Things Fall Apart: Culture Clash

Things Fall Apart Research
Clash of Cultures
Many times in the past when two relatively different cultures meet, there is often a clash of cultures. Sometimes these cultures are near each other, and sometimes one culture invades another. Either way, there are great consequences that come with both. Consequences usually involve one culture being taken advantage of by the opposing dominant one. In Chinua Achebe’s fictional novel, Things Fall Apart, this cultural invasion does take place, igniting a clash of cultures between the Igbo tribe of Nigeria and the Christian British that are seeking to colonize this primitive land. The constant forcing of new ideas upon the tribal people slowly begins to erode at the Igbo tribe’s culture, while also causing things to fall apart within the society. The Europeans ignorance and disrespect towards the Igbo culture caused them to enforce their own ideas on the tribal people, which lead to a destruction of the traditional religion and government, along with a demise to their primitive customs, beliefs, and values.
Often times in history, religion has been the focal point of a variety of different conflicts. In Achebe’s fictional, but factually based novel, history repeats itself with religion initiating a culture conflict between the traditional Igbo tribe and the Christian British missionaries. ‘In the beginning, the Europeans arrival in Umofia also brought along Christianity, but at first, the religion was not forced upon the tribal people’ (Aboukhadijeh, Feross). This made joining their church entirely optional to the people. However overtime, the “missionaries became increasingly aggressive” (Aboukhadijeh, Feross) and even hostile to the native tribe’s traditional religion, while simultaneously forcing their own Christian religion upon the native people. Moreover, they begin strongly judging the Igbo’s traditional religion, saying that all of their gods are “not gods at all,” (Achebe 135) and merely consist of just “wood and stone” (Achebe 136). Meanwhile, the missionaries kept promoting their own god, claiming that he would make them forever happy. The continuous strict imposing of this new Christian religion did not bode well with the traditional people of Umofia, eventually taking its toll on their society. The mutually shared lack of understanding was just too much to overcome for the already foreign societies. These two culture’s religions were so different with the traditional polytheistic tribal religion to the monotheistic Christian religion. Lastly, this continuous forcing of an “uncomfortable religion,” along with a simple lack of understanding, lead to an eventual tearing of the tribe’s roots, a betrayal to their ancestral gods, and a crushing end showing that things really do fall apart.
With these cultures coming from two completely different backgrounds, they tend to differ and not “coexist peacefully” (Aboukhadijeh, Feross). The tribal people, representing the “traditional and conservative values” of their ancestral lands are continuously forced to deal with the “confrontation of new ideas and beliefs” (colonialeducation.blogspot.com). Slowly, the British introduced their new ideas, which lead to an eventual ‘erosion of the native beliefs’ (Aboukhadijeh, Feross). Often times, the Europeans were ignorant of the customs, beliefs, and values of the tribal people. They had a lack of understanding for the tribal customs, which lead them to not respecting their culture or society in general. For example, with change coming to Umofia through the colonials, the tribe had to forget the traditional past and accept that the British were a more powerful and dominant culture. The fact of the matter is that the Igbo culture was not ready to erase tradition and “abandon their ancestors” (Achebe 142). Additionally, this culture deeply appreciated the custom of “family values,” (Aboukhadijeh, Feross) which are now meaningless due to the new ideas and beliefs enforced upon them. It is terrible to think that if the British had never invaded this society, the Igbo culture would remain the same today. They could preserve the same customs, beliefs, and values, allowing them to be passed down for generations to come, which would ensure that this prosperous culture would remain intact. While we wish this could all be true, it just cannot. The Europeans out of “sheer arrogance,” (Emenyonu 84) took it upon themselves to invade this society and destroy the Igbo culture. Overall, in this clash taking place between tradition and change, “change [is] the clear-cut winner” (Aboukhadijeh, Feross).
With Europe and Nigeria being so far apart both geographically and culturally, they obtain different viewpoints on most things. These two cultures vary differently with their views of justice, politics, and economics, leading them to have vastly different forms of government. In this situation, the well-off British society has a wealthy government with a King or Queen ruling over the country, making head decisions. In contrast, the indigenous Igbo tribe has no kings, queens, or chiefs, but still keeps a “highly democratic and efficient government” (Aboukhadijeh, Feross). This primitive tribe managed to achieve this by maintaining a council of elders that makes the executive decisions, instead of one person ruling over the people. The invaders did not believe this could be affective because of their belief that a strong government needs “one person to take charge” (Johnson, Theresa). This unveils yet another prime example of the Europeans being blind and arrogant to the Igbo tribe’s culture. Secondly, judicially speaking, when the British arrived, the courts were altered heavily towards their view on how they should be run. They preferred either a “flogging or a hanging,” which was seen as “senselessly brutal” in Umofian eyes (Johnson, Theresa). This demonstrates how the invaders ignored the tribe’s preferences and took advantage of their vulnerability. Thirdly, the primitive economy mainly consisted of crop farming. People took their farming seriously because often times people’s success was judged on their crop intake for the season. With the colonial arrival, the crop value was erased by a new element coming into play, money. This new arrival of money made their crop farming, which was the only thing they knew, nearly worthless. In final analysis, the British controlling and seizing of the tribal government caused the tribal unity to be shattered, while also changing the only ways that the indigenous people knew.
The ignorance and disrespect towards the Igbo culture shown by the Europeans, causes them to enforce their own ideas on the tribal people. The constant exposure of new beliefs leads to a destruction of the traditional religion and government, along with an end to their primitive customs, beliefs, and values. When the British first arrived, the traditional culture was already beginning to slowly erode. The Igbo society began to rip apart at the seams, due to this new cultural exposure. This clash of cultures goes to show the devastating consequences that can come of them. Whether these clashes appear in a fictional novel like Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, or in a real world situation, they all give us a new perspective of humanity. Sincere cultural clashes demonstrate the raw cruelty and pure joyful sides to different people. To truly see and experience real humanity, it is necessary to view both sides of these clashes, no matter how difficult that might be.