Things Fall Apart: Chapters 24,25 “From the Commissioner’s Perspective”

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 24, 25 “From the Commissioner’s Perspective”

 “In the book which he planned to write he would stress that point. As he walked back to the court he thought about that book. Every day brought him some new material. The story of this man who had killed a messenger and hanged himself would make interesting reading” (Achebe,206).

Okonkwo’s suicide, while a big deal to his friends and family, evidently meant very little to the District Commissioner, who considers Okonkwo’s story “not a whole chapter but a reasonable paragraph,” (206) This reveals not only the effect that imperialism had on people who suffered at the hands of it, because Okonkwo sacrificed himself for the cause, but also that those in charge--namely, the Commissioner--were minimally impacted by the catastrophic things that they wreaked upon the native peoples. The effect of Okonkwo’s suicide is ironically minimized by the Commissioner to “a reasonable paragraph,” (206) and the rest of the characters are left to deal with his death after the story ends. By ending the novel with the Commissioner walking away, rather than the natives in the aftermath of Okonkwo’s death, Achebe emphasizes the importance the white imperialists had over the natives.

Things Fall Apart: Chapters 22,23

Things Fall Apart: Chapters 20,21 "A Whole New World"

Things Fall Apart: Chapters 20,21 "A Whole New World"

"But apart from the church, the white man had also brought a government. They had built a court where the District Commissioner judged cases in ignorance" (Achebe 174).

Okonkwo finally returns to his village after 7 long years of exile only to find that the old village he remembered has basically been torn to shreds by the imperialists. The imperialists have brought in a new form of government not based off of titles and small decisions made by elders and oracles. The new form of government uses court systems and laws to keep people in order. The new government completely overthrows the old African culture, and now the imperialists have almost converted everyone in the old village. For the few that have not converted, they are completely outnumbered by the new Christians and no longer have any advantage to staying in their religion. The white men have almost completely taken over now...

Things Fall Apart: Chapters 17,18,19 "why wont they die?"

Things Fall Apart: Chapters 17,18,19 "why wont they die?"

"At last the day came by which all the missionaries should have died. But they were still alive..."
"That week they won a handful more converts. And for the first time they had a woman." (Achebe,158)

As their gods fail to punish the white men after they tear trees down in the Evil forest, more and more people join Christianity. Many of the Africans are losing faith in their old gods and now seek help from a new one. The first woman also joins Christianity, which shows that it is reaching everyone. The imperialists have now touched the African cultures enough to be able to recruit any gender/age. Also, the Europeans shut down the Africans religion without knowing because they did not die after living in the Evil forest for 8 weeks. This totally disproved the African Culture and gained The imperialists a few followers. I predict in the next few chapters we will see more and more of new arrivals to the Christian religion.

Things Fall Apart: Chapters 15,16 "The Iron Hourse"

Things Fall Apart: Chapters 15,16 “The Iron Horse”

"He was not an albino. He was quite different." He sipped his wine. "And he was riding an iron horse. The first people who saw him ran away, but he stood beckoning to them. In the end the fearless ones went near and even touched him. The elders consulted their Oracle and it told them that the strange man would break their clan and spread destruction among them." (Achebe 135).

Racial suspicions, that is to say, dislike of people who looked different, play a major role in conflict. The villagers were afraid of the white man and his “iron horse,” which turned out to be harmless, and this fear caused them to murder the man, which in turn led to the destruction of the entire Abame village. This reveals how, during the 1890s, imperialism was encouraged by a sense of cultural superiority. The Abame people did not necessarily view themselves as superior, but their suspicion of the white man caused strife, which gave the imperialists what they considered furthermore reason to take land. This is especially evident in Okonkwo’s violent and hasty mindset toward killing the white men. By no means is this entire encounter the fault of the Abame people--however, there is evidently a sense of cultural superiority on both sides, which breeds violence between the two and facilitates imperialism.

Things Fall Apart: Chapters 9,10 "Oracles"

Things Fall Apart: Chapters 9,10 "Oracles and Egwugwu"

"After the death of Ekwifi's second child, Okonkwo had gone to a medicine man, who was also a diviner of the Afa Oracle, to inquire what was amiss. This man told him that the child was an ogbanje, one of those wicked children who, when they died, entered their mothers' wombs to be be born again" (Achebe 77).

"And then the egwugwu appeared. The women and children sent up a great shout and took to their heels. It was instinctive. A woman fled as soon as an egwugwu came in sight. And when, as on that day, nine of the greatest masked spirits in the clan came out together it was a terrifying spectacle"
(Achebe, 79).

In this chapter, there are two main things that may clash with the Europeans christian beliefs. One of these things is the Oracle and all of its helpers/assistants like the medicine man. This clashes with christian beliefs because 1, it is a different god that the oracle is talking to. 2, she is the only one that can talk to the god while in Christianity many people can talk to god, although the priest has the closest connection. Also, the Oracles assistants provide another obstacle for the Europeans to go through, with their unique ways of medicine that the Umuofian people believe in. Another thing that could cause problems is the egwugwu. These egwugwu are the titled clanman that dress up as a god of one of the nine villages. They dance around and cause noise havoc all around the village, this is definitely something the Europeans will want gone.

Things Fall Apart: Chapters 7,8 "Titles for Days"

Things Fall Apart: Chapters 7,8 "Titles for Days"

“'I think it is good that our clan holds the ozo title in high esteem'”  (Achebe 70)

In Umoufia, The Ozo title is looked upon very highly, and it is not easy to achieve. (although in other villages this title is lowly and very easy to snatch up) High ranked titles may be a thing of controversey once the European Imperialists come into play. Christians believe that everyone is equal, so to have one man with much more authority over others would be a devastating blow to the imperialists views. Also, this title gives the Umuofian men a feeling of importance, if the Europeans bad talk a man with many titles it could start a big clash between the two cultures. Many things can go wrong when one belief noses in anothers. Another thing in this chapter that may come up on the imperialists radar is the fact that these titles are based off of one thing only, Yams. As they realize that yams are the source for most Umuofian culture, the Imperialists may ‘kill the source’ and start downgrading yams with other vegetables and fruits. This would be a huge blow to Okonkwo and his fellow men because that is what their culture has revolved around since before they were born.

Things Fall Apart: Chapters 5,6 "Don't Shoot Your 2nd Wife!... BAM"

Things Fall Apart: Chapters 5,6 "Don't Shoot Your 2nd Wife!... BAM"

"But there was one woman who had no doubt whatever in her mind. She was Okonkwo's second wife, Ekwifi, whom he nearly shot" (Achebe 39).

Historically, Europeans have been Christian. Which means that they believe in monogamy and will most likely disagree with the polygamy happening throughout Umoufia culture. This could bring many upsets and clashes in the future because many, many men just like Okonkwo have multiple wives. These men will most likely want to keep their multiple wives and will fight for their beliefs.

Another thing that may seem odd to the European Imperialists in this chapter is the New Yam Festival, where many events are held. These events consists of a huge feast of yams, a wrestling match and a fellowship meeting. These three events may be put down by the Europeans christian beliefs, and will most likely result in more clashing between cultures. Possible compromises may be that the Umoufians get to keep wrestling, but the feast of yams and meeting for the gods will most likely be cut out. 

Things Fall Apart: Chapters 3,4 "Sacrifice the Chicken"

Things Fall Apart: Chapters 3,4 "Sacrifice the Chicken"

"'Every year,' he said sadly, 'before I put any crop in the earth, I sacrifice a cock to Ani, the owner of all land" (Achebe 17).

Throughout history we have seen that many different cultures believed in animal sacrifice. The Ancient Greeks, for example, would sacrifice animal meat to their gods when their family member was sick, or if they felt a god had asked them to do so. This also goes for many African cultures, as we can see in the quote, some people sacrifice animals in hope that it will bring good fortune to their land with bountiful crops. However, as Imperialism settles in, Europeans will most likely want to get rid of these gruesome animal sacrifices to 'minor' gods. Europeans will  convert the Africans to Christianity (we know they succeeded in doing this through history books and lessons.) and stop their animal sacrifices.

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 13,14 "Salute to Our Culture"

Things Fall Apart Chapter 13,14 "Salute to our culture"

"Guns were fired on all sides and sparks flew out as machetes clanged together in warriors salutes. The air was full of dust and the smell of gunpowder" (Achebe 123).

At the beginning of a ceremony for Ezeudu, many guns are shot up into the air as a solute to the 'spirit' that brings water to Ezeudu and wishes him luck in his next life. But, the interesting part of this is the fact that they have guns and gunpowder. These guns and gunpowder/ammunition are made by the 'white people' or imperialists. So we have to infer that the white people have been to or near the land before. This is not our first sighting of objects made by imperialists in Umuofia, but it is one of the most prominent because many of the clansmen have guns. Also, the ceremony is something that imperialists will try and get rid of. Most imperialists enforced their own religions and would suppress all other religions that were native to the people. These is just one example of things the imperialists might suppress later on in the story.

Things Fall Apart: Chapter 11,12 "Beware!"

Things Fall Apart Chapter 11,12 "Beware!"

" 'Beware, Okonkwo!' she warned. 'Beware of exchanging words with Agbala. Does a man speak when a god speaks? Beware" (Achebe, 101)!

           As Chielo storms in to Okonkwos compound, she warns Okonkwo of speaking against their god Agbala. Agbala and the other gods that Okonkwos people worship, will all be taken away and suppressed when imperialists invade. This is because most of the imperialists believed in one god, and would later try and convert everyone else to Christianity. This quote shows how much authority Agbala has at the moment, but very soon I believe that we will see that not everyone will give him the same amount of authority he had before. With extreme imperialists, many of the Nigerians could be killed / murdered for not believing in the new religion.