Cosmopolitanism In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

There are numerous accounts within Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, that can be compared and contrasted with Kwame Appiah’s viewpoints from his book, Cosmopolitanism. Out of all of the intertwining themes between the two books, the idea that not all punishments are justified is one of the most prominent. Ikemefuna’s own personal case of uncalled for punishment is a noticeable example from Achebe’s novel. After a woman of the Umuofia tribe is killed at the Mbaino village’s market, that village offers Ikemefuna to Umuofia as a recompense for the woman’s death. Ikemefuna is placed under Okonkwo’s care indefinitely as a result. Eventually, Ikemefuna gains many Umuofia villagers’ trust and respect, as he is an earnest, hardworking individual. …show more content…
Even though Ikemefuna was completely innocent and had nothing to do with that woman’s death, he is ultimately punished because the villagers of Umuofia view his murder as just. Kwame Appiah argues that a cosmopolitan way of life is the morally ethical manner to approach life. Cosmopolitans believe that people shouldn’t be punished until they are undoubtedly proven guilty. Had the village of Umuofia valued the same beliefs found in cosmopolitanism, Ikemefuna would have never been taken away from his village and executed as a result of someone else’s murder. When one applies Kwame Appiah’s belief on unjustified punishment in Cosmopolitanism to the unlawful killing of Ikemefuna in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the death of Ikemefuna would have been