Things Fall Apart

833 Words2 Pages

“He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart” (Achebe 172). This is the reaction of Oberike, a respected man who lives in Umuofia recalling his hand to hand experience with the Europeans. The Europeans demanded for more resources and the desire to change Africa’s economic and political expansion. The age of imperialism began around 1700 when modern nations (Europeans) want to take over less designated areas in Africa to colonize them or to influence them with the beliefs in order to expand their power. In the Novel Things Fall Apart, the author Chinua Achebe describes the setting of the Niger River being overrun by the British. Okonkwo was a very well respected man who lived in Umuofia and was a leader and a wrestling champion. The Europeans main motives for African imperialism were resources/slave labor, spread of Christianity, and Government changes.
The Europeans invaded Africa to exploit the resources and people for their own benefits. The Europeans desire for more resources lead them to take over Africa. “We must find new land form which we can easily obtain raw material and at the same time exploit the cheap slave labor that is available from the natives of the colonies.”(Document 3). The Europeans took advantage of the opportunities so that they could obtain the raw material and make profit by raising the price on the raw material. They also took full advantage with the slave labor. America is the closest to West Africa which lead to a great trading market between the Europeans and the American. The Europeans believed that the more land and resources they had the better the economy and better population. “I contend that we (Britons) are the finest race in the world, and that the more ...

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...o do once they have conquer the land they wanted. “To establish control of an area, europeans used different techniques. Over time, four forms of colonial control emerged: colony, protectorate sphere of influence, and economic imperialism.” (Easbey 345). “European rulers also developed methods of day-to-day management of the colonies in Africa.” (Easbey 345). The europeans had everything planned out and all but little did they knew, throughout this process they didn't pay much attention to the historical political divisions or the people of Africa. “In carving up the continents, the european countries paid little or no attention to the historical political divisions or to the many ethnic and language groups in Africa.” (Easbey 345). It was wrong for the europeans to invade with no precaution because they didn't care about what they were doing to the african culture.

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1168 Words | 3 Pages
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Things Fall Apart

The European Scramble Affected People in Africa