Things Fall Apart Change Essay

Change can be looked on in different ways. It can be seen as undermining to what is already established. However, it can also be seen as progressive or the path of the future. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe these views are shown. The negative view is seen by characters like Okonkwo, where the establishments being undermined are the huts or the overall way of life. The positive view is seen by characters like Nwoye, where he is drawn by the acceptance of Christianity. Either way change is definite due to the Europeans’ forcefulness and will affect the Ibo’s structure immensely. Achebe develops the Ibo’s depth to prove that change within a culture can be a necessity, while not always a desire. A need for change is conveyed for the Ibo’s
In chapter 11, the education system of the Ibo is shown. The adults pass down knowledge through stories. Mothers focus on stories that teach a message, like the story of the tortoise that teaches the message of benevolence. The fathers, as shown by Okonkwo, focus on war and violence in their stories. The English, on the other hand, has the institutional version of education with schools. They try to change the Ibo’s ways by recruiting them into their school system. Since the Europeans are there to stay, learning their language may be the only way. Mr. Brown realizes and begs the Ibo to join their systems, saying “...that the leaders of the land in the future would be men and women who learned to read and write. If Umuofia failed to send their children to the school, strangers would come from other places to rule them” (Achebe 181). Language is key to communication, which is key to nonviolence due to its peaceful approach. Without this ability to communicate, which would be present if the Ibo learned English, the Ibo would most definitely become the inferior to the European. This sjdj would occur because the Ibo would fall behind the advances which would only be happening in