Africans have long been portrayed as savages and slaves, not only from the movies I have watched but also from the books I have read. Most of them were written from a white man’s perspective. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart was written from the Africans’ point of view. Achebe viewed them as human beings, hardworking people who believed in many gods and spirits and whose beliefs were deeply rooted in an established, organized culture and rich traditions. This paper examines how Achebe’s writing reflected African history. I believe that Achebe wanted to inspire social change on how we view Africans. In a television interview published by the Public Broadcasting Service, Achebe wanted the story to be true (Achebe, Chinua. Interview with …show more content…
The husband served as the head of the family and was responsible in providing for his family’s basic needs of food and shelter. The men made all the decisions regarding their family and the tribe as a whole. Men could have as many wives as they can support (“Igbo”). When the women get married, they would leave their parents’ homes and live with their husbands. The multiple wives do not stay in the same house; however, they live in close proximity with each other. The husbands have their own house and do not live with their wives. The women would prepare the food and would deliver it to the husband’s home at designated meal times. If the husband need to satisfy his sexual desire, his wife would go to his house. The wives and children are not permitted to enter the man’s home unless they were …show more content…
No single person rules the village; instead, a council of elders governs the village (“Igbo People”). Achebe demonstrated this government when the elders came together to avenge a death for one of Umuofia’s daughter (Achebe, 8). Instead of going to war, they displayed exceptional negotiating skills by offering “a young man and a virgin as a compensation” (Achebe, 9). To a foreigner, this would be barbaric; however, I believe that this is a brilliant tactic. Sacrifice one to save many lives. They were trying to avoid losses on both sides. When the missionaries arrived, they did not accept this form of government. They casted doubts on the validity of the elder’s
women to be married, married, and widowed. In the state of marriage, women were forced to be the
Within The Gypsies and Guests of the Sheik, males and females carried out separate roles within the communities. In both books, families were patrilineal; therefore, the women would live with their husbands’ family after marriage. Through this tradition, males are expected to effectively carry on their family name and take care of their wives in their homes. Additionally, males are expected to provide for their families through work outside of the house. Within The Gypsies, males hunted animals for meals, drove the wagons to separate destinations, rode/cared for the horses, stole things, and initiated violent acts to cover up something while another man stole something. Similar to the men in this book, men in the Guests of the Sheik are
The moms were housewives and homemakers who took care of the family. The husbands were the men of the houses who did hard labor to support the family. Women did the domestic work and the men did the dirty work. In some families these customs have not changed. Dads continue to be the breadwinner while the moms baked the bread.
One custom of Umuofia that would be very different from Western culture is Polygamy, the practice of having many wives. This custom is practiced in the connected nine villages of Umuofia. In fact, a man's wealth is partially measured by the number of wives he has. A wealthy man described in Things Fall Apart, had nine wives and thirty children. Okonkwo had three wives and eight children.
Okonkwo’s desire for respect motivates his quest to preserve the practices of Ibo culture, while Obierika preserves the practices of the Ibo culture with a more humanistic perspective. Achebe uses the differing approaches of Okonkwo and Obierika in maintaining the cultural doctrines of the Ibo people to reveal his sympathy for Obierika over Okonkwo. Okonkwo’s motives for maintaining the customs of the Ibo originate with fear. Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna while “dazed with fear,” drawing “his machete [to] cut him down” because, “he was afraid of being thought weak” (Achebe 61). Though Okonkwo attempts to appear strong to the people of Umuofia, his fearful motivation speaks to a hidden internal weakness. Okonkwo’s focus on eradicating the taint of “his father’s weakness and failure” and his yearning for respect drive him to kill Ikemefuna instead of the more proper motive of simply effectuating what the Ibo conside...
Nnoromele, Patrick C.. “The Plight of a Hero in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.” Chinua Achebe's
Leonardo Da Vinci once said, “Nothing can be loved or hated unless it is first known. Chinua Achebe takes this idea into account when he wrote Things Fall Apart. He shows in this novel that unless you know about African culture, you can’t love it or hate it. He shows that Africans aren’t savages like the world thinks they are, and that the Eurocentric world that we live in isn’t correct.
middle of paper ... ... The "An African Voice. " Interview with Chinua Achebe. N.p., 2 Aug. 2000.
Chinua Achebe was an influential Nigerian author during the 1900’s who was credited with his three essays which have been fused together into the book “Home and Exile”. In his stories he discusses things such as his own Igbo people, the problems with colonialization, the strength that stories can have and many more topics. A big part of his essays are on his thoughts of colonialism, the impact it has had on his home of Nigeria, and how stories written by others either helped justify colonialism or rejected it. Chinua argues that stories have their own power to fight, and while stories themselves do not have the ability to directly fight colonialism; they do, however with their power of words, stories can motivate and encourage people to stand up against colonialism. In proving this thesis to be a true statement, I will be providing evidence of the how, why and the extent to which stories can fight colonialism.
To start with, the advantages of the Igbo social structure included a balanced society, equality, distribution of labor, a surplus of food, separate huts, a collective society, and some form of government. A centralized society was achieved through the Igbo social structure. This structure served the purpose to impose the same religion upon the people to enforce a common belief. By organizing the society, the people could follow the idea of “unity” to prevent any conflicts or disagreements within the community. Along with a unified society, some kind of equal status came as a result of the social structure that has been established within the clan. Although the social hierarchy did not promote equal status between men and women, it did, to some extent, promote equality within the division of labor among the people. It relieved the pressure of stress, which may have been bestowed up...
Upon an initial reading of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, it is easy to blame the demise of Okonkwo’s life and of the Umofia community on the imperialistic invasions of the white men. After all, Okonkwo seemed to be enjoying relative peace and happiness before then. He did have a few mishaps; one of them resulted in him being exiled for eight years. Nonetheless, he returned to his home town with high spirits and with prospects of increased success. However, everything has changed. The white men have brought with them a new religion and a new government. Okonkwo’s family falls apart. The men in his village lose their courage and valor; they do not offer any resistance to the white men. Consequently, Okonkwo kills himself in disgrace and Umofia succumbs to the white men. However, the white men are not the only people responsible for demise of Umofia. The Igbo culture, particularly their views on gender roles, sows the seed of their own destruction. By glorifying aggressive, manly traits and ignoring the gentle, womanly traits, Umofia brings about its own falling apart.
Osei-Nyame, Kwadwo. "Chinua Achebe Writing Culture: Representations of Gender and Tyranny in Things Fall Apart" Research in African Literatures Summer 1999.
The author Chinua Achebe, in the novel, “Things Fall Apart,” shares the extreme diversity between the female and male characters residing in Umofia. Okonkwo, the male leader of the tribe, carries qualities such as power and manliness, as all men are expected to. As for the females they are commonly referred as being weaker for child bearing and more responsible because they are expected to cook, clean, and take care of their children. Although the traits of the Igbo culture vary in the determination of the sexes, both genders share both positive and negative aspects of their community.
Gikandi, Simon. "Chinua Achebe and the Invention of African Literature." Classics in Context: Things Fall Apart. Chinua Achebe. Portsmouth: Heinemann Educational Publishers, 1996
In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the author poses many perspectives for literary criticism and review. This work emphasizes many different cultural aspects that were considered controversial at the time of publication in both African and American culture. This novel’s focus on feminine roles, religion, and cultural norms give readers a glimpse of life in the village of Umuofia while allowing them to think critically about the thematic topics posed.