Things Fall Apart Race Analysis

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The Clash of Races Africa has always been the centre of colonization for many European countries. With its colonization came stereotypes of African’s being inhumane, primitive and savage in comparison to the humanity of the civilized Europeans. The tradition model simplifies the stereotypes into Africans are bad and Europeans are good. Fortunately, it is not as clear cut as this. In Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, both the Igbo of the Umuofia and the British of Europe have good sides and dark sides of their respective races revealing that traditional perceptions of these races are not entirely accurate. Through their systems of government, court systems and religion both parties have the positive and negative effects on each other. As the traditional model states, the Europeans did have a positive effect on the Africans of Umuofia. Firstly, the British missionaries built a hospital for the people of the village. The villagers state that the “White man’s medicine was quick and worked well” (181). They shared the European knowledge of medicine with the villagers and this vastly improved their health and overall well-being. In addition, the Europeans built a school for the people of the Umuofia leading to them acquiring jobs. In particular, “A few months in were enough to make one a court messenger or even a court clerk (181).” The schools also taught advanced and knowledge based positions to the villagers too. For example, “[T]hose who stayed longer became teachers” (181-182). This passing of knowledge assisted the African society to become more educated and helped them get an occupation in the future. Contrary to the traditional model, the Africans of the Umuofia village are civil and humane. The Umofia village has communa... ... middle of paper ... ...e way it was forced on them was inhumane Therefore, it is definite that the Europeans had a dark side too. In summary, if there is one obvious fact, it is that the issue is not as clear cut as the traditional model makes it seem. The inhabitants of Umuofia do have a dark side however, it is also evident that they have a civilized and humane side too. Similarly, the Europeans in general also demonstrate both humanity and inhumanity through the massacring of an entire tribe and in imprisoning many Africans who do not conform. They also attempt to enlighten the Africans by providing jobs and medicine. To conclude, one cannot simply say the Europeans are superior and Africans are inferior. In today’s society, many stereotypical people are in existence and will forever exist but are those people not supposed to be progressing forward not reverting back to segregation?

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