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The sun will shine on those who stand, before it shines on those who kneel under them The novel Things Fall Apart by China Achebe was published in 1958. This novel tells the story of Colonization and Christianization of the African tribe Igbo in Nigeria. The author explores the Igbo culture, is traditions and the influence of colonization on the lives of the Igbo. The Igbo culture, described in the novel Things Fall Apart has long history, strong traditions, and developed religious, social and political system. To some degree, the Igbo culture represents the contemporary social structure. The Igbo have the polytheism and oracles, which represent Religion and the ministers.
The town is ruled by the general assembly of Igbo men, which represents the primitive from of democracy. The Igbo culture values hierarchy and titles and prosperity, but they are flexible in this matter. The main character of the novel, Okonkwo possess two high titles, the barn of yams and three wives, while his father used to be a poor man who died in debts. The Igbo believe that the peoples value cannot be determined by their ancestry, but by his aspiration for success. The idea of equal chances for everyone also relates to the contemporary democratic society. Igbo use yams like food, monetary and the symbol of prosperity.
Igbo have the rules of external relations with their neighbors and they do not wage wars of conquest. The Igbo also have the law system. The author represents Igbo culture as the model of the developed society with long history of self-regulation. The author represents all aspects of civilized life of the Igbo community, including their every day problems, and the majority of these aspects relate to the contemporary western civilization. The problems of parents and children, which we see in relations of Okonkwo with his father, Unoka and his son, Nwoye are characteristic to any culture. Okonkwo felt resentment towards his father, whom people called "ambala" (Achebe, Pg. 11), the week womanish man.
Okonkwo wants his son to escape such fate and he trains Nwoye very severely. This word in Igbo means woman, but is also the term for a man without a title. The Igbo are self-sufficient and can exist and develop without the influence of the western civilization. As civilization, developed without any influence from the western civilization, the Igbo culture carries the imminent differences and unique features. Some differences are conditioned purely by geographic location.
Being natives of Africa, the Igbo have dark skin, which determine the attitude towards them by the western people. In Christian religion the words black or dark carry negative connotation, they symbolize something impure, sinful and dangerous. Based on this feature the Christian colonists disguise the conquest and moral breakdown of the Igbo by bringing enlightenment to the Igbo and saving them from their sinful nature. Another geographical distinction, which perturbs the westerns, is the habit of using locust for food. In addition, one of the essential differences of the Igbo from the western civilization was the fact that due to the geographical seclusion they are far behind in historical development.
In addition to the peculiarities of the Igbo culture, dictated by the geographical and ethical distinctions, the Igbo possess vivid cultural peculiarities. The Igbo have both good and bad features. The Igbo culture is patriarchal, but women are fear from feeling timid and helpless in this society. Ekwefi, the second wife of Okonkwo was married to another man, but she leaves her husband and comes to Okonkwo with whom she falls in love.
Such action was unthinkable in the western society of the end of the nineteenth century, but the tribe does not reproach Ekwefi and does not exclude her from the social life. There are also powerful women among the members of the tribe, such as Chielo, the Oracle of the Hills and Caves. Chielo has the power to supersede the council of men; no great decision is made without her. Still, women in the tribe are still very vulnerable. When Chielo does not act like oracle, she is the ordinary widow with no power in the society.
Okonkwo is a harsh man in all aspects of life, he beats the members of hi family for the slightest faults. "No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man. " (Achebe, p. 45) This example most fully represents the attitude towards woman in the Igbo tribe. Even as we see examples of women in power, we are reminded that Igbo women are vulnerable to their husbands' rages. One of the most negative differences of the Igbo and the modern society is their war rule when the Igbo tribe has the rights to take two people from the rival tribe in exchange to the gender of the victim. Okonkwo brings home after the negotiations with the enemy two people from their tribe and one of them, Okonkwo's family accepts the boy Ikemefuna. Ikemefuna lived for several years with Okonkwo's family and becomes very close to his son, Nwoye. Ikemefuna has a positive influence on Nwoye who becomes a stronger man.
Okonkwo treats Ikemefuna as his own son, but despite sorrow and terror, he goes with the men when they kill Ikemefuna. Okonkwo himself kills the boy with machete, even as the boy calls him "Father" and asks for his help. The tribe asks Okonkwo to stay away from killing Ikemefuna, because killing kin is a big sin. But Okonkwo is eager to prove himself the worthy member of the tribe, a real man, who is not ruled by womans emotions. "'When did you become a shivering old woman, ' Okonkwo asked himself, 'you, who are known in all the nine villages for your valor in war?
How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number? Okonkwo, you have become a woman indeed. '" (Achebe, p. 56) From this example we learn, that the Igbo tribe is led by the prejudices and religious traditions to the great extend. The Igbo possess many positive features, but they all have the underside. Religion and traditions dictate the Igbo the course of action in every life situation.
They have various rituals which help the Igbo to please the gods and honor the worthy. The Igbo give access to women into the most sacred aspects of life, such as religion and administration. At the same time the women are viewed as property, even the Oracle has no much societal rights when she is not fulfilling her duties. The Igbo insist that the murder of the kin, the member of the family or the member of the tribe is a great sin, which Gods will punish, but the twins are considered evil by the Igbo and according to tradition they should be left to die in the forest. Being based on combination of such opposite traditions the Igbo easily fall victims of colonists.
The western culture of colonists plays the great role in breakdown of the Igbo culture. As it was already mentioned, the Igbo culture followed religious traditions in their everyday life. The western society begins colonization with the sending of missioners, who shook the Igbo's religion, the essence of their life organization. "'The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one.
He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart. '" (Achebe, p. 152) The missioners used the drawbacks of the Igbo religion for their purpose, they formed a rift between the Igbo culture and those who suffered from it. Okonkwo, one of the most powerful representatives of the Igbo lose his son to missioners, because Nwoye is constantly saddened by the facts of the Igbo culture. The Igbo culture falls under the influence of the western colonization, because the missioners defeated the Igbo from Inside. The Igbo abandon the ancient traditions that held their society and fight with each other.
When two parties fight the victory usually goes to the third party and missioners benefit from the conflict between the Igbo people. China Achebe in the novel Things Fall Apart relates the story of the Igbo culture and its breakdown under the influence of the western colonization. The author criticizes the colonization politics of the western people, describes how people loose their traditions and themselves, loose their spiritual freedom and connection with their ancestors. The author stresses the importance of preservation of cultural traditions, highlights that any culture is the complex phenomenon with the balance of its drawbacks and advantages.
Bibliography Achebe, China. Things Fall Apart. Heinemann, 1986.
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