Things Fall Apart: the Unsatisfied Soul of Okonwo - Assignment Example

Things Fall Apart: the Unsatisfied Soul of Okonwo Justice is a subtle but overriding theme in Chinua Achebe’s novel, “Things Falls Apart”. In the novel justice has been presented as a social construct that varies from society to society according the values of people’s sense of right and wrong. The society in Igbo has its own judicial system and values of justice. But the white missionaries in Igbo disturb this system, to a great extent, for the people’s good. Achebe shows that the sense of justice is not universal, rather it is a social construct. In Okonkwo’s society what the members consider masculinity and justice is cruelty and injustice according the values of the Christian missionaries. Obviously according to the author’s thesis that asserts that a society may justly have a culture, values and other social institutions, the justice system of Okonkwo’s society is quite right for the people of that particular society. But in no way, he could deny the hemorrhaging impacts of the superstitious values of the society’s of Igbo. A society in which hierarchy and social rank is determined by one’s masculinity that often turns into cruelties like infanticide and oppressive patriarchy can never be based on a universal sense of justice. Indeed Achebe shows that such superstitious sense of right-wrong and justice must succumb to a better and more universal one. In the novel, Achebe depicts a culture that depends on traditions and laws that primarily pivots on fairness and justice. He shows that the African tribal society is a fully functioning organism, in contrary to the European assumption of the African tribes as something anarchic, savage and brute, like most other civilized societies. If Okonkwo’s society is to be considered a savage brute, it is because of the savagery within the society’s values and system of belief. In opposition to the European concept of a savage and cannibal Africa, Achebe shows that like most other organically functioning society of the world, Igbo’s society has both positives to be proud of and negatives to be criticized. Achebe depicts Okonkwo’s society as people with admirable social institutions such as communal democracy, consensus-based social decision-making procedure, traditions and laws, etc. Simultaneously the society has also other objectionable traits such as patriarchy, superstitions, etc. Obviously Igbo’s society consents to the murder of Ikemefuna, an innocent young boy on the basis of Oracle’s message. Such murder is quite justifiable in a society that is typical of pre-modern clannish zeal and puts the collective and social interests above individual interests. Indeed such tribal laws and values of justice are objectionable to modern individualism-induced colonial laws and justice. The novel “Things Fall Apart” successfully renders a vivid picture of the way how the elements of the tribal culture of the Igbo are disturbed and deranged by the colonial rule. It is the melancholic derangement of dying away of a culture that has been cherished by its members generation after generation through the ages. The elegiac undertone of the novel “Things Falls Apart” is determined by the historical events of the author’s country. The theme of the novel is mainly focused on the British colonial domination and exploitation of the Igbo. The mourning of the author’s finds its ways through the unsuccessful attempt of the tragic protagonist Okonkwo to defend the culture of his tribe. The bemoaning presence of the author is randomly observable throughout the whole plot of the novel. In the town Umofia Okonkwo is a renowned person. He is enthusiastic, strong and brave. The tribal people of the town have no faith in God before the British came to the town. They are absorbed in their own culture, norms, belief and religion. Through the passage of time the European colonists attempted to convert them into Christianity and introduced new laws in the tribe. As colonization proceeded, the Christian missionaries came to spread the teachings of Christianity and to convert the people of Igbo to their belief. These people ultimately found a strong foothold in Igbo’s society which provoked them to establish a “government as well as law court for administering justice to become part of the indoctrination of native peoples to Western ways” (Ezenwa-Ohaeto 56). Achebe has not overlook the brutality and superstition that holds the tribal society open for changes and disintegration and its ‘falling apart.’ Indeed Okonkwo is the conjuration of the author’s affinity for the original tribal culture. He strongly opposes the disturbing presence of the European in his tribe. His reaction to the colonial power is evident in the following lines: Does the white man understand our custom about land?” “How can he when he does not even speak our tongue? But he says that our customs are bad; and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever. (Achebe 67) He protests against the conversion of the ignorant tribal people. For Okonkwo, the European are the agents of destruction. So he strongly despises them. Some messengers came with a message from the white man. He becomes angry and kills them in a marketplace. Okonkwo is to run away to save himself from the wrath of the white man. At the end he hangs himself and was buried like a dog. The glory of the original tribal culture is revealed in the opening section of the novel. A vivid account of the aspects of tribal culture, the culture of the Ibo, is presented before the readers. The various aspects of the culture are presented to uphold it as an organic whole. How Achebe presents the cultural elements of the Ibo tribe rather reveals his affection for it. The concepts of heroism, justice, gender roles, social structure etc. appears with their own glory in the novel. In the second section of the novel, the exile of Okonkwo is presented as the enforcement of the laws of the society. Okonkwo’s killing of Ezeudu’s son is considered by his society as a female. Indeed his society is extremely passionate with masculinity. In his exile he receives the news of the arrival of the White men in tribe. He became outraged with the news. He scolded his tribesmen as old women. Indeed the protagonist is handled by the author as one of the pro or contra elements of the changes that are initiated with the arrival of the European in the continent. In the novel the protagonist represents those who react against the colonial rule and the changes caused by the rule. The third section presents the growing conflict between Okonkwo and his changing society. He kills himself because he failed to cope with the changes in his society. Finally it can be asserted that the novel appears to be an elegy that mourns the fall of the original tribal culture and attacks the imposition of colonialist rule. Achebe primarily propounds that the colonial rules and laws simply cause havoc to the existing justice system of the tribal society and throws it into endless anarchy. Without any attempt to work with the clan people to bring positive changes, like Mr. Brown does, the colonial power works against the established social system to throw it into anarchy. Enoch’s, a fanatical convert in Umuofia, disrespectful act of ripping the mask off an egwugwu eventually materializes the climactic conflict between the native and colonial justice systems, as in the epigraph of the novel, the author refers to the anarchic impact of the colonial rule: “Turning and turning in the widening gyre / The falcon cannot hear the falconer; / Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world” (Achebe 45). Works Cited Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Fawcett. 1958. Ezenwa-Ohaeto. Chinua Achebe: A Biography Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 1997 Read More