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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page analysis, + a 1 page outline of that analysis, of Chinua Achebe's novel of Nigerian colonialism, 'Things Fall Apart.' The writer argues that Achebe's novel demonstrates that the Igbo culture shared many of the faults of the invading British and that this is demonstrated through the characterization of the protagonist of the book, Okonkwo. No additional sources cited.
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5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: KE9_99achtfa.rtf
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a powerful tribal leader, who accepts the precepts of his own culture in a manner that is just as ethnocentric and uncritical as any colonial white administrator towards European values.
This leads to Okonkwos downfall, which is symbolic of the fate of his tribe, the Igbo. Essentially, Okonkwo embodies what his culture esteems, but he carries it to extremes. As
one elder, Obierika, remarks near the end of the novel, Okonkwo was "one of the greatest men in Umuofia" (Achebe 191). What Okonkwo wants is for the values of his
culture to persist and "work" for him in the same way that they have done in the past. As far as Okonkwos reality is concerned, he sees his culture and
his tribe as one single harmonious order and reality. It is the only world that is rational to Okonkwo. Therefore, he does not question the actions of that culture.
When the Oracle demands the sacrifice of Ikemefuna, Okonkwo expresses his implicit faith in the correctness of Igbo practice. He responds to Obierikas criticism of his participation in the ritual
murder of the boy by saying that the "earth cannot punish me for obeying her messenger?A childs fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam which its mother
puts in its palm" (Achebe 47). In other words, Achebe portrayal of African culture has more nuance then merely showing that the British were ethnocentric and "bad" to impose
colonialism on the Nigerians, with the Africans cast as the "good guys." Rather he demonstrates that the Igbo downfall was also due to inherent and unrecognized flaws within their own
culture that went unchallenged. These flaws created continual dissension among the Igbo themselves. The constant warfare that existed between the Mbaino and the Umuofia villages prevented them from taking a
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