Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian author whose universally appreciated novel, Things Fall Apart, provides a voice to an ill-treated and unrepresented culture. Things Fall Apart took place in Umuofia in the 1880’s, before and during the first arrival of European missionaries. Weary of reading westerner’s interpretations of how socially backward, illiterate, and uncivilized Africans were, Chinua Achebe wished to reveal a better insight of the Ibo culture and, in doing so, preserve the wellbeing of his continent. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart displays the natives of Africa with an appropriate level of complexity to contrast the Westerner’s overly- simplified perspective using an objective tone, meaningful symbolism, and an Africanized writing
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Everyone in the Ibo society has a different personality, showing even moreso that African people are just as individualistic as the Europeans. Additionally, readers are left to form their own opinions about the happenings of the novel. For example, when the Egwegwu rebel against the missionaries and obliterate their church, Achebe’s tone lacks bias against the missionaries or the Ibo, showing simply that each side had depth to it- neither are clean or unclean. Achebe’s use of an objective tone obviously added a feeling of intricacy to Things Fall Apart, helping the reader to understand that everyone has their own perspectives and it is important to look deeply at everyone before assuming anything. The westerner’s failure to understand the perspectives of these tribes caused injustice to the Africans and infringement upon their culture and lives. Indeed, Achebe’s use of a fair minded tone helped him to achieve his purpose of displaying the Ibo in a way complex enough for real people. Achebe’s use of meaningful symbolism throughout the novel provided the reader with expertly devised philosophies as well as enriching insights into the character’s intimate …show more content…
They settled on every tree and on every blade of grass; they settled on the roofs and covered the bare ground. Mighty tree branches broke away under them, and the whole country became the brown-earth color of the vast, hungry swarm’’ ( ADD CITE HERE). Likewise, when the westerners move to African villages to attempt spread the religion of Christianity and take advantage of their land and natural resources, the Ibo people tolerate them until they overstep their boundaries. Another influential symbol in Things Fall Apart are the Egwegwu, the Ibo nation’s embodiment of the justice system. The egwugwu are influential men of the village who are ‘’possessed’’ with the ancestral spirits of the clan. It is apparent that the Ibo people greatly respect, as well as fear, the Egwegwu. These ancestral embodiments are the Ibo’s form of a court- they administer fairness and justice to the lot of the clan. This system of the Igbo community showed that the culture that is considered barbaric by the missionaries has its own complex system of enforcing law and prosecuting violators of the law. As this quote provides, the egwegwu provided the clan with a sort of trial system- [Odukwe]: “The law of Umuofia is that if a woman runs away from her husband her bride-price is
Everyone in the Ibo society has a different personality, showing even moreso that African people are just as individualistic as the Europeans. Additionally, readers are left to form their own opinions about the happenings of the novel. For example, when the Egwegwu rebel against the missionaries and obliterate their church, Achebe’s tone lacks bias against the missionaries or the Ibo, showing simply that each side had depth to it- neither are clean or unclean. Achebe’s use of an objective tone obviously added a feeling of intricacy to Things Fall Apart, helping the reader to understand that everyone has their own perspectives and it is important to look deeply at everyone before assuming anything. The westerner’s failure to understand the perspectives of these tribes caused injustice to the Africans and infringement upon their culture and lives. Indeed, Achebe’s use of a fair minded tone helped him to achieve his purpose of displaying the Ibo in a way complex enough for real people. Achebe’s use of meaningful symbolism throughout the novel provided the reader with expertly devised philosophies as well as enriching insights into the character’s intimate …show more content…
They settled on every tree and on every blade of grass; they settled on the roofs and covered the bare ground. Mighty tree branches broke away under them, and the whole country became the brown-earth color of the vast, hungry swarm’’ ( ADD CITE HERE). Likewise, when the westerners move to African villages to attempt spread the religion of Christianity and take advantage of their land and natural resources, the Ibo people tolerate them until they overstep their boundaries. Another influential symbol in Things Fall Apart are the Egwegwu, the Ibo nation’s embodiment of the justice system. The egwugwu are influential men of the village who are ‘’possessed’’ with the ancestral spirits of the clan. It is apparent that the Ibo people greatly respect, as well as fear, the Egwegwu. These ancestral embodiments are the Ibo’s form of a court- they administer fairness and justice to the lot of the clan. This system of the Igbo community showed that the culture that is considered barbaric by the missionaries has its own complex system of enforcing law and prosecuting violators of the law. As this quote provides, the egwegwu provided the clan with a sort of trial system- [Odukwe]: “The law of Umuofia is that if a woman runs away from her husband her bride-price is