Things Fall Apart Changes

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Colonialism has been known to break cultures. In Things Fall Apart, the main character Okonkwo changes throughout the story because of the changes brought to his culture by European colonialism. In the beginning of the story, Okonkwo is seen as a strong warrior. When the Europeans arrive near the end of the story, they change the Igbo culture. This redefines what is accepted in Okonkwo's village Umuofia. The main changes to the Igbo culture that changed Okonkwo were social organization, religion, and government. Starting off, the Igbo social organization favored the successful, which made Okonkwo ambitious. As shown when Chinua Achebe wrote “Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements” (1). Okonkwo was well known for his success and his ability to accomplish a lot. But after the Europeans arrived, the social organization changed to put the white men in power, this made Okonkwo unable. Shown when Chinua Achebe narrates “As soon as the District Commissioner left, the head messenger, who was also the prisoners' barber, took down his razor
This is shown when Chinua Achebe wrote “But he was struck, as most people were, by Okonkwo's brusqueness in dealing with less successful men”(9). Okonkwo feels that he is in a position of major power when dealing with men that he believes are lesser than him. When the Europeans arrived they started to enforce their own laws, making Okonkwo impotent. This is implied when Achebe wrote “Okonkwo stood looking at the dead man. He knew that Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers escape. They had broken into tumult instead of action”(72). Okonkwo was the only one who was willing to take action against the Europeans, no one wanted to follow

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