"The white man is very smart... He put a knife to the things that held us together and we fell apart." Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart is a great example of African literature that demonstrates the clash of cultures and peoples that occurred across the African continent as a consequence of European colonialism. The novel is set in the 1890s in the lower region of Nigeria and creatively paints a picture of the complex social institutions and traditions of the Ibo culture before its contact with Europeans. The consequences of this contact are quickly revealed as Achebe artistically introduces the reader to the changes that have occurred at various levels among the indigenous Ibo people of the region. The author's choice of the title "Things Fall Apart" was not simply a creative decision, but a message on the book cover that alludes to the changes that take place in the novel: a culture and a people literally fall apart due to of their contact with white Europeans. missionaries and colonialists during the late 19th century. The way Achebe constructed his novel demonstrates the motivation behind his work and his desire to create an accurate representation of one of Africa's many indigenous ethnic groups. His novel not only adds richness to pre-colonial and colonial African history by shattering stereotypical European portrayals of Africans, but it does so while being careful not to stereotype what one might consider the typical white European colonialist. His writings deny any claims of a socially backward indigenous group of Africans and instead give voice to indigenous Africans who have been underrepresented and exploited by colonialism. When choosing how to represent the white European colonialists and missionaries, he decided quite intelligently to offer various depictions of the white man, such as the benevolent Mr. Brown, the zealous Reverend Smith, and the ruthless district commissioner. Achebe consciously introduces and develops the novel's protagonist, Okonkwo, as well as the Umuofia clan to which he belongs in the lower region of Nigeria. He describes Okonkwo's village, Iguedo, and conveys his full understanding of its culture, people and traditions. On the first page of the novel we learn that in this village men earn their social status through physical triumphs, that the spirit world and nature are highly respected, and that instruments and singing are an integral part of the culture. His choice of vocabulary adds to the fullness of each description and his decision to integrate Igbo language words into the narrative, for example agbala and iyi-uwa, allow him to capture the rhythm of the language while achieving a great level of revitalization cultural. . The message Achebe intended to send to the audience of his novel is that “things fall apart” for the people of Nigeria under British colonial rule, but it is imperative to read and analyze the novel's accounts to fully understand what is happening. is that it falls apart. It captures both European and African perspectives on colonial expansion and race relations and shows how family values, norms, religion, justice, and gender roles are among the many "things" that fall apart upon European contact. When Okonkwo returns to Umuofia after seven years of exile with his family, he is struck by the profound change his clan has undergone and by the fact that his people do not pay particular attention to the return of their warrior. “The new religion, thenew government and commercial shops were very present in the eyes and minds of the people. There were many who saw these new institutions as evil, but they too spoke and thought of little else, and certainly not of Okonkwo's return... Okonkwo was deeply distressed. And it wasn't just a personal pain. He mourned the clan, which he saw breaking and falling apart, and he mourned the warlike men of Umuofia, who had so inexplicably become like soft women (pp. 182-183).” From the moment of his return, Okonkwo noticed that the white man had changed his world by imposing a new religion on his people: Christianity. Furthermore, he noted the new European form of government – ​​with a rigorous judicial system and administrators such as the district commissioner, and new institutions for trade and agriculture – such as shops stocked with European goods and new rules to control production and trade. Both white and black missionaries had brought with them a new religion that spoke of the Holy Trinity and one God who had a son but never had a wife. These missionaries spoke through an interpreter, sang traditional hymns, and accused the African people of worshiping false gods. “The white man…told them of this new God, the Creator of all the world and of all men and women. He told them that they worshiped false gods, gods of wood and stone. He told them that…The wicked men and all the heathen who in their blindness bowed to wood and stone were thrown into a fire that burned like palm oil. But good men who worshiped the true God lived forever in His happy kingdom (p.145).” The Ibo people did not understand how they could be expected to believe that the gods they had worshiped all their lives, the same gods that had dictated the prosperity of their harvest and pregnancy each year simply did not exist. They feared that if they left their gods and followed the white man's God, their gods would repress them with the deepest wrath. “These men must be crazy, they [the people of Umuofia] told each other. Otherwise how could they say that Ani and Amadiora were harmless? And also Idemili and Ogwugwu? (p.146)” Before the foreign ideals proposed by Christianity were implemented and even accepted by many people in Umuofia, the original polytheistic religion, largely based on rituals, consultation of oracles, ancestral spirits and the commander god Chukwu, it served as one of the major stepping stones into Ibo society. Unlike the original polytheistic religion that dominated Okonkwo's village, Christianity offered the opportunity for men of lower status to be treated equally with men of even higher status, for under the white man's God, all men were equal. How can anyone expect to throw away years of worship and an entire religious culture at the request of another man? This imposition of a new religion is a prime example of how the Ibo culture has disintegrated. Once religious changes began to take place, it became obvious to the Ibo people that that would not be the only change that would occur in Umuofia. The imposition of a new form of government under the British colonialists in Nigeria would have upset the original collective and highly patriarchal political system that had been developed by the ancestors of the Ibo people. As Achebe demonstrates, decisions were not made by a leader or individual, but rather by a council of male elders. Religious leaders have also been called upon to resolve the debates. After the arrival of the British colonialists, this traditional political system slowly began to deteriorate. The British government began to intervene in disputes between the ethnic groups rather than allowing the Ibos to.”