
Things Fall Apart Essay

The imperialistic movement was a government policy of colonizing new lands and bringing natives under the control of the government. In the nineteenth century expanding of the land owned by a country was brought around; through military, religion, and foreign exploration. The reason for the conquest of new lands was that it brought in trade of new goods, which increased the revenue of the government and many privately owned companies; examples of such goods were sugar, coffee, slaves, and etc. One such method to bring land under the control of the foreign country was to send missionaries to convert the indigenous people to the religion of the invading country and thus try and assimilate the people into
the colonizing countries culture and life. The main religion used in the nineteenth century for missionary work was the catholic religion as most countries in Europe were catholic predominately. This was the case in the “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe were and native people are invaded and brought under British control, and are being converted to the British culture. Most of Okonkwo’s characteristics are derived by his view and relationship with his father Unoka. Unoka was a lazy musician that never wanted to work and rather play and drink than bring home food for Okonkwo and his mother. This behavior of Okonkwo’s father led to Okonkwo to become the complete opposite of his father thus giving Okonkwo his personality. Okonkwo is not a very likeable character. The reasons being he is sexist, abusive, and controlling. He believes women are meant to only serve the man of the household and breed children. The women in his household and his children live in fear of angering him for he would beat them for any reason he deemed unsettling to him. Okonkwo is also a very violent man as seen by his abusiveness to his wives, shooting at Ekwefi, and children, beating Nwoye, but he is also very impatient, which for a man that uses his fists as answers to most problems is a terrible combination. He uses those fists to rule his household with an iron-fist and controls dictates everything with the house. Even though he has many bad qualities he does value hard work and not being lazy because of his lazy farther bringing shame to him and his family. This is possibly the one redeeming quality of Okonkwo that he works hard and he is a leader, but his methods of leading are wrong and lead me to believe he is an unlikeable character. Okonkwo has many sensibilities that mirror with European culture.
He believes he is the head of the household were women do not any authority, though European culture has begun shifting more favorably for women in the later years of the nineteenth century and women do have more freedom in Europe than Okonkwo allows his wives. To Okonkwo his wives were merely homemakers that did chores that kept the house going and appeased him. He also viewed his wives as only a means to breed children and bring forth males that will benefit his household and the community at large. This sentiment of women breeding for male heirs is a very common theme with European culture and he shares this view with them. Okonkwo also shares the value of being industrious it is common value in European culture that hard-working men were valued above the rest and usually had better lives. Even with Imperialism and the influence of colonization on the native people, a lot of values that were held in Europe were already held in the native culture. This helps with assimilating the native people into the colonizing countries culture. It is also a paradox that Okonkwo shared many values and ideals as the Europeans, since both Okonkwo and Europeans viewed themselves so differently but were so alike in many ways. The book illustrates this point when Mr. Brown talks to one of the village elders who states that their religions are not so different but both of them cannot agree that they are the
same. The author Chinua Achebe of “Things Fall Apart” has a British education and wrote the book in English. This shows the power and effects of colonization on the culture of the indigenous people. As Europeans further their reach into native people through Christian missionaries teaching the religions and converting the native people, it promotes a lasting effect into the culture of the native people. The author is a prime example of a man that was born and brought up in Nigeria, but had a British education. Another example of the lasting effects of colonization is that many Western African cultures under French rule still speak French. Colonization is a power tool for countries, but has the effect of permanently changing the culture of many people in the process. This also shows that the colonizer has the greater influence over the colonized people. The lives of Okonkwo and the rest of the Umoufia change drastically from the story. Before the European colonization, Umoufia seemed to be one of the most powerful clan in the surroundings area, where the culture and customs run deep through every villager. As the Europeans arrived, the people of Igbo witnessed the complete destruction of the neighboring village Abame and the establishment of the Christian church. This demoralized the Umoufia and captivated some, creating a fissure within the culture thus weakening the people of Umoufia and there seemed to be a sentiment of despair over this. Okonkwo maintained the ideal that Abame was weak, didn’t fight back and that Umougia would have handled the situation just fine. However, overtime it became clear that the European colonists were the more powerful force that would vastly take over and change their culture and way of life and this led many of Umoufia to be very hostile towards the colonists. The novel does not have a hero, it could be viewed that Okonkwo can be a tragic hero, but I do not think so. It is seen through the story that he is the hero of the village but he doesn’t really do anything hero worthy. He is an abusive, controlling, and easily angered man that follows his own thoughts and never thinks about the entire consequences of his actions. After, beheading of the British messenger in the attempt and hope the elders will follow is his lead, he is only thinking about himself and acting alone. This could have led to the complete destruction of the village. Because he does not think beyond himself more, I believe he is not a hero. With the imperialism from Europe the cultures of many native people were changed forever and this change permeate through the generations and this can be seen with the author Chinua Achebe being taught a British education in Nigeria. Okonkwo, is just a man that his time was faced with the power of the colonization of his people during his time and saw the great change that it brings to the culture and people.