Life Without the Europeans
One can reasonably assert that there are existed a sequence of social change as a means by which to describe the impact of the invasive European culture upon the native culture of Umuofia. As Chinua Achebe points out in his novel Things Fall Apart, though there is the objective to lend a hand, it can sometimes become deadly and even fatal to the lives of people. Achebe also points out that the old native society with many of its customs undergoes a deep change. Old traditions are abandoned and new ideas transform the people. Could this have been avoided had the Europeans not arrived in Umuofia? Pre-colonial Africa is not viewed as a happy place. It is characterized as a world in which violence, war, and suffering exists, but are balanced by a strong sense of tradition, ritual, and social coherence. The people in Umuofia depend strongly on the ancestors and gods in their culture. It is their tradition and their beginning, from which they govern their lives. Without the stronghold of customs and traditions, only chaos exists. People in Africa learned to live in harmony with Nature's changes. They developed culture based on religion and nature. They worshipped many different gods and goddesses who represented elem
Some changes are good; others are bad. Several times we are told about how social customs and values had been falling apart as a result of developments within the society itself. Okonokwo might have become a chief of his people in the days of changes if he had been able to face them open minded. The strategy of the Europeans is to attack religion, the central factor that controls the lives of so many. Had they stood their ground and defended their traditions as urged by Okonokwo, they could have protected their own way of life. Pre-colonial Ibo land was not intact, things may well have been falling apart before Western civilization arrived there. They simply devised educational and socializing methods, which were different from the Western model, which worked for them. Unfortunately, Okonokwo did not understand that societies change and the attempts to stop the developments are mostly in vain. This system of control worked very well for centuries. The outcasts that were isolated from their families and deprived of their human rights in the old native tribe received dignity within the Christian church and their human value is restored. If he leaves that community, his own character may change. They had priests capable of physical and psychic healing, oracles who could foretell the future, spirits of ancestors who controlled traditions, gave orders and guided the tribe at a time of crises. However, if that society itself changes and he does not, the two will become impossibly at odds with one another, which is what happened to Okonokwo after his return. Economically, the Ibo villages improved and slowly schools and hospitals are erected. But there are not only negative fruits of the missionaries' efforts.
Common topics in this essay:
Economically Ibo,
People Africa,
Obviously Ibo,
Pre-colonial Africa,
Ikemefuna Okonokwo,
Fall Apart,
Umuofia Commerce,
,
Pre-colonial Ibo,
Unfortunately Okonokwo,
falling apart,
killing ikemefuna,
outside world,
ibo society,
based religion,
europeans arrived,
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Acceptance Essays
