English 2H Pd.

Ms. Klemstine

11/21/18 Things Fall Apart Essay

If your culture was underappreciated and neglected, would you do something to try and

change that? When Chinua Achebe, author of the novel Things Fall Apart, saw how ignorant

people were about African culture, he realized that he needed to do something to change the way

his beloved roots were viewed by others. Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian writer who eventually

moved to the US, where he soon became outraged by how little Americans knew about African

culture. He then decided to write Things Fall Apart, which tells the story of a village in Africa

called Umuofia and follows one citizen named Okonkwo. Okonkwo is a well-respected warrior

who constantly struggles with insecurity and fear of vulnerability, causing him to run into a great

amount of trouble. While Okonkwo continues to put himself and others in danger, unexpected

visitors in Umuofia cause things to go completely awry. The author Chinua Achebe’s purpose in

writing Things Fall Apart is to show that humans in Africa may have different cultures and

traditions than humans in the Western world, but in the end, they are still humans who deserve

the same amount of respect and recognition.

In Achebe’s novel, he shows how the Ibo people of Umuofia have a distinct culture and

traditions, just like the people in almost every other society. One of these traditions is The New

Yam Festival, which is a joyous harvest celebration held every year in the village. The festival is

a very happy occasion that is also centered on spending quality time with friends and family.

Some of the other aspects of the celebration are, “The Feast of the New Yam was held every year

before the harvest began, to honor the earth goddess and the ancestral spirits of the clan. New
yams could not be eaten until some had first been offered to these powers. Men and women,

young and old, looked forward to the New Yam Festival because it began the season of plenty –

the new year. On the last night before the festival, yams of the old year were all disposed of by

those who still has them. The new year must begin with tasty, fresh yams and not the shriveled

and fibrous crop of the previous year. All cooking pots, calabashes and wooden bowls were

thoroughly washed, especially the wooden mortar in which yam was pounded. Yam foo-foo and

vegetable soup was the chief food in the celebration.” (Achebe 36-37). This shows how the Ibo

people have traditions that include religion, food, spending time with loved ones, and the

celebration of a fresh start. All of these aspects are very similar to those of many traditions found

in the US, Europe, or almost anywhere else in the world. Another tradition in Umuofia is The

Week of Peace which is a celebration in the village where there is no violence for one whole

week. What happens during this week is, “You know as well as I do that our forefathers ordained

that before we plant any crops in the earth we should observe a week in which a man does not

say a harsh word to his neighbor. We live in peace with our fellows to honor our great goddess of

the earth without whose blessing our crops will not grow.” (Achebe 30). This is an example of an

Ibo tradition that involves promoting peace and positivity within their community. These are two

very common themes found in celebrations all over the world. Traditions in Africa may be done

slightly differently than in other places around the world, but they are still traditions that are very

meaningful and should be respected.

Achebe also published an article in response to Joseph Conrad’s novel, Heart of

Darkness, in addition to writing Things Fall Apart. In this article, Achebe addresses the unjust

treatment Africa has received from the Western world and confronts Conrad and his writing as

racist and inaccurate. He uses real life encounters he has had, his own life experiences, facts
about Africa, and quotes from Conrad’s novel to support his argument. As his thesis for the

article, he says, “Quite simply, it is the desire – one might indeed say need – in Western

psychology to set Africa up as a foil to Europe, as a place of negations at once remote and

vaguely familiar, in comparison with which Europe’s own state of spiritual grace will be

manifest.” (Achebe 1). This shows how Conrad and many others only think of Africa as being

unlike and inferior to Europe, when in reality, Africa has so much more to offer. Achebe also

tells of a conversation he once had with a man at the university he worked at. Based on the

encounter, the man was obviously completely uniformed about African culture. The exchange

went as follows, “Then he asked me if I was a student too. I said no, I was a teacher. What did I

teach? African literature. Now that was funny, he said, because he knew a fellow who taught the

same thing, or perhaps it was African history, in a certain Community College not far from here.

It always surprised him, he went on to say, because he never had thought of Africa as having that

kind of stuff, you know.” (Achebe 1). Based on this quote, it is clear that Africa is often not

given enough credit for their achievements as they truly deserve. Africa is used as an antithesis

of European refinement and not credited for any artistic, “civilized’ achievements, both of which

should be changed immediately.

The novel Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, is quite different from Achebe’s novel,

as it tells of a trip taken by Conrad to Africa, where he describes the people there as scenery

rather than as human. He uses language that ends up portraying Africans as exotic creatures or

magnificent spectacles, when they are just people. He also refers to Africans as inferior to him

and all people from the Western world. An example showing this arrogance is, “They trespassed

upon my thoughts. They were intruders whose knowledge of life was to me an irritating pretense,

because I felt so sure they could not possibly know the things I knew. Their bearing, which was
simply the bearing of commonplace individuals going about their business in the assurance of

perfect safety, was offensive to me like the outrageous flauntings of folly in the face of a danger

it is unable to comprehend. I had no particular desire to enlighten them, but I had some difficulty

in restraining myself from laughing in their faces, so full of stupid importance” (Conrad). The

demeaning language that Conrad uses to describe African people shows how racist and cruel he

is. He is dehumanizing people who really are not much different than himself, which is one of

the worst things you could do to someone. African people are unjustly seen as barbaric and

incapable of living normal lives.

Ultimately, Achebe achieved in his purpose in writing Things Fall Apart to show that

humans in Africa may have different cultures and traditions than humans in the Western world,

but in the end, they are still humans who deserve the same amount of respect and recognition. He

successfully represented Africans as normal people with their own traditions while also refuting

anyone who thought of them differently. He worked for justice and equality which is something

we can all greatly respect and aspire to someday achieve. turn