Many relevant lessons can be drawn from Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. One lesson is seen when Okonkwo follows the crowd rather than following his own conscience and moral beliefs. Because of this, he ends up facing great guilt and other consequences.
Okonkwo ends up adopting a young child, Ikemefuna, from a neighboring village. This boy is given (along with a young virgin girl) to Okonkwo's village (Umuofia) from the neighboring village to maintain peace. Okonkwo slowly grows to love Ikemefuna and begins to treat him as his own son. In chapter seven, we hear about how much a part of Okonkwo's family Ikemefuna had become:
"For three years Ikemefuna lived in Okonkwo's household and the elders of Umuofia seemed to have forgotten about him. He grew rapidly like a yam tendril in the rainy season, and was full of the sap of life. He had become wholly absorbed into his new family" (ch. 7).
Okonkwo's friends and neighbors see how much a part of the family that Ikemefuna had become. For instance, Ezedu, "the oldest man in this quarter of Umuofia" stops by to talk with Okonkwo. He tells him,
"That boy calls you father. Do not bear a hand in his death. . . . Yes, Umuofia has decided to kill him. The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves has pronounced it. They will take him outside Umuofia as is the custom, and kill him there. But I want you to have nothing to do with it. He calls you his father" (ch. 7).
Soon later, some village leaders arrive to kill Ikemefuna. Okonkwo goes along. When they get out of the village, Ikemefuna is told to keep walking and not to look back:
"As the man who had cleared his throat drew up and raised his machete, Okonkwo looked away. He heard the blow. The pot fell and broke in the sand. He heard Ikemefuna cry, "My father, they have killed me!" as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak" (ch. 7).
Okonkwo attacks Ikemefuna, a boy who is like a son to him, with his machete. He is more worried about "being thought weak" than he is about following his conscience. After, he feels very guilty and is unable to eat or sleep well:
"Okonkwo did not taste any food for two days after the death of Ikemefuna. . . . He did not sleep at night. He tried not to think about Ikemefuna--but the more he tried the more he thought about him."
Okonkwo chose to follow the crowd rather than following his thoughts on right and wrong. He participates in killing Ikemefuna, even though he does not think he should. This shows a relevant lesson for modern readers; instead of following the crowd, we should act according to our beliefs.
Chinua Achebe, who has been hailed the father of African Literature, essentially wrote Things Fall Apart as a response to James Cary's Master-Johnson and other biased accounts of pre-colonial African life. After he encountered Cary’s book at Ibadan while a student there, Achebe realized the danger in allowing the African story to be told from the colonial perspective, Therefore, he embarked on a mission to provide a true account of African life as opposed to Cary’s depiction of Africans as jealous savages who live "like mice or rats in a palace floor or as grinning dancers whose faces seemed entirely dislocated, senseless and unhuman, like twisted bags of lard" Achebe tells his own story around a larger-than life character, Okonkwo, a warrior who has come a long way from the embarrassment of his heritage- His father, Unoka, a lazy debtor was irresponsible and less than a man. Okonkwo strives to change his story and achieves great wealth through determination and hardwork. He garners fame by throwing Amalinze the cat and capitalizes on that fame to enjoy connections that subsequently catapult him to a good life- three wives and many children including his daughter Ezinma whom he adores and often wishes were a boy. in his life, Achebe portrays the beauty and serenity of life before the intrusion of colonialism and how this intrusion precipitates Okonkwo's downfall.
In his 1965 essay, “The African writer and the English Language”, Achebe points out that writers should aim at fashioning out creative ways of using language and style to carry their peculiar experiences in order to universalize them. This advice and Achebe's Things Fall Apart have inspired other writers across the world and popularized postcolonial literature. The fact that Things Fall Apart written more than fifty years ago has remained a phenomenon, having impacted millions of people, explains the meaning of Achebe’s own words that a great novel “alters the situation in the world.”
Things Fall Apart is a monumental novel that has helped to change the way black characters are portrayed in literature. The novel was revolutionary in its presentation of African culture through African eyes. It was a paradigm for future (black) writers to use to tell their stories.
Toni Morrison said of it, "Things Fall Apart was more important to me than anything—only because there was a language, there was a posture, there were the parameters—I could step in now and I didn't have to be consumed by—or concerned by the white gaze. That was the liberation for me."
Things Fall Apart was Chinua Achebe's attempt to show the depth and beauty of African culture through the story of the Igbo clan leader Okonkwo. The idea of the inferiority of Africans pervaded the world then. At the time, most of the novels published were by white American and European writers, and their Eurocentric worldview showed up in their work, particularly any time an African or African descendant was the subject. Largely, Europeans depicted Africans as low and backwards, in desperate need of Europe's culture and ideas to become "more human." Achebe's novel refutes this view.
One novel in particular that Achebe denounced was Heart of Darkness. While Achebe does not deny that Conrad is a masterful writer, he says that, fundamentally, his distorted view of Africans somewhat taints the novel.
One of the most significant messages throughout the novel concerns the dangers of intolerance and prejudice. Unlike Mr. Brown, who seeks to understand the culture of Umuofia by discussing religious differences with Akunna, Mr. Smith is not interested in getting to know the villagers. Achebe writes, "He saw things as black and white. And black was evil" (184). His uncompromising, intolerant attitude towards the villagers of Umuofia motivates Enoch to unmask an egwugwa during an annual ceremony, which leads to further conflict. This concept of viewing situations as "black and white" and developing intolerant attitudes towards foreign cultures is still relevant today. In nearly every society, individuals who practice a different religion, speak a different language, or come from a different culture are ostracized. Without mutual respect for one another's culture, conflict is often inevitable.
Another theme throughout the novel that is still relevant concerns violence. Violence invites serious consequences throughout the story. Okonkwo is punished for accidentally killing Ezeudu's sixteen-year-old son, and the tribe of Abame is wiped out after killing a white man. Achebe suggests that violence is not the answer and only invites destruction. This concept is still relevant in today's societies. Murder and war only seem to beget more destruction, and the loss of life negatively affects families, communities, and countries. Achebe suggests that communication and passive resistance are more effective approaches to conflict.
No comments:
Post a Comment