Imperialism is defined as the domination of one country culture by another. Chinua Achebe, the author makes the reader feel as though they are a part of the story itself. In this book the Europeans slowly but surely came to dominate the culture in parts of Africa. The main character in this book is Umuofia’s (a lower Nigerian clan) fiercest warrior who goes by the name Okonkwo.
Before the arrival of the Europeans, things in Umuofia were done as they had been for centuries. For example the citizens of Umuofia were monotheistic which means they worshiped many gods. Also they practiced a ritual throughout the book in which they shared palm-wine and kola nuts to emphasize their peacefulness among each other and to the Igbo, the law of Umuofia. The Igbo is what Americans today would consider a complex system of laws and traditions as opposed to our own. Yams were the sacred crop of Umuofia. If you owned a significant amount of yams in Umuofia you were considered very wealthy as was the case with Okonkwo. Okonkwo is Umuofia’s fiercest warrior and one of the wealthiest. It is described throughout the book how Okonkwo did not have the start in his life that most young men of Umuofia have. Instead Okonkwo’s success was driven by the lifelong failure of his father Unoka. Okonkwo describes him as lazy and worthless which contributed to the fact that Okonkwo and his siblings some days went without eating. Unoka was disliked throughout the village because of this and along with the fact that he never repaid money when someone would let him borrow it.
The Europeans went and gradually took control of Umuofia as well as other parts of Africa. Throughout the book it happened so slowly and gradually that the reader wouldn’t realize how much control Umuofia was under until the end of the book. The Europeans set it up sort of like a trap. They introduced Christianity in Africa when it was relatively unknown. Some Africans expressed an interest in this new religion. Okonkwo strongly opposed this religion and tried to tell everyone, but Okonkwo was taken into exile and no one felt the need to listen to him. Once the people of Umuofia got interested, they didn’t know that they were permitting the Europeans to do more than just spread religion, but this would permit Imperialism. Okonkwo was angered by the fact that the Africans did not drive off the Europeans instead of embracing them.
Life after the arrival of the Europeans was completely different. Africans did not realize this until they were under the religion and laws of the Europeans. The Europeans had established almost total control of Umuofia taking in consideration Okonkwo’s rapidly decreasing power amongst his people. Okonkwo’s early mistakes of his mistreatment towards his people and his family were beginning to take its toll. Okonkwo’s stress and confusion eventually overtook him and he hung himself. He ended up dying just like his father, worthless and leaving behind a bad legacy.
Things Fall Apart is a testament to unjust stereotypes. This book is really to prove that people have their own way of doing things, whether it be religion, language, or social tradition. In this book the Europeans played friendly at first to get the Africans on their side, once that happened the Africans had just played into their trap. Before they had realized what they had done they were already victims of Imperialism. Chinua Achebe first wrote this book in 1959, but wrote it in a way that people can still understand it.
