Hoffman 1

Esther Hoffman
Mr. Toole
ENG3U
27 March 2017
The Oppressive Effects of Colonialism in Africa
The Sacrificial Egg by Chinua Achebe is about one native African caught between
western culture and his internal spiritual beliefs during the colonial period. It explores the mind
of Julius Obi, who looks upon a once lively market and remembers life before colonization. The
short story emphasizes the plight of the natives caused by the oppressive influence of
colonialism. Some issues that the native Africans go through in the story reflect the ones that
they faced in history: the implementation of Western education as an attempt to eliminate
spiritual beliefs, the introduction of diseases such as smallpox, and the imposition of a Western
economy rather than the natives trading of goods. Achebe uses The Sacrificial Egg to critique
the many struggles that confronted native Africans under the repressive effects of colonialism.
The introduction of Western education in the story, in the form of mission schools and
churches, acts to replace the native beliefs and education system. Many submit to Western
education because of the propaganda that the Europeans constantly preach. Julius Obi comments
on how this affects his community, the young sons and daughters of Umuru soil, encouraged by
schools and churches were behaving no better than the strangers (Achebe 11). Julius points out
that they are behaving no better than the strangers meaning that the young Africans fit more
into the Western culture, which is unwanted by the natives, than they do with their own culture.
He views the European-like behavior to be bad because he does not want to see his native culture
assimilated. The Europeans, who are the strangers, are invaders that are forcefully changing
communities that were happy with their way of life. Imposing a new religion Catholicism on
the impressionable youth results in a major loss of native culture. Many Africans did not agree
with the new Western culture; however, it is not easy to disagree with a stronger nation. Adam
Bazi, an online historical journalist, mentions that, some Africans collaborated because of
missionary influence (Bazi). The powerful Europeans are very persuasive, often convincing
natives that Western culture is a better way of life, or even the only viable way of life. For
example, in the story, the Europeans change the market to be every day rather than its original
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day because it will bring in more money, even though that only benefits the Europeans. This
divide between the native African beliefs and the domineering Europeans caused issues within
African communities.
Moreover, the invasion of Europeans brought great disease to the native Africans.
African communities had never been introduced to the sicknesses that the Europeans were
already immune to. A surge of smallpox, or Kitikpa, referred to in the short story, causes massive
fear and widespread deaths within Africa. Smallpox destroys the people of the community; one
by one they are killed, leaving the communities deserted. No longer did the natives travel to
other communities to share goods, because they feared the deadly disease. The traditional trading
of goods became obsolete because of the mass killing of native Africans: But such was the
strength of Kitikpa, the incarnate power of smallpox. Only he could drive away all those people
and leave the market to the flies (Achebe 11). In The Sacrificial Egg Julius Obi reflects on how
the market played a large part in the village. It was the center of their economy. The fishermen
traded fish for on-land supplies that the forest people had so much of. Smallpox causes great
damage to the people of Umuru. A professor at Indiana University, William H Schneider,
concludes that Africa was one of the places in the world where smallpox remained the longest
and most highly endemic (Schneider). Achebe demonstrates the destructive effects that
colonialism had through smallpox.
In addition, colonization brought a new and different economy to Africa at the natives
expense. The Europeans arrived with the goal of making money from the natural resources that
the native Africans had. The market, known as Nkwo, goes from happening once a week to
every day of the week and their small community turns into a town with a big palm oil-port.
Their way of life is transformed as they lose their self-sufficiency and begin requiring European
money to survive. Julius Obi came to Umuru like many others: because he had no choice but to
work under the European traders: having passed his Standard Six in a mission school he had
come to Umuru to work as a clerk in the offices of the all-powerful European trading company
which brought palm-kernels at its own price and sold cloth and metal ware, also at its own price
(Achebe 10). Palm-kernels, cloth and metal ware are simple items that the natives already traded
with one another. The Europeans brought already existing things at their own prices to stop the
trading and bring in money for themselves. It resulted in the native Africans who fished having
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trouble procuring supplies from the forest people and vice versa. Fro Ali, a writer for
Academia.edu, explains the change in the African economies:

Since the powerful countries were using and exploiting the colonized countrys natural
resources and they were using them as their markets, the colonized countries found their
local economies destroyed or at least dramatically transformed as their populations were
forced and used to produce and consume goods for the country that had colonized them
rather than for themselves. (Ali)

The new economy brought in by the Europeans completely altered the native Africans way of
living. They were forced out of the system that best fitted their needs and obligated to provide for
the strangers that had taken over. The manipulative approach of the Europeans altered the native
African economy in a way that only benefited the Europeans.
The short story, The Sacrificial Egg, written by Chinua Achebe, critiques how the
imposition of Western education as a means of oppressing native beliefs, the spread of
contagious diseases such as smallpox, and the implementation of a Western economy negatively
impacted native Africans during colonization. European traders entered Africa with greed and
the desire to colonize for personal gain. They used missionaries to dominate the natives
previous values and control their ideas. They brought a disease that wiped out almost an entire
nation and they crushed the native trading economy to make money for themselves. The
Europeans came into Africa uninvited and created an all-powerful repressive influence on the
natives, who did not need it. Colonialism is an intrusive and bigoted method of westernizing a
culture for the pure gain of the colonizing nation.

Work Cited

Achebe, Chinua. The Sacrificial Egg: And Other Short Stories. Onitsha: Etudo, 1962. Print.
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Ali, Fro. What impact did colonialism have on development in the developing world. Publication.
Academia, n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2017.
<http://www.academia.edu/5400801/What_impact_did_colonialism_have_on_development_in_t
he_developing_world>.

Bazi, Adam. "African Response to European Colonial Rule." Web log post. Wattpad. Wattpad,
13 Jan. 2012. Web. 25 Feb. 2017. <https://www.wattpad.com/3133162-african-response-to-
european-colonial-rule>.

Schneider, William H. "Smallpox in Africa during Colonial Rule." Medical History53.02 (2009):
193-227. Web. 25 Feb. 2017. <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2668906/>.