Achebe
Achebe’s Defense of The Ibo People in Things Fall Apart
Option 1
The late Chinua Achebe is considered to be one of the most important voices in African literature. Born in colonial Nigeria in the 1930’s, Achebe joined the first wave of African writers who were determined to represent their country in a way that would truthfully depict the past and present. Before the arrival of the first wave writers, the history of pre-colonial Africa was portrayed as a place of barbarous activity. European novelists such as Joseph Conrad only added to this impression in his dehumanizing book, The Heart of Darkness. Conrad depicted Africa as the antithesis of civilization. In 1958, Achebe published Things Fall Apart as a response to the negative view that Europeans had placed on his society. Throughout this essay I would like to examine how Achebe responded to these European fabrications by bringing together an accurate picture of pre- and post Colonial life through his essays and novel Things Fall Apart. If anyone had the right to set the record straight for Africa’s history it was Chinua Achebe. As a young boy he grew up at the crossroads of Ibo culture and Christian influence. This experience allowed Achebe to discern the positive and negative points that were contained in each society. His immediate family were devout Protestants while many of his other relatives practiced the rituals of Ibo traditions. Because of this upbringing he was able to enjoy a Western education and an appreciation for his African history.
The notion that African history was completely brutal and inhumane before the coming of the colonists was a myth Achebe wanted to dispel. In reality, African history before colonization had a culture that was just as rich as any European nation. In Achebe’s collection of essays titled, Morning Yet on Creation Day he stated, “ I would be quite satisfied if my novels (especially the ones I set in the past) did no more than teach my readers that their
Option 1
The late Chinua Achebe is considered to be one of the most important voices in African literature. Born in colonial Nigeria in the 1930’s, Achebe joined the first wave of African writers who were determined to represent their country in a way that would truthfully depict the past and present. Before the arrival of the first wave writers, the history of pre-colonial Africa was portrayed as a place of barbarous activity. European novelists such as Joseph Conrad only added to this impression in his dehumanizing book, The Heart of Darkness. Conrad depicted Africa as the antithesis of civilization. In 1958, Achebe published Things Fall Apart as a response to the negative view that Europeans had placed on his society. Throughout this essay I would like to examine how Achebe responded to these European fabrications by bringing together an accurate picture of pre- and post Colonial life through his essays and novel Things Fall Apart. If anyone had the right to set the record straight for Africa’s history it was Chinua Achebe. As a young boy he grew up at the crossroads of Ibo culture and Christian influence. This experience allowed Achebe to discern the positive and negative points that were contained in each society. His immediate family were devout Protestants while many of his other relatives practiced the rituals of Ibo traditions. Because of this upbringing he was able to enjoy a Western education and an appreciation for his African history.
The notion that African history was completely brutal and inhumane before the coming of the colonists was a myth Achebe wanted to dispel. In reality, African history before colonization had a culture that was just as rich as any European nation. In Achebe’s collection of essays titled, Morning Yet on Creation Day he stated, “ I would be quite satisfied if my novels (especially the ones I set in the past) did no more than teach my readers that their
Cited: Achebe, Chinua. Morning Yet On Creation Day. Garden City: Anchor Press, 1975. Print. Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor, 1994. Print.