Things Fall Apart

Running Head: THINGS FALL APART
Things Fall Apart
Name
Literature and Language
14th Nov. 2011
Abstract
Traditional African cultures were distinct for every community. The cultures helped to maintain order and peaceful co-existence among the communities and their neighbors. There were definite roles and responsibilities for everyone and there was a system of justice, mostly comprised of elders, which settled disputes among the people. With the coming of the missionaries, the African cultures were seen as primitive and had to be annihilated. These conflicts inspired African literature, where African writers sought to explain their ways. Chinua Achebe`s things fall apart is one of those inspirations.
Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe, a celebrated African author, wrote this famous piece of work in 1958. The novel is set in the late 1800s to early 1900s at a time in which the British colonizers were placing their influence on Africa. It is set in the context of an imaginary Igbo village called Umuofia. The major focus is on Okonkwo, a custodian of the African traditional culture. The book illustrates the annihilation of the African culture by the colonizers, and the various conflicts that ensued from the clash of two totally different cultures; cultural, economical and economical conflicts (bestnotes.com, 2008). These conflicts are further expounded in the paragraphs below.
There is a serious religious conflict. The people of Umuofia believe in their personal gods, the chi; this god had a strong influence on an individual`s destiny, though it also followed the desires of the individual. Achebe (1958) puts it, "…when a man says yes, his chi says yes also. Okonkwo said yes so strongly, so his chi agreed." The people believed in their ancestral spirits called the egwugu who had to be appeased, since angering them would cause a catastrophe on the land. They also had an oracle to protect them, and an Agbala. Agbala was the Oracle of the Hills and caves who was the custodian of Umuofia. The oracle was revered and only his priestess had set eyes on him (Achebe, 1958; bestnotes.com, 2008). Serious conflicts erupted when the missionaries, led by Mr. Brown, tried to lure the people from their superstitious ways. Reverend Smith was even more ruthless on the Igbo culture, attacking it fearlessly (Achebe, 1958). The final blow comes when Enoch, a convert, tore the mask of an egwugu causing a serious strife in the community (bestnotes.com, 2008). The opposing groups despised each other, with the Christian seeing the African culture as primitive while the conservatives saw Christianity as an affair of the lost. Chielo, the Agbala priestess, termed the converts as the excrement of the clan, and the new fa...