What Is The Effect Of Change?
The Effect of Change Drawing and Description
My drawing is mostly based off of the book title that the colonist came up with: “The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger”. I drew Africa with a colonist hand holding a pacifier over it. I placed the pacifier right over Nigeria in order to show the setting of the novel and the location that the book title describes. It is supposed to show that the colonists were pacifying, as the book title suggests, Nigeria and all of Africa. Achebe sees the colonization of Africa as a way of silencing the Africans, even when they didn't need to be silenced. He believes that the colonists silenced their religions and customs and eventually, their entire life and existence. Over the course of the second and third parts of Things Fall Apart, we can see this happening. The missionaries silence their religion by coming in and teaching the Igbo tribe about their religion, claiming that the gods that the Igbo people worship are “false gods” and that their god is the one true God. They build a church and heavily encourage everyone to start to worship their God. This encouragement soon turns to force, and high ranking members of the tribe, the Egwugwu, are imprisoned and beat. This shows that they are also silencing their customs since the Egwugwu were a big part of their justice system. At the very end of the novel, we see the missionaries breaking up a meeting and, in a way, causing Okonkwo to end his own life. This is the beginning of them silencing the Igbo people's lives, as they are starting to not only control them in every way, but also driving people to suicide.
Single Story and Things Fall Apart Blog
Throughout history and even in today’s society, we see many examples of the single story. A single story refers to when someone perceives a group of people as something they are not due to them only hearing a single story about that group. Put simpler, it is a stereotype that has been assigned to a group or groups of people. An example of the single story can be seen through many African novels. These novels, mostly written by people who are not African and have no actual experience with African culture, depict African people as inhuman and savage. However, Chinua Achebe, Nigerian author of the novel Things Fall Apart, tells a different story.
Through his novel, Achebe creates a “balance of stories” by showing how Africans are nothing like how they are usually depicted. One way that he does this is through the Igbo justice system. He shows that they are peaceful and believe in justice, instead of continuing the single story that they are violent and unjust.
In Things Fall Apart, there is a trial in which a man is accused of aggressively beating his wife. In order to establish justice, the Igbo people rely on spirits known as the Egwugwu. These spirits are represented by the titled men in the village. One of these spirits is called Evil Forest. Throughout the trial, you see Evil Forest addressing both the defendant and the accusers as “bodies” and greeting them by saying “I salute you”. The response that follows this greeting is always, “Our father, my hand has touched the ground”. This compares directly to the modern day justice system. The Egwugwu spirits are like a jury, and Evil Forest is the judge. The interaction between Evil Forest and the people participating in the trial can be seen as a version of taking the oath. Today, we see people putting their hand on the bible and swearing to tell the truth, while in Igbo culture, they believe that they are directly pledging to the gods. This shows that the people of Africa are no different than those who are not of African descent, and therefore diminishes the story that they are unjust.
After Evil Forest has greeted them, the defendant and accusers both present their side of the story. Then, the Egwugwu go into a tent to discuss the case. After a verdict has been reached, Evil Forest states, “Our duty is not to blame this man or praise that, but to settle the dispute”. The court in the Igbo culture is not biased in any way, and their only goal is to help bring peace back to the village. If the single story about Africans were true, then there would be no peace, and in its place, violence and outrage.
Achebe is able to completely erase the single story about Africans and Igbo culture that many people have been led to believe. He compares their culture to modern day, showing that they are like everyone else. Most importantly, he shows that they are human, no more, no less.
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor, 1994. Print