Kwame Anthony Appiah's Cosmopolitanism Analysis

Kwame Anthony Appiah’s Cosmopolitanism allows readers to take a step back from the world’s noise and emphasize the wonders that encompass all of the similarities and differences in each individual. Through these distinctive qualities, one can learn to coexist and grow through others’ differences. Appiah states that, cosmopolitanism “begins with the simple idea that in the human community… we need to develop habits of coexistence: conversation in its older meaning, of living together, association” (Appiah 2006). Furthermore, Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart illustrates the struggles of Nwoye coexisting with his father Okonkwo, who disagrees with Nwoye’s entire persona. While closely examining Nwoye’s attitude towards his paternal issues, one

These ties, Appiah argues, are that each individual has a duty to one another, but specifically that each individual has an obligation to themselves (Appiah xiv). Nwoye always knew that he was not as masculine as Okonkwo hoped he would be and Okonkwo was vocal about his opinions of Nwoye. However, Okonkwo would find reassurance when his son “would be able to control his women-folk” whenever Nwoye would “grumble about women” (Achebe 53). Nwoye’s father fervently believed that despite the successes of a man, if he could not control his women and children, he is not a man. Okonkwo’s strict control of Nwoye’s masculinity left Nwoye feeling like less of a man for liking “the stories his mother used to tell” instead of forcing himself to like “masculine stories of bloodshed and violence” (Achebe 53). Appiah would argue that if Nwoye was more cosmopolitan, he would know the difference between his duties as a son and those duties of staying true to himself. Appiah states that “we have obligations to others” (Appiah xv); Nwoye feels obligated to his father to enjoy masculine activities. However, Appiah also states that despite those obligations “they often have the right to go their own way” (Appiah xv). Nwoye neglected to openly express his interests and accept the obligations to himself, which led him to feel

However, Appiah did not have that sense of hometown spirit and he was amazed “why these people traveled so far to live and work in my[his] hometown” (Appiah 61-2). Having always known that his hometown was nothing special, Appiah could not come to terms on why other people would move there. Because Appiah only saw his hometown as ordinary, he failed to see his town from the perspective of those migrating to it, those who saw it as a great place “to live and work” (61-2). Furthermore, Appiah realized that by being more cosmopolitan, one can gain understanding and knowledge by seeing the world from a different perspective (61-2). Just like Appiah, Nwoye never understood why his father did not appreciate and respect the more feminine aspects of his personality. Because Nwoye failed to be cosmopolitan, he did not not look at this situation from his father’s perspective. If Nwoye questioned his father about this subject, Okonkwo would have mentioned this next story. Okonkwo, even as a little boy, disliked his father’s failures and weakness. Recalling on a traumatic event, Okonkwo describes the time where he was bullied by a playmate who called his father an “agbala” (Achebe 12). In Igbo culture, women are considered much weaker than men and are referred to as “agbala[s]” (12). Okonkwo is highly offended that someone would call him or his father