Things Fall Apart Research Paper

Achebe’s Things Fall Apart provides for an account of the colonization of the Niger region of Africa from the perspective of the colonized instead of the European colonizers. Things Fall Apart described the traditions and daily life of the Igbo people and the effects of Christian colonization on their society. The African-told narrative provides important insight into pre-colonial traditions and practices, many of which have been lost today. Understanding the traditions that the Igbo people followed in a religious-like manner is important in discerning how it was possible for the African continent, specifically Umuofia, to be overrun by European colonizers. Achebe presents the Igbo people as strictly adhering to their religious beliefs and

Among the Igbo people lives a sacred python, symbolic of one of their deities. Before the missionaries arrived, nobody in the village could have imagined someone to be capable of killing the python, on both a spiritual and physical level. One day, the sacred python was found to be dead, almost certainly killed by Okoli, a recent convert of the Christian church. With the death of the snake, the Igbo are faced with a dilemma in how to handle the offending missionaries. Though Okonkwo believes they should stand their ground and fight against the church to defend their society and traditions, many more people feel strongly that they should do nothing at all for fear of upsetting the gods. “If we put ourselves between the god and his victim we may receive blows intended for the offender. When a man blasphemes, what do we do? Do we go and stop his mouth? No. We put our fingers into our ears to stop us hearing” (158). In the end, the clan does not heed Okonkwo’s advice. Instead, they follow the idea that they should not meddle into the affairs of the gods, in case they “receive blows intended for the offender” as a result of becoming involved in the situation. As a result of their lack of action, the Igbo once again prove that they are not willing to defend themselves and

When several of the Igbo men are called to meet with the District Commissioner, none of them are overly alarmed. Instead of preparing to fight against the colonizers, the Igbo attend the meeting, because “An Umuofia man does not refuse a call” (193). By even attending the meeting, the Igbo are handling the situation from a naive perspective, assuming their opponents will proceed following the same morals as them. “And so the six men went to see the District Commissioner, armed with their machetes. They did not carry guns, for that would be unseemly. (...) There was only a brief scuffle, too brief even to allow the drawing of a sheathed machete. The six men were handcuffed and led into the guardroom” (193). The Igbo men did not bring guns, the most effective weapons, to the meeting on the basis that it would “be unseemly” in Igbo culture. Once again, the Igbo people following simple strictures of their culture causes them to be overtaken by the colonizers. By following Igbo society’s dictation on what weaponry is acceptable to bring to a meeting, the Igbo leave themselves vulnerable to the District Commissioner, who has them