Radical Change in "Things Fall Apart"

Larissa Burka
Synthesis Essay
Miss Hoffman
3 January 2013
Radical Change: Reckless Abandonment of Tradition & Stern Grasp on Ancestry Change keeps the world moving forward. Without change, we cannot progress as humans and as a species. If we hadn’t begun to evolve thousands of years ago, if we hadn’t embraced the change that was slowly encompassing the world around us, we wouldn’t-couldn’t-be where we are today. That being said, we as humans can’t completely hide from our past, for the sake of closure and comfort and peace of mind. We need to hold onto some of the traditions initiated by our ancestors. Change is radical in such a way that we need to both acquiesce it but at the same time prohibit it from dominating our lives. While it can be invasive at some times in life, it is the one thing that keeps life interesting.. Change challenges human nature to adapt to a new surroundings and does not allow us to become stagnant. In some texts, the fear of change as well as the reckless abandonment of tradition proves to be detrimental to an individual and his or her loved ones. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo’s conformist reality and stubborn mindset causes him to alienate himself from the clan that is timidly embracing the change the white people bring. In the beginning of the book, we are informed Okonkwo is a strong, determined man--much unlike his father. Okonkwo’s crude fear of failure and weakness and ending up like his father drove him to change his lifestyle and become a better man. However, this initial change led one of the most respected clansmen to his demise. Okonkwo was so compelled by fear that it clouded the fact that he was, in fact, just like his father: “But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness” (Achebe 9). After his exile, Okonkwo constantly tried to reissue order among the clan, but it appeared as though he was too late. When Obierika told Okonkwo of the white man’s invasion, the stubborn leader thought it would all blow over soon. He was wrong. Upon his return, the white man’s presence was stronger than it had ever been. Everything was changing around him, yet Okonkwo still strove to maintain tradition. When his own son Nwoye abandoned him to join the Christians, it came as a shock to Okonkwo, who later ignored the horrid fact. Okonkwo was so bitter with resentment that he disowned Nwoye: “You have all seen the great abomination of your brother. Now he is no longer my son or your brother” (Achebe 122). Instead of contemplating that perhaps change is a positive thing, Okonkwo pretends as though change doesn’t exist, and he does this to such an extent that he alienates himself from both his family and his tribe. Okonkwo pointed the finger at the white men, and attempted to kill one of the messengers; however, the true realization that unified tradition was slowly fading away happens when none of his men agree to fight. Now, Okonkwo is surely on his own--to fight this battle against change alone. “We should have killed the white man if you had listened to me” (Achebe 138). It is sad that Okonkwo only wanted to kill these men out of, again, fear that their ways would shed a new light on the clan and spite because of the effect their beliefs had on the tribe already. Okonkwo’s stern refusal to accept even the slightest change caused him to commit suicide--an utter disgrace and abomination among the clan in Umuofia. His sheepish death, one where he was unable to be buried by his clan, tagged him as a coward just like his father-making the entire situation ironic, as this fate was the one true thing that Okonkwo wanted to avoid. Okonkwo’s adamant lifestyle led to his ultimate downfall. The refusal to change is one thing, but extremely morphing one’s life is just at dangerous. Allie Fox’s hallucination that everything needs to change drives him to drastic measures in Mosquito Coast. Here we see the parallel of Okonkwo--a man so willing, almost too willing, to change his life and the lives of those around him. Allie Fox omits all ordinary tradition and starts anew. He believed that, by abandoning basic materials and necessities he and his family will live a better life: “Everything we need is here. Right here. We can live simply... I’m a changed man...No more chemicals or poisons. If what you want isn’t washed up on this beach, you probably don’t need it” (Mosquito Coast). This is the other extreme of change--Allie’s reality is clouded by this fantasy that everything is perfect in an imperfect world. His desperation to escape from the chaos of a world he sees as corrupt is to abandon everything normal. Allie is driven to shambles and insanity as he tries to conform the world to accepting his new way of life. His crazed delusion is ripped to pieces when his own family tries to abandon him and his new way of life. This is similar to Nwoye leaving Okonkwo for a new lifestyle, however the situation is reversed: Nwoye left his father because of his refusal to change, whereas Allie’s family left him because of his refusal to withhold a mere shred of tradition. Okonkwo’s death liberated him from responsibility, but Allie’s unfortunate casualty freed his family from death and the burden that they carried under Allie’s uniform dictatorship, because if they had kept on living in Allie’s twisted delusion, they would have surely suffered. The changes forced upon the Fox family by Allie were radical and preposterous--it is true change is necessary, however tradition should be incorporated into that change. By expelling that tradition from his life, Allie secluded himself from a sense of normalcy, and this ultimately led to his death. Along with embracing change and withholding tradition comes yet another aspect of change: avoiding it. Humans are naturally afraid of getting into trouble or becoming distrusted or of change itself. They try to avoid it--to pretend as though it doesn’t exist. Not only does this pertain to Okonkwo’s refusal to accept change and Allie Fox’s delusional reality, but the story “A Meeting in the Dark” portrays a young teen desperate to avoid the change that suddenly burst into his life. John, the son of a strict pastor, tries anything and everything to make an untimely situation disappear. He, like Okonkwo, feared his father-but for a different reason. He feared his pastor father out of shame and dishonor; he did not want to disappoint him. When he accidentally impregnated one of the girls in the village, he did everything in his power to run away. “Then suddenly he said, ‘Look Wamuhu, let me give you money. You might then say that someone else was responsible...for me, it is impossible. You know this’” (Thiong 82). John didn’t want to face the decision or the change to stay with Wamuhu or to attend University. John’s skittish eschewing of the predicament leads him to, much like Okonkwo and Allie, death; however, this death is not his own. John, overwhelmed with anxiety, murdered Wamuhu to avoid the change that was creeping upon him: “John’s voiced had begun calmly but now was running high. He was excited. He was becoming more desperate...Deep inside him, something horrid seems to be pushing him. He is violently shaking Wamuhu. Yes. He is out of his mind. He tries to hug her by the neck, presses...John, in a grip of fear, ran...Soon everyone would know” (Thiong’s 82-83). As the situation purged deeper into the turmoil that was John’s life, he became distressed with anguish. The line “He was becoming more desperate” pinpoints one emotion to represent John: fear. Fear of change, fear of confrontation, fear of messing up: this is much like Okonkwo. Okonkwo’s radical fear of ending up like his father and of change compares to John’s despondency over making a decision and moving forwards in life. “He is out of his mind”. John becomes crippled with insanity and cracks under pressure. The change--the acceptance of making a decision--turned out to be fatal. Death is not an escape route. Change cannot be avoided. These two statements are something that each of these characters- Okonkwo, Allie Fox, and John- failed to recognize. Each of their actions set the path for their demise. Okonkwo’s stubbornness drove him to commit suicide, Allie’s insane forsakenness of normal life got him killed by a man fed up with his crazed hallucinations, and John’s one mistake combined with his inability to make a decision led him to murder. Change is a part of life, whether we like it or not, it is persistent and will continue to thrive in our world. In an ever evolving world, the only constant is change.

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Printed United States of America: Anchorbooks, 1959. Print.
Theroux, Paul. The Mosquito Coast. Avon, 1983. Print.
Thiong’o, Ngugi Wa. A Meeting in the Dark. Under African Skies. New York: FSG, 1998. Print.