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Essay on cultures in nigeria
Effects of colonialism on the cultural history of Nigeria
Discuss the main themes in chinua Achebe's "things fall apart
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Arrow of God is set among the Igbo people of southern Nigeria a few years after the First World War. Though the British had claimed colonial rule over the Igbo land in 1885, expeditions to subdue individual Igbo villages were still being undertaken amidst the First World War. The fictional villages of Umuaro in the novel have had little interactions with the colonial power which claims to rule them before the beginning of the novel and although they have been exposed to Christianity and other aspects of European society retain a traditional social, political, and religious structure.
In 1914, Northern and Southern Nigeria were consolidated by the British government into a single administration headed by Governor-General Frederick Lugard, With his new authority, Lugard extended the system of indirect rule utilized by British authorities in the north into southern Nigeria.. Indirect rule required the creation of local government to serve the colonial agenda. These local governments were believed by the British to require autocratic chiefs, a custom foreign to the Igbo people whose political power was decentralized and typically in the
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He played an important role in debates over the future of post-colonial Nigeria in addition to becoming a prolific writer of both poetry and prose, fiction and nonfiction. He has often referred to his works of fiction in interviews and essays as motivated by a desire to teach the world that culture was not something brought to Africa by its colonizers. Arrow of God like Things Fall Apart with which it is sometimes grouped as two-thirds of an Igbo Trilogy, presents a Igbo society with social, religious, political, and artistic complexity disturbed by the advance of British colonial
It seems to be Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism is the idea of natural selection through sociology and politics. It attempts to reform society through state intervention or other means. The poor were the “unfit” and should not be aided and wealth was a sign of success ("Social Darwinism”). In both stories we see a “government” type swoop in and try to change things and expect the people who already are there to live this way. In Arrow of God, the Christian missionaries are the ones who come into Umuaro and try to convince the villages to believe in their god and live in a certain way. In District 9, the MNU raids the prawn’s district and are forcing them to move to new homes and live the way they say so. Both reflect Social Darwinism. Politics have been forced upon both worlds and there is a sense of natural selection ("Social Darwinism”). If the Umuaro people do not start believing the Christian way, then their resources are limited. If the prawn’s do not move to this new camp, then they are killed. It’s always a lose-lose for the
These Ibo people are already afraid of the British due to them killing the Abame tribe, but now they are coming into their other villages and say that "their buttocks" are going to build some building so they can worship a God they have. To top it off one of the new Christians, Enoch, taunts the egwugwu, or spirits. Even if someone doesn't believe the same as another they should not make fun of their beliefs. Enoch knocks off one of the egwugwu's masks off essentially killing the "spirit". This fear of the British increased, because now one of their own has killed a "spirit" that could possibly enable a curse on them or crop. "Enoch had killed an ancestral spirit, and Umuofia was thrown into confusion."(186) After all this rage against the British has already happened on of the Ibo's own people has caused Umuofia into fear and
Chinua Achebe's 1959 novel, Things fall Apart, takes place in the 1890s, just before British colonization. The novel focuses on the nine Ibo-speaking villages of Umuofia, which is Ibo for "People of the Forest." Umuofia is the village in which Okonkwo, Achebe's protagonist, prospers in everything and is able to secure his manly position in the tribe. Now known as Nigeria, this land was a primitive agricultural society completely run by men. Umuofia was known, and as Achebe says, ."..feared by all it's neighbors. It was powerful in war and in magic, and priests and medicine men were feared in all the surrounding country" (11). Perhaps, its most powerful and feared magic was called .".. agadi- nwayi, or old woman it had its shrine in the centre of Umuofia ... if anyone was so foolhardy as to pass by the shrine past dusk he was sure to see the old woman"(12). The people of Umuofia are very devoted to their religion and their magic. These ancient beliefs were believed to give the people some sort of power over their oppressors.
The men that come to Umuofia destroy the cultural balance of faith and religion that encompasses the native people in Africa. People in Umuofia depend strongly on the ancestors and gods in their culture. It is their tradition and their beginning, from which they govern their lives. Even the priestess that serves the god Agbala, "...was full of the power of her god, and she was greatly feared" (16). Without the stronghold of customs and traditions, only chaos exists. Peace, trust, and knowledge are thrown off when the new religion of Christianity is introduced. When the missionary explains that:
Chinua Achebe?s Things Fall Apart is a narrative story that follows the life of an African man called Okonkwo. The setting of the book is in eastern Nigeria, on the eve of British colonialism in Africa. The novel illustrates Okonkwo?s struggles, triumphs, and his eventual downfall, all of which basically coincide with the Igbo?s society?s struggle with the Christian religion and British government. In this essay I will give a biographical account of Okonwo, which will serve to help understand that social, political, and economic institutions of the Igbos.
Written by Chinua Achebe, “Things Fall Apart” describes European imperialism through the eyes of the Nigerian tribesmen as they interact with European colonists. What makes this piece of literature valuable is not the fact that it criticizes imperialism; it is the way in which it criticizes imperialism. Achebe portrays the African tribes as having very rich civilized and social cultures, not as being animalistic savages, which other literatures would lead one to believe. Because of this, the reader is able to connect with the mindset of an African native. This enables the reader to view imperialism from the opposite side of the spectrum, as people whose culture is being destroyed by foreign invaders (Shmoop).
Famous French fabulist, Jean de La Fontaine, astutely stated, “A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.” People, both in real life and literature, seal their fate through their own actions. The novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe captures the cultural life of the Igbo people before and after the influences of British colonialism by focusing on a representative hard-working character named Okonkwo. The Igbo believed that Chukwu, lesser gods, ancestors, and their own personal gods were responsible for determining the destiny of one’s life. Through proverbs regarding motivation, achievement, and respect, Achebe communicates that destiny must eventually be accepted.
Even though it appears that he sides with Africans and their cultural beliefs, Achebe uses things from outside their religion, such as biblical allusions. When the missionaries appear it says, “they were all sons of God. And [they] told them about this new God” (Achebe 126). It is interesting to note that Achebe capitalizes the “g” in God, which is proper especially if one claims to be a Christian. Another allusion could be interpreted when the locusts cover the land. It is phrased, “then quite suddenly a shadow fell on the world, and the sun seemed hidden behind a thick cloud” (49). There were so many, that this “cloud” could easily repre...
Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart was written about European colonization Africa. Throughout the novel language, social structure, and religion are all brought over by Europeans. Things Fall Apart focuses on the difference between genders in Igbo culture, a system of tribes, in Nigeria. Achebe uses a patriarchal society to describe the divide between the Igbo people. Okonkwo, the protagonist, is a great example of how all the authority in this African culture belongs to men. The representation of demanding African men, story telling, deprived African women, and Okonkwo’s fatal falling in Igbo society all contribute to the significance of what masculinity really is throughout Achebe’s book.
Achebe uses the symbol of tribal drums to show the flourishing culture and life that Umuofia experiences before the Europeans arrive. The symbol of drums is often present during cultural gatherings and celebrations in Umuofia. During the feast, which marks a new harvest year, “drums [are] still beating, persistent and unchanging. Their sound [is] no longer a separate thing from the living village” (104). Drums distinctly relate to the culture and traditions of the village. Moreover, the “persistent and unchanging” beat to the drums also reflects the unity of the society, and how the tribe currently operates (104). These traditions are unique to Umuofia and are an integral part of African culture. However, this unchanging and pe...
Throughout time, major historical events have only been told from the perspective of white powers, such as the British. Because of this, stereotypes about other cultures are formed, which are often accurate, because these sources are biased. However, the novel Things Fall Apart destroys the stereotypes that have been set by British colonialists about the people of Nigeria. Chinua Achebe’s historical fiction novel fiction novel Things Fall Apart is set in the 1890’s and it portrays the clash between the Ibo and their culture and British colonialists.The novel offers historians a side of the story of British colonialism that is not often told, and therefore, is a valuable work of history.
Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart is a powerful novel about the social changes that occurred when the white man first arrived on the African continent. The novel is based on a conception of humans as self-reflexive beings and a definition of culture as a set of control mechanisms. Things Fall Apart is the story of Okonkwo, an elder, in the Igbo tribe. He is a fairly successful man who earned the respect of the tribal elders. The story of Okonkwo’s fall from a respected member of the tribe to an outcast who dies in disgrace graphically dramatizes the struggle between the altruistic values of Christianity and the lust for power that motivated European colonialism in Africa and undermined the indigenous culture of a nation.
In Chinua Achebe 's classic novel "Things Fall Apart," the development of European colonization 's lead to extreme cultural changes, leaving a lasting impact on the Igbo village of Umofia in West Africa. In the novel, Achebe displays the impacts of European colonization in both critical and sympathetic terms to provide the reader with both positive and negative factors of Imperialism to develop an unbiased understanding of what the Igbo culture and society went through. While addressing the hardship 's of life by showing the deterioration of Okonkwo 's character, the cultural and traditional changes of society, and the positive and negative impacts of imperialism, Achebe keeps touch on the overall theme of the novel, once a dramatic event
Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. -W. B. Yeats, "The Second Coming" It is from this excerpt of the Yeats' poem that Chinua Achebe chose the title of his novel, Things Fall Apart. The story is set in turn of the century Nigeria, at the lbo village of Umuofia. It is at the time of the British colonization of Nigeria, a time when life for some members of the lbo people did begin to fall apart. Achebe's novel presents a look at the complex nature of the lbo society. His writing also displays many notions of human nature. One concept is cultural misunderstanding. Another idea about human nature is how the flexibility or rigidity of one's character affects one's fate. Things Fall Apart also illustrates how the lbo practice of relegating certain members of their society eventually becomes a component in the destruction of the life they have always known. We also can see the theme of destiny throughout the novel. In many instances in Achebe's narrative, the need for equilibrium between individual needs and the needs of the community is apparent. The combination of these themes with the authentic insight of the Nigerian Achebe, have made Things Fall Apart one of the classics of all literature. Achebe succeeds in painting a vivid picture of the complexity of the lbo society. He gives detailed descriptions of the social and family rituals of the lbo, such as the yearly Feast of the New Yam. Achebe also gives insight into the laws and trial processes of these people. Things Fall Apart also gives an excellent look at the marriage customs and religious practices of the lbo people, and the mechanis...
In 1958 Chinua Achebe published his first and most widely acclaimed novel, Things Fall Apart. This work-commonly acknowledged as the single most well known African novel in the world-depicts an image of Africa that humanizes both the continent and the people. Achebe once said, "Reading Heart of Darkness . . . I realized that I was one of those savages jumping up and down on the beach. Once that kind of enlightenment comes to you, you realize that someone has to write a different story" (Gikandi 8-9); Achebe openly admits that he wrote Things Fall Apart because of the horrible characterization of Africans in many European works, especially Heart of Darkness. In many ways, Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart can be seen as an Afrocentric rebuttal to the Eurocentric depi...