Rico Pelcher
5th Period
December 5th, 2015
Mrs. Smith
Cultural Collision
Cultural collision is something that occurs on a daily basis, yet remains unfelt and unseen through your daily life. In fact, a person would probably never ever realize that it had happened unless they took a step back and actually analyzed every single little action and thought made and compared it to their thoughts and actions from several months ago. Even then, however, it could be pretty unrecognizable. But once in awhile, a very uncommon moment will happen when two culture will clash, causing sparks to fly and those sparks will ignite a fire that ravages everything in its path, barely leaving anything behind on its path. The end result is something completely and
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In Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, the main character’s, Okonkwo’s, sense of identity is threatened to collapse when British colonists come to colonize the Igbo to which Okonkwo’s response to is very severe and, in the end, lethal.
This sense of identity of Okonkwo’s character is strong, forever working to be the complete opposite of his father, whom he considered weak and an embarrassment to both himself and to the village. How strong this belief of his was, is reflected when Okonkwo states that, “ . . . his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness,” (Ch. 2). He was so determined to be absolutely nothing like this father, that he considered it downright terrifying to even be thought of as weak, even for a split second. This blunt and slightly ignorant identity builds into when Okonkwo is challenged perfectly, created the sparks needed. The first spot that is
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An example of this would be when the colonizers had come to conver the people, and one of the villagers had called out, “”Your buttocks understand our language,”” (145). This caused everyone to laugh and thought this would be a phase, everyone believing that their gods would drive these people away, just like Okowkwo, so it was a show for them. However anger started to mount as Okonkwo lost his son and his violence begins to show when, “In a flash, Okonkwo drew his machete,” (204) and proceeded to cut down one of the messengers sent by the white man. This is where his anger and hatred for the British goes past his very small amount of self control. Time goes on and the pressure becomes bigger and bigger resulting into turning that frustration into despair. This was shown very clearly when, “Then they come to the tree which Okonkwo’s body was dangling,” (207). This giant mess of feelings that he couldn’t really do much about grew and grew until it was much too crazy for him to handle with his violent ways. This sense of identity that had been holding on tight finally was starting to loose its grip on its confidence resulting in this
Set in Africa in the 1890s, Chinua Achebe's ‘Things Fall Apart’ is about the tragedy of Okonkwo during the time Christian missionaries arrived and polluted the culture and traditions of many African tribes. Okonkwo is a self-made man who values culture, tradition, and, above all else, masculinity. Okonkwo’s attachment to the Igbo culture and tradition, and his own extreme emphasis on manliness, is the cause of his fall from grace and eventual death.
... his words that he committed a great evil; we live in peace with our fellows to honor our great goddess of the earth without whose blessings our crops will not grow. You have committed a great evil (Achebe 30). Okonkwo displays another fit of anger during the feast of the new yam, when he almost killed his second wife with a gun because she cut a few leaves off the banana tree to wrap some food. Without patience to discern her explanation; she was beaten mercilessly and almost got killed. Okonkwo lacked a sense of affection towards his family, which can be linked to his fear of weakness. He repudiates any show of emotion or patience in order not to appear weak. His household lived in a perpetual fear, he never gave them the opportunity to get close to him without been scared of him, and this really had a great effect with the relationship he had with his household.
“He who will hold another down in the mud must stay in the mud to keep him down.” This quote by Chinua Achebe describes the self-inflictions when a person purposely goes after another. This goes hand-in-hand with the Nigerian author’s magnum opus, Things Fall Apart. For the duration of the book, Achebe uses subtle events to create amplifying changes. He uses Okonkwo’s relationship with others, his learning about the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves. Achebe also uses Okonkwo’s fear of change for the Ibo regarding to the missionaries and their spread of Christianity through the region. Creating universal and relatable characters, Chinua Achebe warns people of rash actions and their effects over time.
The only way to stay in power was to hide his emotions from the members of his tribe. “Okonkwo was also feeling tired and sleepy, for although nobody else knew it, he had not slept all last night” (112). His insomnia was an indication of future medical problems, however “nobody else knew of it.”For this reason, his success might be one of the roots to his depression, because he never shared any of his struggles to protect his titles. Furthermore, keeping things bottled up will take a toll on him in the future. In fact, his definition of a strong warrior was brutal. “To show affection was a sign of weakness the only thing worth demonstrating was strength” (28). His expectation of men like he was to never show any kind of emotion including love, so the only emotions he can express was anger or confidence. Moreover, asserting dominance was only allowed otherwise his position will be overtaken. Powerful men like Okonkwo who are only allowed to express strength and self-confidence are bond to be unhappier due to the unspoken rules of not allowing themselves to show love or joy. In short, a high position in Okownkwo’s village comes with the inability to show fear despite deep unresolved insecurities.
William James, a famous American philosopher, once stated, “The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives”. This quotation effectively illustrates how change in one’s attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs can alter the environment in which one lives. This concept is clearly demonstrated throughout the novel Things Fall Apart, authored by Chinua Achebe, by establishing a connection through the development of its characters and the change in traditional African tribal villages seen in the Nineteenth Century. It will be established how various characters demonstrated by the author throughout the novel exemplify how change in one’s attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs can alter the environment in which one lives addressed by William James’s quote above. First, by analyzing Achebe’s development of Okonkwo’s character through his initial character description and the emergence of outsiders, it is evident that he is portrayed as an old fashioned character that is less responsive to change. Secondly, through examining Nwoye’s character, Okonkwo’s son, it becomes apparent that the youth in the novel are more open-minded, easily persuadable and more adaptive to societal changes. Lastly, uncovering the meaning behind the arrival of European missionaries, it becomes apparent that Achebe defines this group as being a “disease”, poisoning the society in which Okonkwo lives. The author look’s at individuals as being critical and influential figures in shaping the environment to which they belong, beginning with Okonkwo.
From birth Okonkwo had wanted his son, Nwoye, to be a great warrior like him. His son instead rebelled and wanted to be nothing like Okonkwo. Okonkwo would not change so that his son would idolize him, as he had wanted since his son's birth. He chose not to acknowledge his son's existence instead. This would weigh heavily on anyone's conscience, yet Okonkwo does not let his relationship with his son affect him in the least bit.
Culture: the beliefs, customs, arts, etc., of a particular society, group, place, or time. The idea of culture is stressed greatly, and at the same time distorted in the novel Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe. Through the main character and protagonist of the book, Okonkwo, we recognize the distortion of African culture that takes place within the Umuofia tribe when threatened by the intruding missionaries, and how this deeply affects Okonkwo, who would do whatever it takes to protect his tribe and the culture and traditions that lie within it. Okonkwo's character is collectively made up of his wealth and honor, his dedication to his tribe and everything that it withholds, his fiery personality, and lastly, his pride and courage. All of these traits are what make Okonkwo the prestigious man he is, and I believe his character is what makes the story truly tragic.
He took vengeances against anyone who dared go against his wishes and commands. He uses aggression to establish his rule and his action of defiance against the elders and the Gods shows his “king like” status that he so much enjoys. “But Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through, not even for fear of a goddess.” (19). Okonkwo physically and mentally abused his family, especially the younger ones who were easily intimidated by his sizzling temper and challenging personality. Okonkwo would mistreat his wives and kids without any reason or rational thought. “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, live in perpetual fear of his fiery temper” (9). Okonkwo temper and aggression gave him dominance and control over his family to the extent that no one could question his
Culture collisions are in our everyday lives here in America in our own little towns. We might not notice our culture changing because it is a part of our everyday lives. Culture collisions cause some people to triumph and some people to fail. In the novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the Ibo tribe did not see these culture clashes everyday until the “white men” showed up and influenced the Ibo to change their ways. Achebe shows how many of the characters react to this culture shock. Obierika is one of the main characters that shows his sense of identity through this culture collision.
Okonkwo was ashamed of him and did everything possible to never end up like his father. When the narrator stated, “With a father like Unoka, Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. But he threw himself into it like one possessed. And indeed he was possessed by the fear of his father’s contemptible life and shameful death” (pg. 18). The.
The character of Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart was driven by fear, a fear of change and losing his self-worth. He needed the village of Umuofia, his home, to remain untouched by time and progress because its system and structure were the measures by which he assigned worth and meaning in his own life. Okonkwo required this external order because of his childhood and a strained relationship with his father, which was also the root of his fears and subsequent drive for success. When the structure of Umuofia changed, as happens in society, Okonkwo was unable to adapt his methods of self-evaluation and ways of functioning in the world; the life he was determined to live could not survive a new environment and collapsed around him.
Before the arrival of the Europeans, Achebe did a excellent job portraying how the life of Igbo was before they were forced to oppose their own culture. To support this theme, Achebe included detailed descriptions of social rituals within each family, the justice system, religious practices and consequences, preparation and indulgence of food, the marriage process and the distributing of power within the men. Achebe shows how every man has an opportunity to prove himself worthy to achieve a title on the highest level, based merely on his own efforts. One may argue that the novel was written with the main focus on the study of Okonkwo’s character and how he deteriorates, but without the theme that define the Igbo culture itself, we would never know the universe qualities of the society that shaped Okonkwo’s life. The lives of the Igbo people was no different to the actual lives of the Ibos people back in the early days of Africa. Just like in Things Fall Apart, in actual African tribes there was never a ruler. “Very interesting thing about these villages is that there is no single ruler or king that controls the population. Decisions are made by including almost everyone in the village” (AfricaGuide). Using the theme, Achebe educated readers on by mirroring real African life in her
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 Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, the reader gets a look into how drastically one culture can change the traditions and lifestyle of another. The novel shows their influence mainly through the main character, Okonkwo, and his downfall throughout the story with the collision of the Ibo and Western culture. Achebe uses Okonkwo, a strong warrior and important male leader in his village, to show a person’s perspective of the invasion. He spent his entire life trying to prove that he is the strongest man, and he showed this both physically and emotionally in the beginning. He even killed Ikemefuna, a boy he called his son, and even after he was told not to have any hand in his killing by the Oracle because he did not want to feel weak by not
Have you ever wondered what would happen when two cultures collide? Well in the novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, a culture clash takes place, with the main character Okonkwo’s village being overtaken by Christian white men seeking to influence and change his tribe and possibly other tribes.