The Tragic Cultural Collison

“Religious wars are not caused by the fact that there is more than one religion, but by the spirit of intolerance. . . the spread of which can only be regarded as the total eclipse of human reason”, a famous quote by the French philosopher Montesquieu which can accurately summarize Chinua Achebe’s masterpiece, Things Fall Apart. The story of an Igbo man, Okonkwo, who has an unfortunate childhood and inherited nothing from his shameful father. With his tenacious effort, he became one of the most influential men and is highly regarded among the nine villages of Umuofia. After he returns to Umuofia from his exile, he realizes that his fatherland has been culturally invaded by the Europeans. Outraged by this dominance, Okonkwo seeks vengeance and a way to drive the British out of the land. He killed a church messenger to provoke a war but unfortunately chooses to hang himself. With this plot, Achebe effectively shows a “balance of cultures” by portraying the western religion in both positive and negative aspects to criticize the idea of single-story, which exemplifies the main character Okonkwo that his negatives are just a single story and a facet of his true character. Looking at a secular point of view, there is no religion or culture that is better than the other, but it is the idea of cultural misunderstanding and the consequences to the rest of humanity.

In the book, Achebe has Christianity as an invading religion not only towards the Igbo tribe but to the whole continent of Africa. As the religion begins to spread, it creates many controversies and turmoils among the indigenous people. Achebe wrote on chapter sixteen, “We have sent by this great God to ask you to leave your wicked ways and false gods and turn to Him so that you may be saved when you die. ” Clearly, the missionaries attempt to convert people to follow Christianity by offering something that would benefit the people but they use a patronizing tone to portray the Africans as savages who were in need of western enlightenment. Ironically, the missionaries treated the natives with poor manners as they hang people for killing their followers as well as kidnapping and extorting money from the leaders. Even though the Christian church has many positive influences such as offering a place for lower-class people like twins and women to live, the horrible outcome of Christianity invasion on Umuofia eclipses their generous attempt to help people. The story plot provided many aspects to Christianity rather than a whole single story of criticizing the western culture which effectively shows the “balance of cultures” for the western presence in Africa. From the Igbo tribe point of view, the western belligerent culture with full of arrogance and ethnocentrism takes it upon itself to invade another civilization.

This example of “balance of culture” and the idea of multiple aspects typify the characteristics of the main character Okonkwo. He is often described as an abusive and vicious person, but his ironic action suggests that there are misconceptions about him. The novel is often compared to the great Greek tragedies as Okonkwo reflecting himself as a tragic hero. Although Okonkwo seems like an aggressive person who does not have any supportive impact on the society, there are many aspects that make people admire him. From being a child of a failure to one of the most influential men in Umuofia, Okonkwo shows what real bravery and manliness is. Despite his erratic mood, Okonkwo has great attention towards his family with a hope that his sons will become successful men. Obsessed by the fear of becoming his father, Okonkwo often pretends to act coldly and aggressively so that he can earn others’ respect. His suicide commitment at the end of the novel is an absolutely subtle irony as he is restrained to show his weaknesses during the entire novel. With the bravely and fearless appearance when he cuts off the head of one messenger, his soul has been tormented from the day his son follows these missionaries, leaving Okonkwo in depression. On chapter twenty-four, Achebe wrote “Okonkwo stood looking at the dead man. He knew that Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had they had let the other messengers escape. ”Okonkwo abusive characteristic which no one else has is what empowered him to rebel against the missionaries and save the village from being invaded.

The people in Umuofia are his last hope but now his effort is meaningless because they are too afraid to fight against their enemy. Distressed by the fruitless result, Okonkwo rather kills himself than being dominated by the enemy. Clearly, he shows no sign of surrender towards the European but his death at the end depicts that his strength is simply a facade. Just like the missionaries, they believe that they will have positive influences of the tribe but in the reality, they are just being hypocrites. From interrupting Umuofia daily lives to deeply taking control of the land, Christianity does not grant their benefits as they have promised. Okonkwo attempt to save the village from being dominated depicts that he is a true hero and has earned him respect from his friends. Although Okonkwo mostly shows his negative characteristics, his internal soul somewhere still exists justice and bravery. The complex character Okonkwo also contributed to the idea of prejudice and conveys the message of “standing in others’ shoes. ” Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart not only gives a deeper insight about African culture but also criticizing the concept of single stories on African literature from the Europeans’ point of view. He broke from this outsider view, by portraying Igbo society in a sympathetic light. This allows the reader to examine the effects of European colonialism from a different perspective. From having “balance of cultures” to developing a complex character Okonkwo, Achebe successfully conveyed his message on the inaccuracy of single point of view. Prejudice and historical bias are the most difficult aspects to abolish from the society as it deeply ingrained in people’s mind. They are the obstacles that destroyed the past, renders the present isolated, and threatens the future.