Marxism in the African Culture

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During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, freedom, equality, and traditional values were deprived from many African nations, due to the European colonization. In Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, he tells a story of an African man by the name of Okonkwo, who is banished from his village of Umuofia for seven years, and is forced to return to his birthplace of Mbanta. After seven years, he returns to Umuofia and faces the struggle in dealing with the modernizations that European colonists have initiated. The different perspectives on economy, the effect it has on society, and the power of wealth and influence in implementation of judicial systems between the Igbo culture and European culture lead to the launch of modernization. Upon reading Things Fall Apart, readers will come to know that economy plays a key role in many cultures.
The European and Igbo cultures have different perspectives on economy, one concerning wealth and success while the other focuses on a strong economy and political institution. Okwonko, an Igbo native, grew up poor but he worked his way up to be someone way better than his dad, who died heavily in debt. At age 18, Okonkwo won fame as the greatest wrestler among the local nine villages, after beating an undefeated wrestle. Through this fight the narrator states that he becomes, “a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams, and had just married his third wife.” (Achebe 6). From his wrestling fame, Okonkwo gains three wives and becomes a wealthy farmer with two barns full of yams. Achebe shows us that due to the economy of Igbo culture, many people of poverty strive to become prosperous and rich. Some become rich through personal achievements and are able to obtain yams and an abundant number...

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...hem out. Achebe includes this quote to give us an example of how Europeans are able to take over the leaders of the Igbo culture. This new scheme changes society, hiding all past advannces of the tribe and unveils an completely fresh community under European colonization.
The Igbo and the Europeans worked hard to implement new ideas into the community, but in the end Europeans were successful in taking control of the Igbo culture. European and Igbo cultures contrast on their views of economy, the communal effects of economy and education, and the functions of power in establishing government and judicial systems. Ultimately, the Igbo were just too short-handed to deal with the Europeans, causing them to eventually fall apart. By reading Things Fall Apart, readers will understand the struggles that cultures go through under the influence of wealth, power, and greed.

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