`“This is the secret of propaganda: To totally saturate the person, whom the propaganda wants to lay hold of, with the ideas of the propaganda, without him even noticing that he is being saturated” (Paul Watzlawick). This happens to be the way that Chinua Achebe turns his book
Things Fall Apart into a piece of propaganda. Things Fall Apart is a story that follows the life of Okonkwo. It starts with Okonkwo being a person of great renown and power in his clan, Umuofia, in pre-colonial Nigeria, however it also delves into his downfall and the introduction of the Western world. The information presented is given a biased flair against colonialism due to Achebe being raised as a native Nigerian in postcolonial Nigeria. The book is constantly …show more content…
The book upholds the definition of propaganda through three steps: establish a relatable character, compare two cultures and shine a bad light on one, and show colonists as dehumanizing, in turn it proves W.E.B. DuBois quote: "Thus all art is propaganda and ever must be, despite the wailing of the purists ... I do not care a damn for any art that is not used for propaganda" The first step in making Things Fall Apart into a propaganda piece was the establishment of Okonkwo as a relatable character. If Okonkwo was seen by a universal audience (or at least the audience of the Western white male) as relatable it would make the culture seem more digestible and make other audiences feel connected to the scene being set. The first thing that Achebe does is immediately give Okonkwo personal achievements, “As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat. Amalinze was the great wrestler who for seven years was unbeaten, from Umuofia to Mbaino” (Achebe 1). This has the reader quickly immersed into this world and the thoughts of their own great achievements. By …show more content…
The two cultures being compared are the Ibo culture and the British culture with the British culture being portrayed negatively. One part of culture the book contrasts is that of the criminal justice system. The Ibo culture in Okonkwo’s clan, Umuofia, uses a system of people masquerading as ancestral spirits known as egwugwu to solve important problems of the people in the villages. The hearing of cases is seen as a community ceremony and only the most important cases are supposed to be heard by the egwugwu. But most importantly, the egwugwu are the wise and fair, dispensing wisdom along with a verdict, “Go to your in-laws with a pot of wine and beg your wife to return to you. It is not bravery when a man fights with a woman” (Achebe 93). The outcome of these trials are respected and seen to be fair for all parties. However the British criminal justice system was shown as vastly different. They were explained to be arrogant, disrespectful, abusive, and ignorant. This portrayal is vastly negative and biased against the British. It begins to bring to light the political portrayal intended for the novel, showing colonists as bad and the Ibo as better. The description of the prisons they were kept in is awful, claiming “They were beaten in the prison by the kotma
Things Fall Apart into a piece of propaganda. Things Fall Apart is a story that follows the life of Okonkwo. It starts with Okonkwo being a person of great renown and power in his clan, Umuofia, in pre-colonial Nigeria, however it also delves into his downfall and the introduction of the Western world. The information presented is given a biased flair against colonialism due to Achebe being raised as a native Nigerian in postcolonial Nigeria. The book is constantly …show more content…
The book upholds the definition of propaganda through three steps: establish a relatable character, compare two cultures and shine a bad light on one, and show colonists as dehumanizing, in turn it proves W.E.B. DuBois quote: "Thus all art is propaganda and ever must be, despite the wailing of the purists ... I do not care a damn for any art that is not used for propaganda" The first step in making Things Fall Apart into a propaganda piece was the establishment of Okonkwo as a relatable character. If Okonkwo was seen by a universal audience (or at least the audience of the Western white male) as relatable it would make the culture seem more digestible and make other audiences feel connected to the scene being set. The first thing that Achebe does is immediately give Okonkwo personal achievements, “As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat. Amalinze was the great wrestler who for seven years was unbeaten, from Umuofia to Mbaino” (Achebe 1). This has the reader quickly immersed into this world and the thoughts of their own great achievements. By …show more content…
The two cultures being compared are the Ibo culture and the British culture with the British culture being portrayed negatively. One part of culture the book contrasts is that of the criminal justice system. The Ibo culture in Okonkwo’s clan, Umuofia, uses a system of people masquerading as ancestral spirits known as egwugwu to solve important problems of the people in the villages. The hearing of cases is seen as a community ceremony and only the most important cases are supposed to be heard by the egwugwu. But most importantly, the egwugwu are the wise and fair, dispensing wisdom along with a verdict, “Go to your in-laws with a pot of wine and beg your wife to return to you. It is not bravery when a man fights with a woman” (Achebe 93). The outcome of these trials are respected and seen to be fair for all parties. However the British criminal justice system was shown as vastly different. They were explained to be arrogant, disrespectful, abusive, and ignorant. This portrayal is vastly negative and biased against the British. It begins to bring to light the political portrayal intended for the novel, showing colonists as bad and the Ibo as better. The description of the prisons they were kept in is awful, claiming “They were beaten in the prison by the kotma