Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe
According to Merriam-Webster, cultural shock is a sense of confusion and uncertainty sometimes with feelings of anxiety that may affect people exposed to an alien culture of environment without adequate preparation. Cultural shock is experienced by many different people across the world everyday. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the main character, Okonkwo, experiences cultural shock. Things Fall Apart focuses on the culture in Nigeria of the Ufomia tribe, the Igbo culture. Okonkwo, the main character, is a high-ranked leader of the tribe and strongly believes in the Igbo culture. When white missionaries move into the Ufomia tribe and take over, Okonkwo reacts to the sudden change negatively resulting in shocking events. In Things Fall
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Apart, Okonkwo rejects the introduction of Western ideas because of how strongly he believes in the Igbo culture and knows nothing else besides it causing his morals and characteristics to change by getting stronger, which helps shape the book because the book is revolved around how characters react to the cultural change.
Okonkwo rejects the Western ideas brought by the white missionaries, who take over the Igbo culture.
Okonkwo never doubted the Igbo culture or the rules of it, so when white missionaries invaded his tribe and brainwashed his people with Christianity, he reacted negatively. He lashed out in acts of violence. To be specific, Okonkwo lashed out on a messenger for the white missionaries that resulted in blood, “In a flash Okonkwo drew his machete. The messenger crouched to avoid the blow. It was useless. Okonkwo’s machete descended twice and the man’s head lay beside his uniformed body” (Achebe 204). This shows how aggressive Okonkwo became when it came to anything involving white missionaries. He reacted negatively to these incidents. All his reactions to Christianity and the white missionaries are negative. He constantly stated how he wanted to go to war with them because he believed they had no right to take over their tribe and distinguish the Igbo culture. For instance, Okonkwo states how he so dearly wants to go to war to force them to leave their tribe, “We must fight these men and drive them from the land” (Achebe 176). This is another example that shows his responses to Christianity taking over are negative because if he does not get the result of war through the tribe he will take things into his own hands to create revenge for them. Overall, Okonkwo has such a negative reaction to Western ideas, Christianity, and white missionaries because he believes only in the Igbo
culture.
Okonkwo’s self identity changes throughout Things Fall Apart because of the cultural shock. Okonkwo’s self identity is forced to change when all the other aspects in his life are changing as well. Unlike usual changes of one’s self, Okonkwo strengthens his characteristics and morals instead of finding new ones. The main characteristics that strengthen because of the sudden change of religious views in the Ufomia tribe are the following: violence, power, beliefs in the Igbo religion, and strength. Okonkwo becomes a very rage-filled person. To illustrate, when Nwoye was first experiencing Christianity, Okonkwo’s cousin found out and informed Okonkwo which led to a fight between Nwoye and Okonkwo, “‘Where have you been?’ He stammered. Nwoye struggled to free himself from the choking grip” (Achebe 151). This gives an example of how much more aggression okonkwo encountered once the new religion came to Ufomia. Before there was another religion that went against Igbo, Okonkwo would never have strangled his own son to nearly the point of death. Another example that shows how all these characteristics were made stronger by the cultural change was when he took his own life, “Then they came to the tree from which Okonkwo’s body was dangling, and they stopped dead” (Achebe 207). This shows how all of his self identifying characteristics were strengthened because they were all too much that it caused him to take his life because they were all colliding. Therefore, his characteristics are strengthened because of the cultural change and shock that the white missionaries and Western ideas brought to him.
Okonkwo helped shape the book into showing how cultural shock and collision can show people’s true identities. Okonkwo’s true identity is a viscous, hard-headed, driven man who gets his way or does not live. If this collision of cultures never happened, he would not have discovered his true self. Also, if Okonkwo would not have discovered his true self he would not have helped shape the book and the theme of the book. For instance, Okonkwo is one of the only people in his tribe who is pushing for their tribe to get rid of the white missionaries and return to their ways, “‘Tomorrow he will tell them that our fathers never fought a ‘war of blame.’ If they listen to him I shall leave them and plan my own revenge” (Achebe 200). This shows how he helped shape the book and the theme of how change can bring out someone’s true identity because others not wanting to go to war to fix the change and Okonkwo still wanting to and stating that he will regardless, shows his true characteristics. Another example that shows this is when Okonkwo believes his tribe is returning to it’s past self, “The clan which had turned false on him appeared to be making amends” (Achebe 192). This shows the theme of the book and how he helped shape it because his true self always believed in the Igbo tribe and when it was getting broken apart it hurt him but to see it getting mended together a tad gave him hope and joy. Therefore, Okonkwo helped shape the book into showing how some changes can bring out the true identities of people by showing his true self when his tribe changed.
Overall, Okonkwo reacted negatively to the Western ideas, Christianity, and the white missionaries that were imposed on him and his tribe which lead him to strengthen his characteristics and reveal his true identity which also helped shape the book and show the theme of change bringing out someone’s true self. For Okonkwo, cultural shock is hard to handle. He did not do well with the cultural collision and rejected the new culture being inflicted on him which affected all the other aspects in his life. He responded negatively which altivalty lead to a negative result: death. The author of Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe, uses Okonkwo and his strong characteristics to convey the overall theme of change brings out true identities. When change comes along it brings the truth; the truth in yourself.
Apart, Okonkwo rejects the introduction of Western ideas because of how strongly he believes in the Igbo culture and knows nothing else besides it causing his morals and characteristics to change by getting stronger, which helps shape the book because the book is revolved around how characters react to the cultural change.
Okonkwo rejects the Western ideas brought by the white missionaries, who take over the Igbo culture.
Okonkwo never doubted the Igbo culture or the rules of it, so when white missionaries invaded his tribe and brainwashed his people with Christianity, he reacted negatively. He lashed out in acts of violence. To be specific, Okonkwo lashed out on a messenger for the white missionaries that resulted in blood, “In a flash Okonkwo drew his machete. The messenger crouched to avoid the blow. It was useless. Okonkwo’s machete descended twice and the man’s head lay beside his uniformed body” (Achebe 204). This shows how aggressive Okonkwo became when it came to anything involving white missionaries. He reacted negatively to these incidents. All his reactions to Christianity and the white missionaries are negative. He constantly stated how he wanted to go to war with them because he believed they had no right to take over their tribe and distinguish the Igbo culture. For instance, Okonkwo states how he so dearly wants to go to war to force them to leave their tribe, “We must fight these men and drive them from the land” (Achebe 176). This is another example that shows his responses to Christianity taking over are negative because if he does not get the result of war through the tribe he will take things into his own hands to create revenge for them. Overall, Okonkwo has such a negative reaction to Western ideas, Christianity, and white missionaries because he believes only in the Igbo
culture.
Okonkwo’s self identity changes throughout Things Fall Apart because of the cultural shock. Okonkwo’s self identity is forced to change when all the other aspects in his life are changing as well. Unlike usual changes of one’s self, Okonkwo strengthens his characteristics and morals instead of finding new ones. The main characteristics that strengthen because of the sudden change of religious views in the Ufomia tribe are the following: violence, power, beliefs in the Igbo religion, and strength. Okonkwo becomes a very rage-filled person. To illustrate, when Nwoye was first experiencing Christianity, Okonkwo’s cousin found out and informed Okonkwo which led to a fight between Nwoye and Okonkwo, “‘Where have you been?’ He stammered. Nwoye struggled to free himself from the choking grip” (Achebe 151). This gives an example of how much more aggression okonkwo encountered once the new religion came to Ufomia. Before there was another religion that went against Igbo, Okonkwo would never have strangled his own son to nearly the point of death. Another example that shows how all these characteristics were made stronger by the cultural change was when he took his own life, “Then they came to the tree from which Okonkwo’s body was dangling, and they stopped dead” (Achebe 207). This shows how all of his self identifying characteristics were strengthened because they were all too much that it caused him to take his life because they were all colliding. Therefore, his characteristics are strengthened because of the cultural change and shock that the white missionaries and Western ideas brought to him.
Okonkwo helped shape the book into showing how cultural shock and collision can show people’s true identities. Okonkwo’s true identity is a viscous, hard-headed, driven man who gets his way or does not live. If this collision of cultures never happened, he would not have discovered his true self. Also, if Okonkwo would not have discovered his true self he would not have helped shape the book and the theme of the book. For instance, Okonkwo is one of the only people in his tribe who is pushing for their tribe to get rid of the white missionaries and return to their ways, “‘Tomorrow he will tell them that our fathers never fought a ‘war of blame.’ If they listen to him I shall leave them and plan my own revenge” (Achebe 200). This shows how he helped shape the book and the theme of how change can bring out someone’s true identity because others not wanting to go to war to fix the change and Okonkwo still wanting to and stating that he will regardless, shows his true characteristics. Another example that shows this is when Okonkwo believes his tribe is returning to it’s past self, “The clan which had turned false on him appeared to be making amends” (Achebe 192). This shows the theme of the book and how he helped shape it because his true self always believed in the Igbo tribe and when it was getting broken apart it hurt him but to see it getting mended together a tad gave him hope and joy. Therefore, Okonkwo helped shape the book into showing how some changes can bring out the true identities of people by showing his true self when his tribe changed.
Overall, Okonkwo reacted negatively to the Western ideas, Christianity, and the white missionaries that were imposed on him and his tribe which lead him to strengthen his characteristics and reveal his true identity which also helped shape the book and show the theme of change bringing out someone’s true self. For Okonkwo, cultural shock is hard to handle. He did not do well with the cultural collision and rejected the new culture being inflicted on him which affected all the other aspects in his life. He responded negatively which altivalty lead to a negative result: death. The author of Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe, uses Okonkwo and his strong characteristics to convey the overall theme of change brings out true identities. When change comes along it brings the truth; the truth in yourself.