Negative Effects Of Colonialism

In my point of view, the colonial period shifted the balance previously present throughout the world, in which imperialism had less relevance in everyday lives. Before the colonial period, the natives living in the Americas and the Caribbeans, mainly had internal fighting or conflicts between rival tribes. While in Europe, the most tension occurred between major empires competing for trade, land, recourses, and wealth. However, once the Europeans began colonizing America, both of the worlds collided in a massive fight for sovereignty and wealth. This can be seen in each country's colonization of America. In the French colonization, the colonist traded advanced weaponry to the Huron tribe for fur and strong alliances. Consequently, the natives

Upon an initial reading of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, it is easy to blame the demise of Okonkwo’s life and of the Umofia community on the imperialistic invasions of the white men. After all, Okonkwo seemed to be enjoying relative peace and happiness before then. He did have a few mishaps; one of them resulted in him being exiled for eight years. Nonetheless, he returned to his home town with high spirits and with prospects of increased success. However, everything has changed. The white men have brought with them a new religion and a new government. Okonkwo’s family falls apart. The men in his village lose their courage and valor; they do not offer any resistance to the white men. Consequently, Okonkwo kills

Okonkwo soon learns about this and confronts his son, Nwoye about his secret meetings, Okonkwo soon becomes enraged and disowns his son after hearing about his experience not before abusing him of course. This action causes an effect which ultimately leads to Okonkwo’s downfall. Okonkwo enraged by the spread of Christianity within his own village self-proclaims war on the “white man”. Okonkwo eventually was detained as a result of his actions towards the “white man”. After he was released from detainment Okonkwo killed a courier and began to truly understand he was a rebel without a cause as his fellow Tribesmen would not help him with his internal struggle. Okonkwo knowing, he would be caught and executed for his crimes, instead decided to ultimately end his own life by hanging himself. Okonkwo’s major downfall in the story was his inability to co-exist with the white man and began his own personal vendetta against the Christian missionaries. Throughout the story the main essential theme Achebe tried to relay to us would be the fact that even though individuals may be of different religions, skin color, and have different personalities there is a realization that

Following Okonkwo’s seven year exile, the village Okonkwo once knew has changed due to the influence of Christianity and the influence of the British missionaries and officers. Okonkwo’s initial reaction is to arm the clan against the Colonisers and drive the British people out of Igbo.

“He had a large barn full of yams and he had three wives. And now he was going to take the Idemili title, the third highest in the land” (12). Okonkwo was a successful man in his culture and lands far beyond Umuofia. He was prideful of what he had accomplished from a very young age, his culture meant everything to him as he had made his way to the top. He had everything he ever needed, the honor, he was a warrior, and he had made it to the top from absolutely nothing that his own father did for him. Sadly, towards the end of the book, Okonkwo had broken clan rules on purpose and killed himself. “Then they came to the tree from which Okonkwo’s body was dangling, and they stopped dead.” (Achebe 207). In this quote, it explains that Okonkwo had hung himself on the tree killing himself even though it went against everything he believed in; bravery, customs, and masculinity. Okonkwo’s personal pride was his response to the cultural collision because he was to stubborn to change his culture. He had shown resistance but also went against the clan rules. Okonkwo’s response to the colonizers shapes the meaning of the work as a whole by his suicide signifying things falling apart since it was the first time he purposely had broken the clan law. This shows that he had been struggling with any type of change in the book and finally he couldn’t adapt to any change. He was a

Imperialism was a negative event that happened to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The country was first impressed by the Belgian king, King Leopold II. He ruled the land not as a colony but as his own. He treated the Congolese as slaves to gather him resources to help make him more wealthy. Imperialism was the worst thing that happened to the Democratic Republic of Congo, King Leopold II enslaved the people, and stripped the land of resources, punished them which ultimately lead to the Belgian government stripping him of Power

In the book “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, we see the effect the white missionaries had on an African tribe and the antihero Okonkwo. The main character Okonkwo is a tragic hero. Achebe depicts Okonkwo as a Shakespearean hero with a tragic flaw, that tragic flaw is the fact that he will do anything in his power not to be a weak man like his father Unoka. Okonkwo did what he did because he hated his father and would do anything in his power to be the exact opposite of his father.

Historically, relationships between European colonists and Native American were extremely complex and complicated. Due to the violent European colonization of America, Native Americans became susceptible to oppressions and extinction for over five hundred years (Poupart, 2003). European colonists’ central focus were directed towards acquiring maximum profits by exploiting Native American’s vast resources and utilizing their physical performance toward enslavement. This created devastation among Native American families, movement of various fatal diseases, and destruction of the traditional lifestyle of Native Americans (Starkey, 1998). The elimination of Native American culture came with strong opposition and resistance through civil organizations, religious movements, and conflict revolutions.

Despite being arguably the most powerful nations in the world, European nations such as Great Britain, France, and Germany in the late 1800s could not ignore the colonial ambitions presented to them. All around the globe, once independent and peaceful countries became battlefields of war and conquering due to European invasion. The reasons for these aggressions varied immensely, with some seizing new territory with intentions to accomplish any given set of goals. Countries in frequent cases found use in a region’s natural resources that could be used to manufacture goods or create new markets. On the other hand, some leader’s motives to expand were simply fueled by nationalism, with their nation adding new areas to build upon their empire and gain more power. Some even developed the size of their land to openly promote their culture, ideas, and technology. Although all of these purposes may seem like they could be beneficial to both parties involved, the concept of Imperialism proved to be quite harmful to the colony nation. European imperialism throughout Africa and Asia was more negative because of economic, political, and social factors.

Okonkwo is a man who looks vicious on the outside but on the inside he is like a big teddy bear, but full of fear. Okonkwo abhors being lazy and very gentle to others. Okonkwo’s sense of identity was challenged with the introduction of Western Ideas into the Igbo culture. Okonkwo started out in the novel conflicted and self defeating but the cultural collision of the British colonists and Ibo people affected Okonkwo to the point of committing suicide. The reasons for Okonkwo’s change in his sense of identity included death of Ikemefuna, exile for seven years and his religion. In the end, his response to the introduction of Western Ideas shaped the meaning of the work as a whole by his negative culture and ideas.

Okonkwo’s story portrays the major differences between African culture and the idea that the Western society had on the African culture. Okonkwo is native to the Umuofia tribe and represented this oversized human being who with holds no emotion. All this makes Okonkwo seem very unrelatable and unfriendly, but this is what makes his relationships with the characters in the book so entertaining. For example, Okonkwo had a very negative connection with his father that affected him so much that it brought him to the point where it changed his life and is also the reason why he is so strict with his kids. With the introduction of these missionaries into the tribe, it completely changed the way the tribe acted and ended up bringing Okonkwo to a point where he had to pay the ultimate price. It was all because they couldn’t get along.

Ever since the European settlements began in the America’s in the early 1500’s, indigenous tribes have endured continuous hardships in order to coexist with white settlements and still maintain a sense of self and native cultural identity. Many of the hardships experienced by the Native American Indians were the results of empty promises made by European settlers who used foreign laws, religion, and language barriers to oppress those Indians who were willing to conform. Later, and further into the development of the United States, foreign laws and languages were used as a premise to manipulate the Native Americans into giving up their promised lands so big businesses could harvest their resources. Because the Native Americans were a

Okonkwo is misunderstood like the Igbo culture. The commissioner and missionaries make no attempt to understand the Igbo culture, just as they make no attempt to understand Okonkwo. “The story of this man who had killed a messenger and hanged himself would make interesting reading. One could almost write a whole chapter on him. Perhaps not a whole chapter but a reasonable paragraph, at any rate. There was so much else to include, and one must be firm in cutting out details” (Achebe 208-209). The commissioner reduces the complex character of Okonkwo to a savage and just as the rest of western society reduces the Igbo culture to heretic and barbaric. In a way Okonkwo is like the missionaries because he too makes no attempt to understand western culture. This is because no group wants to forsake their culture to assimilate into

First, Okonkwo starts off as a poor child, as shown when the book states, “Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men usually had, he did not inherit a barn from his father. There was no barn to inherit” showing that Okonkwo and his family were penurious, compared to others in the Igbo tribe (Achebe 16). Eventually, through his hard work and effort, he became a noble leader, which emphasizes his role as a tragic hero. Throughout the story Okonkwo goes through many challenges, but “In the face of futility, however, he maintains his nobility of character”(Gaydosik).

Many nations wanted to expand their territory and gain control of natural resources that are nonnative. As a result, Imperialism began in the late nineteenth century due to economic, political, and social forces including the Industrial Revolution, trade, and military conditions. Imperialism is the domination over an undeveloped, less industrialized country by a stronger, more industrialized nation. Although Imperialism has shaped the culture and customs all over the world, it had both negative and positive impacts throughout imperialized nations. The Perspectives on imperialism varied widely between those who imposed it and those who were affected by it.