Examples Of Imperialism In Things Fall Apart

Question 1’s Answer:
Disintegration of Igbo society is central to Things Fall Apart; the idea of collapse, on both an individual and social level, is one of the novel's central images. This image also gives the book its title. The Christians arrive and bring division to the Igbo. One of their first victims is Okonkwo's family. The new faith divides father from son, and the Christians seek to attack the very heart of Igbo belief; such an attack also attacks the core of Igbo culture, as the tribe's religious beliefs are absolutely integral to all other aspects of life. Not coincidentally, the first converts are people who stand to profit from a change in the social order. They are people who have no title in the tribe, and thus have nothing
Imperialism is basically presented as a clash of two civilisations in this novel, with the weaker of the two finally surrendering. Of course, a central element of imperialism is the way in which the white man assumes a natural sense of superiority and clearly believes that everything associated with the indigenous natives is "bad." Consider how Okonkwo answers Obierika's question about whether the white man understands their beliefs 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 bad.” Imperialism is expressed through this natural sense of superiority and the way in which it is attached to the various tribal beliefs and practices of Ibo culture. Imperialism in the novel is associated with everything that is white being good and everything that is not being "bad" or
At the end of "Things Fall Apart", the protagonist, Okwonkwo kills himself because he cannot adapt to the changes in the Igbo people. He resents Christianity and the white man. However, in death, Okwonkwo becomes a hero and actually brings back some of the traditional Igbo ways. They will not bury his body because he commited suicide and they make sacrifices to cleanse the land desecrated by the suicide. His friend, Obierika exclaims that Okwonkwo was one of the greatest men of his tribe and it was the white man who drove him to kill himself. So, by killing himself, Okwonkwo brings back some of his people's traditions and makes them aware of the dark side of the white people. Okwonkwo is a tragic figure but his death brings back the very things he died