They Had No Right
The story of colonization permeates modern culture. While colonization had existed for many centuries, the twentieth century’s colonization of Africa was particularly brutal. The story of Christian missionaries taking over the savage natives is taught to schoolchildren throughout the West, but the reality is somewhat different. Few books about the African colonization explore the natives’ side, but Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is one of them. At first, the novel details the life of the Ibo tribe before the colonizers arrive. The second portion shows how the missionaries changed this culture. While many would assume that Achebe’s point is to demonize the colonizers, he is actually looking to provide a balance perspective, saying that both sides are imperfect and human. His ultimate message is simple: while the native people’s culture was not perfect, it is not the white’s prerogative to change it.
The Ibo people begin the book in a stable culture. Their traditions are set, and have been followed for many years. The Ibo people have a method for life. Their life has been planned out and ritualized. The people are comfortable in this culture; they understand it. “Like all good farmers, Okonkwo had begun to sow with the first rains” (Achebe 23). The quote shows that farmers have always planted at this time, and it is a tradition held by the people for many centuries. Certainly, there are people who are not happy with the current culture. Barbaric things happen, such as the killing of twins, the oppression of the osu, and the obsession with emotionlessness. “They were returning home with baskets of yams when they heard the voice of an infant crying in the thick forest. … Nwoye had heard that twins were put in earthenware pots and thrown away in the forest, but he had never yet come across them” (Achebe 61-62). Although the natives were not right to kill twins, the decision lies with them. Forced change is no change at all. The natives cannot understand what the missionaries are saying because their culture is not fully developed. The Prime Directive from Star Trek would have served well in this instance. “No identification of self or mission. No interference with the social development of said planet. No references to space or the fact that there are other worlds or civilizations” (Bread and Circuses, TOS) The Prime Directive prevented humanity from changing the course of other civilizations by instructing them on how to develop. While this is a fictional idea, it would have solved a lot of problems for the Ibo tribe.
Things Fall Apart focusses on the village of Umuofia. Umuofia was the most respected village in the land, and the surrounding villages knew that Umuofia would respond to any threats with sudden and overwhelming force. “And so the neighboring clans who naturally knew of these things feared Umuofia, and would not go to war against it without first trying a peaceful settlement” (Achebe 12). Umuofia was a village of some repute in the area, but the arrival of the missionaries devastated it just as much as the surrounding villages. The arrival of the missionaries devastated the culture, just as a disease kills everyone, no matter how important. Christianity split the town, dividing the people in two, which caused a culture war. “It was Enoch who touched off the great conflict between church and clan in Umuofia which had been gathering since Mr. Brown left” (Achebe 186). Both cultures refused to move. The missionaries attracted the people who had been at the bottom of the previous social order. They wanted to convert, so they could escape the oppression of the tribal system. This split removed any influence it might have already had. Colonization is effective, primarily because it thrives on conflicts that exist within the society.
The most personal story in Things Fall Apart is the story of Okonkwo. Okonkwo is a very respected man within Umuofia, and the whole Ibo tribe. “Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements” (Achebe 3). Okonkwo has three wives and many children. He has many titles, even though his father was viewed as worthless. He rose above what his father left him to become highly respected. When the missionaries arrive, he refuses to bend to their religion. Okonkwo sticks to his way of life, even when he would be well served by bending to their will. He sticks by his beliefs, even when the tribe is against him. This leads him to commit suicide. He loses his ability to cope. He loses his humanity. But the tribe does not forget who he was, even when he died in disgrace. “’That man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself; and now he will be buried like a dog…” (Achebe 208). Colonization turned Okonkwo’s pride, his self-respect, and his beliefs against him. The missionaries changed his way of life, and he could no longer cope.
When Europeans arrived in Africa, they radically altered every aspect of life. The lives of individual people, the lives of villages, the lives of the whole Ibo tribe were changed permanently. But, the tribe did not get to choose their own destruction. They were given it by people who had no jurisdiction over their lives. The Ibo culture was not perfect, but it was theirs, and their lives ought to have been theirs to decide what to do with. They should have received the same chance to develop that European cultures had. The West had culturally evolved much farther than the Africans, and the Africans deserved to reach that point on their own. Westerners had no right to change African culture, and they had no right to enter Africa in the first place.
Works Cited
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor, 1994. Print.
“Bread and Circuses.” Star Trek: The Original Series. Hollywood, CA: Paramount Pictures, 1968.