Topic > How does Chinua Achebe depict Ibo culture in Things…

How does Achebe depict Ibo culture in “Things Fall Apart”? Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is the story of a traditional Nigerian village from within Umuofia around the late 1800s. This novel describes late African history and shows how the British administrative structure, in the form of the European Anglican Church, imposed its religion and symbols to the cultures of Africa, which they believed was uncivilized. This missionary zeal subjugated large native populations. As a result, indigenous traditions gradually disappeared and over time the entire local social structure within which the indigenous people had lived successfully for centuries was destroyed. Achebe spends the first half of the novel describing the Ibo culture, alone, in both a sophisticated and primitive light, describing and discussing its greatness, showing its strengths and weaknesses, labels and incivilities, and even the beginning of cultural collapse before the introduction of the missionaries. The collapse of the old culture is evident soon after the arrival of the missionaries, and here Achebe uses two of the main missionary figures, Mr. Brown and Mr. Smith, to once again represent both sides of the Igbo culture with each other, with Mr . Brown describing the sophisticated aspects and Mr. Smith describing the primitive aspects. The main focus of this novel is on one man, Okonkwo, the protagonist who symbolizes the many Nigerians, or Africans who were struggling against the white missionaries, who brought their religion, their policies and imposed them on the Okonkwo and other tribes surroundings. Achebe also shows how great the effect is when something seemingly non-invasive, such as a church, is set up in a Nigerian or African culture. Among other issues, A...... middle of paper ...... the novel. The Ibo culture is also described as primitive and unjust by Achebe. This is seen in the primitive aspects of the belief system of the Ibo people which appears uncivilized and unjust. These examples of Ibo culture are then combined and repurposed by the other primary method that Achebe uses to represent the dual aspects of Ibo culture, the figures of the two missionaries. First, Mr. Brown is used in a way that recognizes the sophisticated structure and beliefs of the Ibo culture and the improvement brought about to the Ibo people through the involvement of missionaries in the village. Alternatively, Mr. Smith is only used in a way that only notes the extreme and uncivilized acts committed by the Ibo people and the growing rift between them and the missionaries. Bibliography Achebe, C. 1986. All Things Fall Apart. Heinemann Educational Publishers. Oxford.