PAPER 18 ASSIGNMENT

DISCUSS THE DEPICTION OF PRE COLONIAL SOCIETY IN THINGS FALL

APART.
Things Fall Apart is a post-colonial novel written by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe in 1958. It
is seen as the archetypal modern African novel in English, one of the first to receive global
critical acclaim. It is a staple book in schools throughout Africa and is widely read and studied
in English-speaking countries around the world. It was first published in 1958 by William
Heinemann Ltd in the UK; in 1962, it was also the first work published in Heinemann's African
Writers Series. The title of the novel comes from a line in W. B. Yeats' poem "The Second
Coming".
Things Fall Apart was followed by a sequel, No Longer at Ease (1960), originally written as the
second part of a larger work along with Arrow of God (1964). Achebe states that his two later
novels A Man of the People (1966) and Anthills of the Savannah (1987), while not featuring
Okonkwo's descendants, are spiritual successors to the previous novels in chronicling African
history.
Things Fall Apart, a novel set in Pre-colonial Nigeria in the 1890s highlights the fight between
colonialism and traditional societies. The protagonist Okonkwo is famous in the surrounding
villages for being a wrestling champion, defeating a wrestler nicknamed "the cat" (because he
never lands on his back). He is strong, hard-working, and strives to show no weakness.
Okonkwo wants to dispel his father Unokas tainted legacy of being effeminate (he borrowed
and lost money, and neglected his wife and children) and cowardly (he feared the sight of
blood). Okonkwo works to build his wealth entirely on his own, as Unoka died a shameful
death and left many unpaid debts. He is also obsessed with his masculinity, and any slight
compromise on this is swiftly destroyed. As a result, he is brusque with his three wives,
children, and neighbors, and is wealthy, courageous, and powerful among the people of his
village. He is a leader of his village, and he has attained a position in his society for which he
has striven all his life.
The traditional Igbo way of life presented in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart is considerably
different from the culture of the colonial influences which eventually settle in Umuofia. The
traditional Igbo culture is marked by their belief in personal gods, called chi, over the Western
Christian God; they are polytheistic rather than monotheistic. Their actions determine how their
personal gods react, which resembles what Hindus and Buddhists call karma.

The Igbo culture in Achebe's novel has customs that are substantially different from those
Western readers are familiar with. The Igbo men take multiple wives; the number of wives a
man has is equivalent to their social standing and wealth. Other customs include the labeling of
certain areas taboo and forbidden for the clansmen to visit and the importance placed upon
snakes. Snakes are sacred animals in Okonkwo's village. Finally, the village follows and deeply
respects the advice passed on by the Oracle of the Hills and Cave. The Oracle is hugely
important in determining various decisions for the clan. These are just some of the elements of
traditional Igbo life Achebe depicts.
Okonkwo is selected by the elders to be the guardian of Ikemefuna, a boy taken by the village
as a peace settlement between Umuofia and another village after Ikemefuna's father killed an
Umuofia woman. The boy lives with Okonkwo's family and Okonkwo grows fond of him. The
boy looks up to Okonkwo and considers him a second father. The Oracle of Umuofia eventually
pronounces that the boy must be killed. Ezeudu, the oldest man in the village, warns Okonkwo
that he should have nothing to do with the murder because it would be like killing his own child
- but to avoid seeming weak and feminine to the other men of the village, Okonkwo disregards
the warning from the old man, striking the killing blow himself even as Ikemefuna begs his
"father" for protection. For many days after killing Ikemefuna, Okonkwo feels guilty and
saddened by this.
Shortly after Ikemefuna's death, things begin to go wrong for Okonkwo. During a gun salute at
Ezeudu's funeral, Okonkwo's gun explodes and kills Ezeudu's son. He and his family are sent
into exile for seven years to appease the gods he has offended. While Okonkwo is away in
Mbanta, he learns that white men are living in Umuofia with the intent of introducing their
religion, Christianity. As the number of converts increases, the foothold of the white people
grows and a new government is introduced. The village is forced to respond with either
appeasement or resistance to the imposition of the white people's nascent society.
Returning from exile, Okonkwo finds his village changed by the presence of the white men. He
and other leaders try to reclaim their hold on their native land by destroying a local Christian
church. In return, the leader of the white government takes them prisoner and holds them for a
ransom of two hundred cowries for a short while, further humiliating and insulting the native
leaders, doing things such as shaving their heads and whipping them. As a result, the people of
Umuofia finally gather for what could be a great uprising. Okonkwo, a warrior by nature and
adamant about following Umuofian custom and tradition, despises any form of cowardice and
advocates war against the white men. When messengers of the white government try to stop the
meeting, Okonkwo beheads one of them. He realizes with despair that the people of Umuofia
are not going to fight to protect themselves his society's response to such a conflict, which
for so long had been predictable and dictated by tradition, is changing.

When the local leader of the white government comes to Okonkwo's house to take him to court,
he finds that Okonkwo has hanged himself to avoid being tried in a colonial court. Among his
own people, Okonkwo's actions have tarnished his reputation and status, as it is strictly against
the teachings of the Igbo to commit suicide.
Fundamental to the Age of Imperialism was the scramble for Africa period of the 1880s to the
1890s. The Europeans became hungry for Africa's natural resources, resulting in their arrival
into Africa as well as their hostile takeover of the land. During this period many European
countries set colonies in Africa. One of the reasons that the Europeans had for colonising Africa
was their claim to civilize the primitive African minds as a humanitarian act. Soon African
states were dominated by European power be it economic, political or social. The Europeans
held a Eurocentric view of the world; firmly believing European culture to be superior.
Eurocentrism therefore perceives Europe as the core of civilization and of humanity.
Eurocentrism had racist tendencies which granted an inferior status to the non-whites. In order
to give his people back the pride that they once had, Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart.
Igbo is a society that also appears to be sceptical about change. They refuse to send their
children to school where they stand a chance to be able to read and write in the English
language. Despite Mr Browns efforts to show the villagers that they need to learn English
because they are now being ruled by the District Commissioner and other white missionaries
who only communicate in English, the villagers still remain reluctant in educating their
children. However, even so readers are immediately aware of Igbos ignorance towards the rest
of the world. They are a secluded community with no knowledge whatsoever about the world
outside Umuofia. At no point in the novel do the characters make reference to Nigeria or the
rest of the world. It is interesting to note that the Igbo are not at all curious of other forms of life
that lie beyond Umuofia.
It could be argued that this is the case because their hostility, whether on a smaller scale or
larger scale, has always been restricted within the boundaries of their land. Based on this
statement it justifies why Igbo do not fight back against the white missionaries who take 15 | P a
g e refuge in their land and threaten to change all aspects of their culture. It is rather
disappointing that Igbo not only welcome the white missionaries to their land but they also
easily allocate them a piece of it.
The wrong approach taken by the Westerners is seen in their attitude towards the Igbo of total
submission and gratitude from them. Their arrival in Umuofia came unexpected and it did not
help that upon their arrival they thought that because they were more civilised and educated
they should be the ones to rule in Umuofia and not Igbo. By so doing they immediately
unintentionally belittled the status and importance of Igbo in their own land. This is a great
disrespect to Igbo and their ancestors, which is what angered and offended the Igbos the most. It

would have been pleasant if the missionaries held the Igbo people at the same high standard
they thought they were at.
Most texts give the definition of colonialism before they define the meaning of the term
postcolonialism. Colonialism as defined by OED refers to the policy or practice of acquiring
full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it
economically. Therefore, post-colonialism is sometimes assumed to refer to after
colonialism or after-independence describing the wide range of social, cultural and political
events arising specifically from the decline and fall of European colonialism that took place
after World War II.
In a heterogeneous society (a society consisting of many different ethnic and/or racial groups,
social classes, languages and/or dialects, and cultural traditions [Palmer]) postcolonial writers
usually try to reassign new ethnic and cultural meanings to the groups of people that are treated
as insignificant by their society. The literature also aims at inviting the colonised to work
together collectively. If they work together and put their differences aside they are surely bound
to overcome the pain of losing their culture. This will enable them to focus on ways that will
help preserve the elements of their culture that still exist. However, the literature does not show
the colonised as victims of colonialism, but rather it shows that they are confused about their
sense of belonging. Most colonised individuals do not know whether to follow their own culture
or the culture of the coloniser. Because of this they find themselves combining some of the
elements of the two different cultures which make them move back and forth in between their
present and past lives, hence their confused sense of belonging. This back and forth movement
in most instances leads to a miscommunication that can be meaningful.
Finally, it is important to acknowledge both the benefits as well as the challenges that resulted
from European colonialism on Igbo society. The Igbo greatly benefited from the introduction of
school and education in their society that helped curb the rate of illiteracy in the village.
Because of it, today most Igbo are literate individuals who have dilated their knowledge to be
more enlightened. The Europeans also taught Igbo about their own culture, and although the
Igbo found it difficult to transition from their own culture to that of a stranger, they learnt
something new from it.
Nonetheless, there are challenges that face Igbo as a consequence of the arrival of the white
missionaries. Igbo lost most of the values that tied them together as one; social coherence
between the individual and society was lost, coupled with their traditional values and way of
life. Because of the confused state of mind of Igbo not knowing whether to reject or embrace
these changes it ultimately led to their fall mainly because of their loyalty to the language. The
arrival of white missionaries in Umuofia was to take over the ruling of it and because Igbo are a
compassionate society that was also unsuspecting of the white mens intentions, they welcomed

them into their land and also gave them a piece of their land not knowing that these men will be
the cause of the collapse of their culture
The concept of balance in Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart, is an important theme throughout
the book. Achebe introduces this idea with an excerpt from William Butler Yeats's poem, "The
Second Coming." The notion of balance is stressed here as important, because if balance does
not exist, order is lost. This novel is a complex portrait of African tribal society prior to
European colonization. By employing masterful techniques of description, linguistic comparison
and strong proverbial context, a chance is given to the reader to realize the rich traditions and
customs that generated stability in that society.
There are many structures of balance that the Ibo culture seems to depend upon. All of which
contribute to the demise of the main character, Okonkwo, the Ibo religion, and ultimately, the
Ibos' autonomy. This unraveling of affairs is spearheaded by a tremendous imbalance between
notably masculine and feminine concepts. These yin and yang aspects, so to speak, might well
be described as the external, physical strength of the male, opposed by the internal, passive
strength of the female. Achebe formulates a brilliant dichotomy here.