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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 6 page paper which examines the changes that come to the village, how these changes are brought about, what/who are the agents of these changes, actions and influences of the colonial representatives including the religious converts, and the influence of the new religion. Bibliography lists 7 sources.
Page Count:
6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGarrgod.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
(1959) focus upon "the colonialist denigration of African cultures" (Janmohamed 160). In his novel, Arrow of God, first published in 1964, Achebe considers the Nigeria of the 1920s, after
the British Christian missionaries had already made their formidable presence known in the region. In these remote enclaves, the polytheistic Ibo (or Igbo)-speaking peoples deferred to their village priest,
who served as the harmonious liaison between "the real and supernatural worlds" and represented the proud shared traditions that were faithfully transferred from one generation to the next (Kalu 51).
As the novel reveals, the people understood that the effects of modernity could not be denied. Achebes powerful tale "dramatizes the penetration and ultimate consolidation of British colonial
authority over the indigenous societies" as seen through the eyes of the villagers, and the toll that the battle between African tradition and European modernity takes on Ezeulu, chief priest
of Umuaro (Olaniyan 22). In order to gain a more complete understanding of how these changes impacted the village featured in Arrow of God, it is important to understand that
Umuaro was comprised of six factions, spiritually unified by Ulu, the god of the Ibu snake cult, and in the past would come together as one to protect the land
during times of war (Olaniyan 22, Lindfors 23). Ezeulu was the arrow of god because the villagers viewed him as Ulus human emissary. As a result, Ezeulu yielded
a considerable amount of political power and enjoyed upper-echelon social status. In her analysis of the novel, Suzanne Scafe observes, "Arrow of God describes a culture on the brink
of change: the effects of colonialism have already reached the villages" (119). By the 1920s, the village of Umuaro was not as cohesive a unit as it had been,
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