Arrow of God - Paper

Chinua Achebe was educated in the West, though he hails from an African tribe. His exposure to both African and Western thinking gives him a unique perspective on the colonization of Africa, which is argued to be barbaric by some, but beneficial and necessary by others. In “Things Fall Apart,” Achebe perspective comes through as he masterfully describes a pre-colonization African tribe, and how colonization percolated through it. His authentic accounts of the positives and negatives of both tribal society and colonization leave the reader to answer the question of whether imperialism was morally justifiable or not.

Chinua Achebe’s novel “Things Fall Apart” chronicles the life of Okonkwo, a strong man whose existence is dominated by fear and anger, and the Ibo tribe, a people deeply rooted in cultural belief and tradition. As events unfold, Okonkwo’s carefully constructed world and the Ibo way of life collapses. The story of Okonkwo’s fall from a respected and feared leader of the Ibo tribe to an outcast who dies in disgrace dramatizes his inability to evolve beyond his personal beliefs, affecting the entire Ibo tribe beyond measure. The “things” that fall apart in Achebe’s novel are Okonkwo’s life – his ambition, dreams, family unity and material wealth – and the Ibo way of life – their beliefs, culture and values.

A form of order and stability are essential for the continued existence of any society. Order and stability are often maintained through religious traditions and societal expectations. Conflicting ideologies however, can lead to a society’s stability being jeopardised. Chinua Achebe’s 1958 novel ‘Things Fall Apart’ explores the concept of societal stability in reference to the West African Ibo society. Through the use of omniscient narration, characterisation, juxtaposition and novel structure, he examines how order can be achieved through religion and societal expectations, and how instability can arise from conflicting ideologies.

Even though the novel depicts a societal conflict between colonizers who attempt to impose change and tribesmen who reject that change, Achebe avoids stereotyping the colonizers as “bad” and the tribesmen as “good.” The protagonist, Okonkwo, is portrayed with little sympathy. An angry, callous man, he is shown to act outwardly only in violence. Growing up, his father was a weak, effeminate man, and Okonkwo aspired to be everything his father was not: “He was ruled by one passion—to hate everything his father had loved, one of these was gentleness” (13). Even though his motives are established, Achebe does not attempt to justify the selfish and detrimental actions of Okonkwo. On the contrary, Okonkwo’s uncle Uchendu is rendered as a selfless, compassionate, and wise old man. When Okonkwo is banished from his tribe, Uchendu receives his nephew with open arms and helps him re-establish his life. “As soon as Uchendu saw him with his sad and weary company, he guessed what had happened, and asked no questions” (129). By showing both undesirable and appealing characters, Achebe offers a reputable and non-biased portrayal of his native people to unfamiliar American audiences.

Chinua Achebe shows the reader the change of Africa as seen by the main character of the novel, Okonkwo. Okonkwo has the hardship of living in an ever-changing society. It is thru Okonkwo that the reader is able to visualize a society of immense cultural standing, and not as European colonizers would say, a society of savages. The main theme of culture is present in all areas of the novel, which helps to show to the reader all of its underlying themes, themes of tradition and themes of religion. Achebe sees the themes of culture, tradition, and religion in one bright light and European colonizers see those same themes in a totally different, somewhat snobbish dim light. However these themes are viewed, one thing is certain, change is on the horizon.

Social movements exist amongst various areas of people’s everyday life. For example, the world has been introduced to social movements such as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, in which people are challenged to dump a bucket of ice on their heads in support of an ALS charity. Another example includes the shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, to which an African American man by the name of Michael Brown was shot by a Caucasian police officer; this sparked Americans to use various support methods to generate awareness to racism and policy brutality. Both of these scenarios exemplifies the power social movements possess in society today. The purpose of this paper is to explain how to social movement of Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign has affected the

The flashpoint described by Achebe was the return of one of the old notables, Okonkwo, to the British colonized Umuofia. Achebe describes Umuofi life under British rule as having access to new commodities at trading posts, such as palm oil, and an initially inclusive imported religion. Okonkwo’s perspective is highly critical as the protagonist, his views of the Umuofi citizens under British people are negative as he criticizes the Umuofi citizens as having grown soft and weak, as they are no longer warlike. The story concludes with Okonkwo, among other notables, urging a revolution against the British magistrate which the Umuofi people do not end up supporting. For Marx this was the moment for the Umuofi people to free themselves from the yolk of British Imperialism – the epitome of Western bourgeoisie and yet they did not. No revolution comes for these Umuofi Proletarians. The Umuofi citizens have become comfortable with their colonial

Okonkwo loves Ikemefuna just as much, if not more, than he loves his own son Nwoye. Yet, Okonkwo’s own faith forces Ikemefuna to die: “Umuofia has decided to kill him. The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves has pronounced it” (57). Achebe shows how Ibo religion has flaws as well, by describing how the citizens, including Okonkwo, choose to just blindly follow the Oracle’s command even though they kill an innocent child. Although sacrifice is a negative aspect of the Ibo faith, Achebe aids the reader to see Ibo beliefs as a legitimate religion, rather than just a barbarous practice, because we see how there are both pros and cons.

There are passages in this novel, however, that implies a more critical attitude on Achebe’s part. Despite the sophisticated aspects of the Ibo tribe, they still perform parts of their system of belief which are considered uncivilised and primitive. However, these measures can be considered a way of dealing with difficult or unpleasant circumstances. One example Achebe uses to depict the injustices in Ibo culture, is where it was believed that a child who died and return to its mother to be reborn again, several times, was the work of an evil spirit or an ogbanje child. If this occurs then a ‘medicine-man’ would “...bring out a sharp razor from the goatskin bag slung from his left shoulder and mutilate the child.” (P.56) It was assumed that in doing this that the ogbanje child “…would think twice before coming again.” (P.57) Twins, like an ogbanje child, were also greatly feared and were “thrown away” (P.89) at birth. Both of these examples show how the Ibo tribe rely on their primitive systems of belief to deal with incomprehensible circumstances.

            In his novel, Things Fall Apart, Achebe interconnects and associates events that occur in Umuofia with emotions and feelings that hint at what is to come. A prime example of this is Achebe’s use of literary techniques in chapter seven, that create tension and convey sympathy for Ikemefuna and conclude in his tragic death.

Achebe’s essay “An Image of Africa” analyzes the book Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. He dissects the false representation of the african people and the bias in his book. In “Heart Of Darkness,” Conrad feels that the people of Africa are undeveloped and they are savages; he looks at all their culture and tradition and only sees it as uncivilized, he has no appreciation for their beliefs. This relates to Achebe’s book, Things Fall Apart, because Conrad’s views represents the white colonist and their feelings towards the africans. The colonists did not respect their culture or their gods. Okonkwo is well-respected by his tribe, he is extremely traditional and values his culture. The colonists are a threat to that because they do not understand or respect the African ways, they want to change it and convert them to Christianity. Okonkwo has a need to stand up for his culture and his beliefs, he feels he has to be able to prove that he is a strong and powerful man. Okonkwo worries that if he does not protect his customs, he will be seen like his father: cowardly and feminine. He has been haunted by that fear his whole life, “It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father. Even as a little boy he had resented his father’s failure and weakness, and even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him that his father was agbala”(Achebe 12). His need to distinguish himself from his father and protect his people are what drive him to make do things like kill Ikemefuna and the messenger. Things fall apart for Okonkwo because the other villagers do not have the same passion and drive as him. The

I want to be a craft artist because I really like art and doing crafts. And I think it is a great way to express yourself in your work. I didn’t really know that you could sell crafts, I knew you could sell paintings but with other things like christmas ornaments, I only ever made them just to keep for myself. I don’t think that a craft artist has to be someone that paints or makes sculptures, they can be someone who makes and sells things such as wreaths, ornaments, and custom shirts.

Fear is a powerful tool that if used incorrectly, can control how one lives. Okonkwo’s life is one that is dominated by fear. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart follows the Ibo people, set during the time of the colonization of West Africa, in the town of Umoufia. The protagonist, Okonkwo, is a strong follower of his culture’s rigid expectations and practices. While Okonkwo’s steadfast adherence earns the respect of the townsmen, many detest the cultural expectations and practices they are forced to follow. When Christian missionaries introduce Christianity to Umoufia, many of the Ibo people are quick to convert, including Okonkwo’s own son. This new religion slowly undermines the Ibo culture and religion Okonkwo firmly believes in, leading to his downfall. In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s fear of weakness along with the arrival of Christianity causes Okonkwo’s downfall.

In Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart Okonkwo’s identity of being a respected clansman is challenged, after the arrival of the missionaries, Achebe utilizes this to bring out the theme “a man’s violence will be his

Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor and critic. He is mainly known for his trilogy that investigates, using fiction, the history of Nigeria. The trilogy begins with Things Fall Apart, followed by No Longer at Ease and ended with Arrow of God. Furthermore, in this critically analytical essay, through a feminist perspective, a chapter of his second novel, No Longer at Ease, published in 1960, will be discussed. The setting of the novel is Lagos, Nigeria and Umuofia, Nigeria during the 1950s, before Nigeria attained independence from Great Britain. The novel, No Longer at Ease begins with Obi Okonkwo on trial, charged for accepting a bribe. However, using flashback, the author takes us back to the point before Obi’s departure