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Political theory of imperialism during the scramble for africa
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The fin de siècle was a period of rapid change in Europe, with new technologies that increased contact between Europe and other continents like Africa. Europe’s subsequent Scramble for Africa was justified by new sciences and theories, such as social Darwinism and degeneration. However, both the justifications for imperialism and the act itself often ignored native voices. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (TFA) provides an African view on imperialism; although his novel appears to support some of the justifications for imperialism, the book ultimately rebuts these by showing how harmful imperialism was to Africans. During the fin de siècle, Darwin’s theory of evolution claimed that humans descended from primitive ancestors and evolution did …show more content…
Okonkwo spends his life ensuring that he will not be agbala (woman/title-less man) like his father (Achebe 10). His hypermasculinity manifests in his aggression and his refusal to show emotions because “to show affection [is] a sign of weakness” (Achebe 20). Like the Europeans, Okonkwo is concerned that physical and mental weakness in inheritable, which is why he is so afraid and angry that his own son, Nwoye, is “degenerate and effeminate” (Achebe 108). Okonkwo’s fear of degeneration is toxic. His hypermasculinity hurts everyone around him, most obviously through his killing of Ikemefuna. Although Okonkwo does not want to kill his “son,” he does it anyway because he does not want the other men to see him as weak (Achebe 43). Okonkwo’s hypermasculinity also hurts himself. He falls into a depression after Ikemefuna’s death and (Achebe 46). In the end, Okonkwo’s failure to convince Umofia to go to war leads him to hang himself (Achebe 46, 144). Likewise, European imperialism’s attempts to combat degeneration were usually incredibly harmful to the Africans, as shown throughout …show more content…
Through a modern lens, imperialists seems either incredibly naïve, like Chamberlain who genuinely though he was saving the Africans, or malicious like Kidd, who thought whites were destined to “exterminate” inferior races like the Africans (Kidd, in Armstrong 229). Yet, as seen in TFA, the realities of imperialism were much more ambiguous. Imperialists like Mr. Brown were benevolent, though not necessarily beneficial. Likewise, not all Africans were victims or saw imperialism as a negative development. Imperialism benefitted certain Africans like Nwoye and the osu. In the end, Achebe’s message about imperialism is best summed up by Obierka’s observation: “[the white man] does not even speak our tongue [.] But he says that our customs are bad” (Achebe 124). TFA shows that one of the main reasons imperialism was so harmful to the natives is the sometimes unintentional, sometimes deliberate lack of understanding of by the Europeans. Because they assumed that Africans were incomprehensible and inherently different, they decided that Africans needed outside help to become
by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo depicts his masculinity in many different ways, even if it hurts the people closest to him. He feels it is necessary to display his manliness so he does not end up like his father Unoka. “He had no patience with unsuccessful men. He had no patience with his father” (4). Okonkwo correlates virility with aggression and feels the only emotion he should show is anger, leaving him no way to cope with the death of his culture.
He was in great conflict with the ideas of the white men and the missionaries. Okonkwo saw that their beliefs had not only changed the daily life of the Ibo, but it also changed the people themselves: “He mourned for the warlike men of Umuofia, who had so unaccountably become soft like women” (Achebe 183). The author uses strong diction to compare the men before and after colonization. This quote also portrays Okonkwo’s opinion towards the cultural collision. He values strength and masculinity immensely because of his fear of appearing weak like his father Unoka. When he describes that the men of Umuofia changed to be soft like women, this shows how much he dishonors the Western ideas and how it has taken over the village. He made an attempt to get rid of the Western influence by urging the tribe to fight like men, but they refuse to. He was determined and still attempted to furthermore encourage the people of Umuofia to revolt against the new culture. He realizes that his attempts to return the village back to the way it was before were futile. He knew that Christianity was tearing his people apart, but knew he was incapable of making change to help his people. Okonkwo then starts to feel hopeless and abandoned by his clan, which causes him to commit suicide by hanging himself: “Obierika… turned suddenly to the District Commissioner and said ferociously: ‘That man was one of the greatest men
The novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe has strong anti-imperialistic views. The epigraph and the title of the novel come from the opening stanza of William Butler Yeats’s poem The Second Coming. Things Fall Apart blissfully reflects the rise of imperialism as Britain and France take control of African territories. With the end of the Second World War, the German Empire collapses and the League of Nations takes it upon itself to take control of the former German colonies. Due to the implementation of British and French monarchies within these newly distributed territories, an anti-imperialistic stronghold arises within the colonies and cause for a civil unrest within the African territories.
Okonkwo’s fear leads him to treat members of his family harshly, in particular his son, Nwoye. Okonkwo often wonders how he, a man of great strength and work ethic, could have had a son who was “degenerate and effeminate” (133). Okonkwo thought that, "No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man" (45).
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...
In Achebe's Things Fall Apart and Conrad Heart of Darkness, the role of Africa is intertwined. It is seen as extremely primitive and the African's belief system is belittled. The two heroes in the novels also are very similar, and most especially in one aspect. They both experience a downfall. This is a vital theme throughout both books. Aristotle would say it is the fall of two "tragic heroes". However, even though these two characters share these similar incidences, the readers are given several different perceptions of one event. The colonization of the Europeans paid a heavy toll on the Africans and their way of life. The Europeans are consistently portrayed at the outsiders. Okonkwo is also quite familiar with Africa, yet Marlow was not. In his eyes, the Africans are seen as the outsiders. Okonkwo's father, Unoka, was seen as a person who was very lazy and who made no contribution to their society. This made Okonkwo hate him and any trait of any kind that correlated with that of his father. One way that this is displayed is that "Okonkwo never showed emotion openly, unless it be the emotion of anger. To show emotion was a sign of weakness, the only thing worth demonstrating was strength" (Achebe 28). Okonkwo's greatest weakness was fear, yet this a contradiction in it's own terms. His fear of fear played such a big part of his adult life that it came back to haunt him. He never wanted to be considered a victim. Yet, ironically, he was only setting himself up to self-destruction and tragedy. Because of fear, it drives him pull his machete and strike a blow, first killing Ikemefuna and later the Court Messenger. Finally, this drives him to be physically abus...
]k Adegbite O. came to a similar conclusion about Okonkwo’s views on masculinity and femininity when he makes the remark in his essay that, “Okonkwo is of the opinion that traditional men have lost their place in society and cannot be termed ‘worthy’ anymore as Western culture has softened their resolve; men have been turned to weaklings by colonisation and the white man’s religion” (Tobalase, “Masculinity and Cultural Conflict in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart”).
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.
Cultural clashes result in unnecessary conflict. Several countries (European powers) including France, Great Britain, and Belgium imperialized Africa. They did this because of their demand for raw materials, need for markets, and their attempt to implement commerce, create civilization, and to bring in Christianity to be the primary religion. The clash between the Europeans and the Africans caused the Europeans to colonize Africa and to partition the continent, this partition plan is know as the Scramble for Africa. Chinua Achebe’s thesis regarding Colonial Africa in Things Fall Apart is an accurate portrayal of imperialism and Ibo culture to a high extent due to the religious accusations serving as catalysts for conflict, the use of the Christian, European missionaries attempting to conquer Africa, take the resources of the land, and convert multiple Ibo people to Christianity, and the display of cultural aspects (customs/traditions) about the Ibo people.
Have you ever wondered what would happen when two cultures collide? Well in the novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, a culture clash takes place, with the main character Okonkwo’s village being overtaken by Christian white men seeking to influence and change his tribe and possibly other tribes.
Okonkwo sees his father’s gentleness as a feminine trait. He works hard to be as masculine as possible so that he will be the opposite of his father and overcome the shame his father brought to his family. Okonkwo deals with this struggle throughout the entire book, hiding the intense fear of weakness behind a masculine façade (Nnoromele 149). In order to appear masculine, he is often violent. In his desire to be judged by his own worth and not by the worth of his effeminate father, Okonkwo participates in the killing of a boy he sees as a son, even though his friends and other respected tribe members advise him against it. (Hoegberg 71). Even after the killing of Ikamefuna, Okonkwo hides his feelings of sadness because the emotions are feminine to him. He goes so far as to ask himself, “when did you become a shivering old woman” (Achebe 65), while he is inwardly grieving. The dramatic irony of the secret fears that Okonkwo has will open the reader’s eyes to how important gender identity is to him. This theme is also presented among Okonkwo’s children. He sees his oldest son, Nwoye, as feminine because he does not like to work as hard as his father (Stratton 29). When Nwoye eventually joins the Christian church, Okonkwo sees him as even more feminine. On the other hand, Okonkwo’s
The Effects of Colonialism on Things Fall Apart In the novel, Things Fall Apart, the effects of colonialism were extremely evident in the Igbo society. As the white Englanders moved into the native land, their cultural values changed. Examples of these changes were evident in all aspects of the Igbo people's lives, in their religion, family life, children, and the dead. Many of the Igboians were upset by the colonialism of their society, but in the end they were completely incapable of doing anything to reverse the changes that had already taken place in their society.
The imperialization of cultures can lead to a problematic situation due to contrasting perspectives. Achebe illustrated this when an English speaker comes and tries to spread Christianity among the Igbo people. The Englishman even goes as far as saying that “‘All the gods of deceit who tell you to kill your fellows and kill innocent children. There is only true God and He has the earth, the sky, you and me and all of us”’(Achebe, 146). The arrogance shown by the Christian speaker is a clear indication of the amount of racism and disrespect the Igbo culture felt.
Even if a man had a title for himself if he did not have control of his wife and children, he was not considered a true man, “No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule this women and his children, he was not really a man(53)”. Man of Igbo are held a high amount of power, which is why Okonkwo’s nine children and three wives were often terrified of his anger. Okonkwo struggles with his prominent attitude that men are more important than women because he fears to not be successful and resemble his father, Unoka, whom he refers to as a “woman”. Unoka, before his death was lazy, irresponsible, and weak, as he was known for owning money to others. Achebe uses Unoka, as an example that is a was not manly or did not earn himself a worthy title, that he is not looked at as a real man. Umofia was strict about the understanding that all men must be strong, even when Okonkwo wanted to care for others in a compassionate way he could not because they would mistake that for weakness. For example, when Okonkwo wanted to save Ikemefuna from death, Achebe states, he could not do that because he is too prideful and being strong for men in Umofia, is not just a characteristic but a lifestyle. Okonkwo has no problem letting go of his son Nwoye because he chose the catholic religion over what his father believed in. For a
Throughout history, British imperialism has influenced many countries’ culture and heritage for the worse. The competition for resources and markets made empires colonize different parts of the world to systematically spread their influence and force the colonized to forget their heritage. One of the most important African writers, Chinua Achebe was strongly concerned with political and social effects of British colonialism in the Igbo society. His novel, Things Fall Apart, is not an exceptionally positive one, utilizing the story to delineate a pioneer control that enters and afterward realizes the demise of the Igbo society (How Does Chinua Achebe Portray Colonialism Using Things Fall Apart?essay). Achebe paints a picture of how the colonizers treat the colonized and to what the local people are forced to accustom to the new culture that was forced upon them. Throughout the whole book, you can see diverse impacts on the tribe and the connections between the white and dark man (Colonialism in Things Fall Apart). The constant question of "Does the white man understand our custom abou...