The novel Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian writer, shows the effects of colonialism on Igbo society from an African perspective. In the novel, the author describes the arrival of the white missionaries in Okonkwo’s clan and the reactions of his community to this sudden change. Although the British invasion had negative consequences, there were also positive effects.
I believe that we as human beings tend to look at the negative side first, which is understandable given the way the Europeans arrived in the clan. As indicated in the title of the book, things start to fall apart after the arrival of the colonizers. The European invasion changed almost every aspect of their life, including their religion, family structure, culture, language, and their way of life. They arrived imposing Christianity on people without even questioning if that was what they wanted. Many clan members abandoned their religion to converts to Christianity and follow the missionaries. Moreover, slavery was one of the most evident marks of colonization in Nigeria, where African natives were subjected to forced labor regimes. Besides that, colonizers saw Africans as an uneducated society that needed to be civilized, and they also believed that their people were much more advanced and educated than Africans; they brainwashed people.
However, I think it is important to acknowledge that this interaction between the whites and the clan people had some positive effects on economies and education. Furthermore, colonization brought modernization to their community, including medical advances and schools. The introduction of school and education in their society helped decrease the number of illiterate people and provided more opportunities for professional growth. The book’s author serves as an example of this.
In addition, after reading this novel and discussing these themes in class, I could realize that what seems utterly appropriate and acceptable in my culture, for example, may not appear so to their culture and vice versa. For example, the killing of babies, rituals praising ancestral gods, polygamy, this hyper-masculinity, and women’s oppression, may not seem appropriate in my culture. Therefore, when it comes to culture, it is impossible to define what is right and wrong.
The colonization in Nigeria was not the best experience for Africans, but it is impossible to deny that they also brought some positive effects to their society. I am not saying that what the British did was right, even because people can have different interpretations when defining what is right or wrong. What I am saying is that there are imperfections in every society, and we cannot just look at the destruction that colonization has done, but rather we should try to look at the positive effects too.
Reference:
Achebe, C. (1992). Things fall apart. New York: Knopf.