Things Fall Apart Essay

Many of the most influential occurrences in history occur when cultures collide with each other. This quote by Kevin Chau illustrates the truth about these collisions “The nature of culture is evolution. The practice of culture is adaptation.”(Kevin Chau) Upon the clash of two cultures typically one must adapt to survive else be consumed by the opposing culture. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe suggests that when cultures collide with a lack of empathy for each other things will indeed fall apart shown by the British missionaries and the Ibo people in the novel, along with violence in Nigeria today, however the collision of cultures can also be deemed a positive thing shown by intercultural exchange throughout history.

In Achebe’s novel a lack of empathy is indeed shown through the British missionaries to the Ibo people. Foremost when the
christian missionaries came to Nigeria and begin to preach, a lack of empathy was shown by saying things such as their God is the only god and “that they(Ibo) worshipped false gods.”(Achebe,pg.145) Furthermore another example unempathic treatment is shown later in the novel as well.
One of the converts named Enoch went to a sacred Ibo ceremony and “fell on him(an egwugwu) and tore off his mask.”(pg.186) Unmasking an egwugwu is said to be “one of the greatest crimes a man could commit”(pg.186) Yet again the missionaries show a lack of empathy through imprisoning the Ibo clan leaders. During the “night the messengers came to taunt them and to knock their shaven heads together.”(pg.195) The effects of the missionaries actions lead to anger among the culture driven men in Umuofia such as Okonkwo. Yet they had not been angered to the point of pushing the missionaries out of Umuofia. However, when Enoch unmasked the egwugwu he had stoked the anger of the clan. In retaliation they confronted the christian church and “When the egwugwu went away” the Christian church “which Mr.Brown had built was a pile of earth and ashes.”(pg.191) Consequently the effects of the two cultures colliding without the
use of empathy also lead to the murder of a messenger who had demanded an Ibo war meeting be stopped. Anger from his mistreatment and humiliation while imprisoned coupled with his loss of culture “machete descended twice ”(pg.204) and he had murdered the messenger. In that moment Okonkwo knew his clan would refuse to got to war and drive away the missionaries. It was that realization that lead Okonkwo to hang himself therefore ending the life of “one of the greatest men in Umuofia.”(pg.208) Okonkwo's death and the other negative effects such as the killing of an ancestral spirit and removal of a Umuofia's beliefs truly show the devastating effects the clash of foreign cultures can have on a culture or a group of individuals. Nigerian history indeed shows a lack of empathy which leads to violence between people. Some instances of this are the disputes between the Muslim and Christian people living in Nigeria. Fights between the two religions have been fairly common throughout history, however more recently more major fights have been breaking out. One such fight in and around a city names Jos lead to the death of three hundred Muslim animal herders. In retaliation to the killing the Muslims lead an attack on the city killing an estimated five hundred Christian men, women, and children. After the violent attack “An Associated Press reporter counted 61 corpses, 32 of them children, being buried in the mass grave in the village”(Associated Press,par.2). Another example of the un-empathetic relations between the different religions is shown yet again when “Christian militias stage brutal attacks”(par.1, washington post) which were targeted toward African Muslims. The attacks lead to “Tens of thousands of Muslims fleeing to neighboring countries” (par.1). Furthermore a lack of empathy is illustrated toward the whole country of Nigeria shown through comments made by a Muslim leader such as “Nigeria was “the mistake of 1914’” (par.6, global post) His comment states that the merger of the two separate Muslim and Christian countries in 1914 was not a good thing. Also negative comments are made by Christian leaders too, one such comment being that Nigeria is “‘a mere geographic expression.’” The effects of the comments made by Christians and Muslims against Nigeria have lead to anger between the two sides which in turn makes the violence between them escalate much faster or for much smaller things. Because of the hatred between the two groups things such as Muslim owned farm animal disappearing can lead to the burning of a Christian church. The fighting in Jos and surrounding areas has lead to major death tolls in Nigeria. It has also been the cause of the destruction or separation of many families which truly shows the lack of empathy that both religious groups show to each other.