Imperialism In Things Fall Apart

In Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, readers learn the story of a small, tightly knit village in eastern Nigeria called Igbo. The narrative follows the life and experiences of the novel’s main character, whose name is Okonkwo, as well as other characters within his native village. Achebe shows how Nigeria functioned both before and after the British came to colonize the small villages. Achebe portrayed the perspective of villagers in Nigeria during the beginnings of colonization. He gave them voices within each chapter in Things Fall Apart to show the vast differences European and African culture.
The process of colonization in this novel is no different than how it has always been, which is how white, male imperialists storm into communities and force their practices/ideals on communities who were successful before they even arrived. Achebe portrayed the perspective of villagers in Nigeria during the beginnings of colonization. Before the British colonized, the Umofia tribe practiced traditional religion with a heavy emphasis on how nature affected the spirits of the village as a whole. The British missionaries brought the Christian religion, which created confusion as well as infatuation within some the villagers, and a commotion with others. Some of the villagers were intrigued by the strange religion, and others, like Okonkwo, were enraged that strange men were taking complete control of his community. The British deem the African culture and lifestyles of the Umofian village mediocre when they came in to colonize. The missionaries who came into the village used psychological tactics on the villagers to attempt to convert them

Okonkwo, who is constantly expressing his dissatisfaction of what the missionaries are doing, eventually begins to think violence would be the way to revolt against the