Identity in Things Fall Apart
In these heady days of seemingly daily advancement of culture and technology, the central debate of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart seems to have been answered. The advancement and the adoption of the new has superceded the desire to hold onto tradition. Around the world languages are disappearing and cultures becoming homogenized as people grasp at advancement, seizing onto Western beliefs and products. Things Fall Apart shows the genesis of this now global condition reflected in the personal struggles of its characters, in particular the main character Okonkwo. The question of whether change should be privileged over tradition involves the personal values of the characters. Okonkwo's greatness is based on the traditional methods of the Igbo; he is destroyed in the end by his unwillingness to accept the changes that were being wrought in the Igbo society. The novel does not idealize the African society nor does it completely demonize the European. Rather, it seems that Achebe's intention was to present African society in a non-stereotyped way, and to show what was lost when Igbo identity was swallowed by European incursion. Igbo tradition, represented by Okonkwo, do
Historical identity is incredibly important to the Igbo, and this proves to be their undoing in the end, as they cling to it in the face of needed change. Things Fall Apart is Chinua Achebe's elegy to this great, departed essence. These values, though, were not as stark as Okonkwo believed they had to be. "I thought he was a strong man in his youth. He could not adapt to the changing times, and the Igbo likewise do not react to the changes with the necessary action to salvage their unique indentity. But Okonkwo is enamored of only one, and inflexible attachment to violence and courage. Judged by the values of the clan, Unoka was lazy and cowardly. With his death dies the ancient Igbo tradition of violent resistance against aggressors, for Okonkwo was the only one willing to fight the white men. He wanted to show the Igbo in their true form, articulate and important, rather than in the marginalized form they have been reduced to in other literature. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. The other members of the clan realized that their lives would continue, though remarkable change had come to their society. 124-125)Obierika laments the coming of the white men and the death of the old ways, but despite this does not lay blame entirely at their feet. He was also a symbol of the failure of traditional Igbo culture after the arrival of the Europeans.
Common topics in this essay:
Ofoedu Okonkwo,
Okonkwo's Igbo,
Fall Apart,
Igbo Judged,
European Achebe's,
Ikemefuna Despite,
Obierika Ofoedu,
Ikemefuna Nwoye's,
Africa European,
Historical Identity,
fall apart,
identity igbo,
traditional values,
customs bad,
historical identity,
achebe's intention,
suicide okonkwo,
chinua achebe's,
igbo accept,
igbo tradition,
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Acceptance Essays
