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 The advancement and the adoption of the new has superceded the desire to hold onto tradition.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
. . .
His greatest fear is to be like his father, who was opposed to the traditional values of the Igbo. 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. “I thought he was a strong man in his youth. 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. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever. Despite the fact that he is advised to not participate, he comes along nonetheless, striking the deathblow. By the end of the book, the Igbo are fractured, their traditional values trampled and disregarded. He knows that the white men are wrong in calling the Igbo customs bad, but does not fall in the same trap himself, and does not disparage the missionaries’ beliefs. He only laments the fact that such a destructive force generated this interest. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. He was also a symbol of the failure of traditional Igbo culture after the arrival of the Europeans. With Oknokwo’s death, there is no one to carry forth the totally undiluted identity of the Igbo. He also wanted to show the deleterious effects of the European occupation on the African psyche.
Okonkwo is a man dominated by fear.
Approximate Word count =
1375
Approximate Pages =
6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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