Assignment
Course No.: 14 [The African
Literature]
Batch: 2014-16
Name: Vanita Tadha
Roll No.: 30
Qualification: MA Part–2 [Sem-4]
Enrollment No.: Pg14101029
Submitted
to: Department of English [Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University, Gujarat, India.]
Things Fall Apart is a post-colonial
novel written by Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe in 1958. He is a novelist,
essayist, poet, short story writer and children’s writer. The title of the
novel is taken from Second coming by W. B. Yeats. This novel provides history
of time when crisis and anxiety was prevalent. Achebe traces on life in the
Igbo village of Umuofia in Nigeria. She presented African culture with the help
of limited character which covers whole Africa. People are suppressed and
oppress by colonialist. They are living in worth condition and even you won’t
see the survival of woman (that type of condition of women) in Africa.
Througoht the novel people are struggling with own people as well as
colonialist.
Many novels, poems, articles,
and such things are written before this novel, for example Heart of Darkness,
it shows the hugely face of African black people. Colonialist or especially European
see them as they are born to treat African. African people are mere an object
or the worst animal of the world according to colonialist. It indicates pre and
post-colonial time. This is a first novel by African novelist catch up the eyes
of the world.
The novel is split into three
parts:
1)
Okonkwo’s family and
personal history, the custom and society of the Igbo
2)
& 3) Describing the
influence of British colonialism and Christian missionaries on the Igbo
community.
Narrative technique
The language of the novel is
simple but dignified. He used elevated language to provide the real image of
Igbo culture. His first sentence has a mere 11 words and goes as follows
'Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond'. Within
these short sentences, Achebe explains an incredible amount of information
required to understand the text. His simple language gives the voice to native
people of Africa as they himself are speaking and it was his desire to make
sound like Igbo uses. The images that are used are entire Igbo community.
Achebe uses third person
narrative like he or she to show the concern of language and it also suggest
that character are interact each other and tell their own words from their
perspective. Anothere interesting thing is past narration which tells that
things are happened and it will may happen in future so it challenge the people
of Europe.
Another aspect is as the story
enriches character becoming dark and violent. First story begins with Okonkow’s
point of view but letter on it shift on past and present condition of Africa.
Okonkwo, throughout his life he
struggle for his community as well as for himself to become successful,
powerful or the lord of Igbo. His violence hatred becomes one of reason for his
failure. For Okonkwo, the conflict between private self and public man is the
conflict between the feminine and masculine principles.
This novel revolves around
violence, hatred, generation gap, two different cultures; language is a sign of
different culture etc. Finally, the point of view shifts to the District
Commissioner's perspective, and it is his perspective that closes the novel,
perhaps mirroring the way that traditional cultural values and power were
displaced by European colonialism. Read from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Reflections on Post-Colonialism
Post colonialism means after
colonialism o after independence or it express opposite idea of colonialism.
Post colonialism is a consequence of colonialism. Through the novel “The Things
Fall Apart” Achebe focused on colonialism in which he grew up. It makes her to
write and educate the people of Africa. Achebe writes back at the writing of
European writers and the misrepresentation of Africa in their writing.
Post-colonial writers usually write about how their rich culture destroyed
under the power of imperialism.
If both writer work together
and put their difference aside they surely bound to overcome the pain of losing
their culture.
However, the literature does not show the colonized as victims of colonialism,
but rather it shows that they are confused about their sense of belonging. Most
colonized individuals do not know whether to follow their own culture or the
culture of colonizes. In the two cultures they are struggling for their
identity. Read from 1
Generation gap
Dirty picture of old generation
represent illiteracy of back generation. Newer is always smarter than older
one” because older are investing and new are completing remaining things with
new idea. Here same protagonist Okonkwo’s father Unoka is lazy and wasteful
man. He wants to be a traditional and his son also follows his way of living life
instead of being missionaries. He doesn’t see the failure of himself. He was
borrowing money from others and merry making with the friends and his family as
children and wife are suffering from starvations. He doesn’t mind with that
all. He gives more important to his land so he tells his son to work in land
but Okonkwo is clever and understands the colonialism from which they are
suffering so he wants to be an ideal man.
Because Okonkwo is a leader of
his community he is asked to take care for a young boy named Ikemefuna, who is
given to the village as a peace offering by neighboring Mbaino to avoid war
with Umuofia. Ikmefuna and Okonkwo’s son Nwoye is friend. These two are
representing another generation. They are children so they constructed or
suppress by parents and want have choice. Okonkwo is not happy with father and
son because son is not exact image of himself and his daughter is his image but
he wants her as son rather than girl. Achebe looked Africa from inside.
He loves Ikemefuna more than
Nwoye. Once community forced to kill Ikemefuna so Okonkwo took him outside the
village and kill him. He was upset and unable to sleep for few days but he
didn’t realize to other. Nwoye has Christian name and use to visit church which
gives pain to Okonkwo. Out of frustration he starts beating his wife. He has
three wives which show his richness.
No doubt he is a worrier of the land but he
uses his power in home also so it provokes domestic violence. Through beating
children and wife he is showing his individual’s authority in home as well as
in community. He lives for community rather than family or individual.
The struggle between change and tradition
(clash of culture)
As the novel is on culture on
the verge of change than there definatly two culture which defines differently.
It can also say that fight or conflict between colonialism and traditional
societies. The tension about whether change should be privilege over tradition
or it shoud be goes onwards. To some extent, Okonkwo’s resistance of cultural
change is also due to his fear of losing societal status. His self-appreciation
depend on the cultural effect because if British start over powering African
than it is possibility of losing culture. As colonizers believe that African
have no value no power than how can they give high status to Okonkwo.
The struggle of the hero,
Okonkwo indicates importance of his own culture in front of British. His fight with
the culture is mere the fight with his life
This system of evaluating the
self inspires many of the clan’s outcasts to embrace Christianity. Okonwo’s son
Nwoye wants to accept Christianity and Christian stand for Europeans. Nwoye and
many of the villagers are excited about the new opportunities and techniques
that the missionaries bring.
This European influence,
however, threatens to extinguish the need for the mastery of traditional
methods of farming, harvesting, building, and cooking. These traditional
methods, once crucial for survival, are now, to varying degrees, dispensable.
Throughout the novel, Achebe shows how dependent such traditions are upon
storytelling and language and thus how quickly the abandonment of the Igbo
language for English could lead to the eradication of these traditions.
Condition of women (gender discrimination)
Women are mere an object in
male dominate community. Igbo community also gives important to male. Majority
people have two or more wife so they think women are mere a key toy. Women are
the object which shows the richness of any men. Women are exploiting by
man. If any woman try to raise her voice
than it won’t seem fare and people start abuse or torture to her so
automatically she will lose her everything.
They won’t have choice and
that’s why they are suffering. Okonkwo has a daughter named Ezinma. She is
intellectual and real image of him but he wants every quality of that girl in
his son so he can feel better. Achebe criticize that this is not the real power
of any human of the word to beat his wife or to keep wife under his control. He also talks about the mind power which is in
limitation. People are living in a frame and that frame is decorated by such
duplicate row materials so it ever changing. Ezinma harassed by her in lows so
she comes back to home but her husband want her back.
Okonkow suffering from
frustration and that’s why he started rudely behave with his wives. He realizes
the loosing of power therefore he believes getting power by suppressing women.
Women have to live under the home and it is the world for them. How can women
get views to raise her voice because they are in a box which never opens for
them and if open than it is in limitation. Read from 1, 2, 3, 4.
Religion
Religion plays vital role in
this novel. First we need to understand the meaning of religion because it can
interpret in various ways. For Okonkwo religion is to beat children and wives.
Whatever he is doing for his self or for community is his religion. Women have
to live in home and do household that is her religion.
Christian is real religion in
the novel. It gives the glimpse of post colonialism because it relates with
Europe and European are considering colonizer. People have conflict between two
religion one is own and another one is Christian. Nwoye like to convert his
religion as Christian but his father stick to his own. Nwoye changed his name
in Christian and visiting Church which his father dislikes. Read from 1, 2.
Conclusion
To summing up we can say that Achebe’s
intention of writing this novel is to differentiate the things which are spread
in Africa. How British are came and start ruling over Africa. He want to make
realize to African that because of imperialism and colonialism how their
culture is downfallen. Tut newer is satisfied here is not any rich culture but
the people are constructing it rich. Older generation was rigid but new one is
satisfied with new rules and regulation so it is the reason of destroying their
culture. The condition of women is unimaginable because of masculine power over
women. Okonkwo and his father’ Unoka is the example of masculine power. They
are treating their wife as an object. Okonkwo has a beautiful and clever
daughter with his all quality but he prefer boy child more than girl so he
thinks that she must be boy instead of girl. Finally he covers worldwide attention
that black or African is not always violet but it is white who make them to
evoke.
Works Cited
homework help. (2012, 1 24). http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/things-fall-apart-by-chinua-achebe-what-narrative-309646.
Retrieved from http://www.enotes.com/
Mark by Teachers. (n.d.). http://www.markedbyteachers.com/meet-the-team/.
Retrieved from http://www.markedbyteachers.com/
Morgan, K. (2006). http://classroom.synonym.com/narrative-technique-achebes-things-fall-apart-21488.html.
Retrieved from http://classroom.synonym.com
