“When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said “let us pray.” We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.”- Bishop Desmond Tutu. Houseboy a novel written by Ferdinand Oyono is an anti-colonial novel. This novel is written in a diary form from the view of Toundi. Toundi is the main character and through his life experiences Oyono reveals the truth about the colonialists which were the French. The novel starts with Toundi on his deathbed and then he later recalls the events that caused him to be there. The aim of this essay to answer the question to what extent is Houseboy a critic of the colonial legacy in Africa. Toundi the French culture and immediately adapts to it. Toundi represents all natives from Cameroon suffering from identity crises. This is proven from the following quotation in the first chapter of the novel “Now I keep a diary like he [Father Gilbert] does. Keeping a diary is a white man’s custom and what pleasure there is in it I do not know. But I shall try it out.” This quotation represents Toundi’s desire to be French. This also represents the identity crises he is going through. Toundi is confused as to whom he should be an African or French. In the first chapter of the book Toundi mentions the fact that he was meant to be a serpent and take care of his race. This is the initiation stage for toundi where he had a chance to be superior to his other native fellow but he chose to run away instead. Toundi runs away from home and goes to live with Father Gilbert where he is considered to be a house”boy”. He is dedicated to father Gilbert regardless of the treatment he got from him. It is ironic that Toundi escapes his house due to the continuo... ... middle of paper ... ...ct later in the novel we can sense racial discrimination. Madame was not punished for commiting adultery which Moreau. In conclusion Oyono criticizes the colonial time to a great extent to make the audience aware of the hypocritical method used to exploit the land and the destruction caused when citizens like Toundi who believed the false policy of assimilation. The Africans may have been claimed to be less civilized which is ironical to the idea of assimilation. Examples such as the priest or the immoral Madame are a part of the weak system which was enforced in Cameroon to civilize the natives. Such system which cannot follow its own rules cannot aid in controlling or improving the lives of others. The critics helped the audience to learn more about the problems and the ironical actions happening to Cameroon which could definitely not bring justice to the locals.
Amin, Julius A.“Secular Missionaries: Americans and African Development in the 1960’s”. American Historical Review.Apr2012, Vol.17 issue 2, p559-560.2p.Book review.Web.30 April 2014.
In the novel Segu, Maryse Conde beautifully constructs personal and in depth images of African history through the use of four main characters that depict the struggles and importance of family in what is now present day Mali. These four characters and also brothers, by the names of Tiekoro, Siga, Naba, and Malobali are faced with a world changing around their beloved city of Bambara with new customs of the Islamic religion and the developing ideas of European commerce and slave trade. These new expansions in Africa become stepping stones for the Troare brothers to face head on and they have brought both victory and heartache for them and their family. These four characters are centralized throughout this novel because they provide the reader with an inside account of what life is like during a time where traditional Africa begins to change due to the forceful injection of conquering settlers and religions. This creates a split between family members, a mixing of cultures, and the loss of one’s traditions in the Bambara society which is a reflection of the (WHAT ARE SOME CHANGES) changes that occur in societies across the world.
Imagine a group of foreign people invading your home, disavowing all your beliefs, and attempting to convert you to a religion you have never heard of. This was the reality for thousands and thousands of African people when many Europeans commenced the Scramble for Africa during the period of New Imperialism. A great fiction novel written by Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart, highlights the responses to missionaries by African people. The African natives responded to the presence of white missionaries with submission to their desires, strategic responses to counteract them, and with the most disruptive response of violence.
Nnolim, Charles E. "The Missionaries." Approaches To the African People: Essays in Analysis. London: Saros International, 1992.
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.
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.
In conclusion, it is clear that the coming of Christianity to Africa was not greeted with open arms. While it granted Africans the chance to acquire new teachings, it also insinuated itself within politics, family, and traditions, utterly destroying them from the inside out. Having been detailed within novels by Achebe, Oyono, and Thiong’o, it is easy to see how these “pacifying” roles eventually led to a total conquest for all of Africa.
After exploring the backgrounds of Joseph Conrad and Alan Paton, we realize the differences in their upbringings and how that may have had an effect on their outlooks of Africa. These authors grew up in completely different settings in completely different time periods; Joseph Conrad in a predominantly white area amongst those who would be the colonists of Africa in the future, and Alan Paton in the Africa itself amongst those who the colonization affected most greatly. These factors contribute to the different viewpoints that are apparent in their respective works. From analyzing the content of their writings, it is apparent that, although, both authors have the same overall opinion of colonialism, these opinions are due to two very different reasons.
In these examples, we can see the reasons that stories truly do have the power to change things and fight colonialism, the multiple authors mentioned throughout “Home and Exile” were very influential, even if they used their power of narrative in corrupt ways to justify their action. Throughout history, there will always be an author whose words will be strong enough to fight the problems of society, truly Chinua Achebe was the author of the 1900’s whose words were powerful enough to fight for what he believed in and help end the problem known as colonialism.
Shawn Mark. The Kingdom of God in Africa:: A Short History of Africa Christianity,(Grand Rapids: Baker
History has been told through various forms for decades. In the past, history was more commonly expressed through word of mouth, but more recently in the past century, through written text. While textbooks and articles give formal information with little to no bias, novels give a completely new perspective from the people who experienced it themselves. The Novels, God’s Bits of Wood, written by Sembene Ousmane, and No Longer at Ease, by Chinua Achebe give a more personal account of the effects of colonization. These two novels tackle the British and French method of colonization. God’s Bits of Wood takes place in the late 1940s and sheds light on the story of the railroad strike in colonial Senegal. The book deals with different ways that the Senegalese and Malians respond to colonialism during that time. No Longer at Ease is set in the 1950s and tells the early story of British colonialism and how the Nigerians responded to colonization. Comparing the two novels, there are obvious similarities and differences in the British and French ways of rule. African authors are able to write these novels in a way that gives a voice to the people that are most commonly silenced during colonialism. This perspective allows readers to understand the negative ways that colonization affects the colonized. Historical fiction like God’s Bits of Wood and No Longer at Ease are good educational tools to shed light on the history and effects of colonization, but they do not provide a completely reliable source for completely factual information.
Though written in response to Mussolini’s invasion of Algeria in 1935, the poem’s criticism of European colonialism in Africa can be extended to the host of European nations that ran the race to colonial domination. The poem is structured to mirror the evolution of Africa, with the three stanzas respectively dealing with Africa’s creation, colonisation and post-colonialism. This sets up the framework for the contrasting of the three periods, which expose the poet's impression of the hypocrisy of Western imperialism. For Tagore, Western imperialism in Africa has hindered the country's natural progression towards civilisation. This is emphasised through his ample use of anthropomorphism which offers a human dimension to Africa. The employment of pathos in Africa also conveys Tagore's conception of Western colonialism as driven by an ignorant sense of contempt that has ruthlessly robbed the continent of its innocence.
Magesa, Laurenti. African Religion: The Moral Tradition of Abundant Life. Nairobi: Pauline Pub., Africa, 1998.
Having done the above analysis on my favourite text, “Anowa” by Ama Ataa Aidoo, I realise that my like for the text has heightened because the analysis of Anowa has given me a deeper understanding of Africa’s colonialism. I now know what actually led to our colonialisation (the betrayal) and how it began (the bond of 1844) through the personal lives of Anowa and Kofi.