Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

The Heartbeat of Africa: Resistance The quest for raw resources and wealth has changed Africa forever. Colonialism and imperialism have redefined Africa, and the African identity. The West have been systematically abusing the people, and exploiting the lands for centuries. However, this assault on Africa was the farthest thing from complete assimilation. Through many forms of resistance, Africa has become a hybrid between the old traditions, and the modern age: forming a new African memory. It is through resistance to colonialism that the new African identity forms. The second wave of colonialism, which began in the late 1800’s, focused primarily on Africa and Asia. Western countries sought to control the land, resources, and the people

Its scars can still be found in modern day Africa. This beast, that is colonialism, attempted to drain the life and culture out of Africa in order to feed its own appetite. The European powers could not be matched by force. It was only through resistance that the new African identity could be born. But not all forms of resistance were sufficient enough to carry on this new memory. This idea was emulated in Okonkwo’s personality, and his life. Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, exemplifies the hardships that colonialism had on the Igbo people, and how forming a new memory was a battle between the two

He wanted to go into the courts, the administration buildings, and the churches and kill the white men. In other words, he saw violent resistance as the path to restore and preserve African memory. The final straw occurred when Okonkwo’s son, Nwoye, abandoned his African faith to become a Christian. He was so enraged, he strangled his son, “Answer me… Before I kill you” (Achebe 88.) The colonial memory had taken Nwoye. Okonkwo, being a cultural essentialist, would not tolerate this. He disowned his son. He had finally lost all his tolerance toward the west. Finally, after much tension between the colonists and Igbo, there was a meeting in the town square to try and figure out what to do. As the meeting commenced, messengers, representing the colonists, had come to put an end to this “resistance.” When the head messenger tried to pass “…Okonkwo drew his machete. The messenger crouched to avoid the blow. It was useless. Okonkwo’s machete descended twice and the man’s head lay before his uniform body” (Achebe 116). Okonkwo had resisted colonialism violently, but by doing so he had accepted the fact that the white men would come after him in order to enforce their laws and system of justice. Okonkwo decided to hang himself, which was considered the ultimate disgrace. This form of resistance proved to be useless. He had essentially taken the old African memory with him, and