Cry The Beloved Country And Things Fall Apart Critical Analysis

Narrative Chapter One Olaudah Equiano’s Interesting Narrative, is a special case of literature history. Years before the writings of Fredrick Douglass, it spoke of the horrible truths of slavery to persuade its readers to listen to its reason. Though Equiano’s authenticity to his story being that of his own life can be questionable at times, his writings still strive for the greater purpose of “promoting the interest of humanity” (688). Equiano starts the first chapter and the beginning of his story explaining the life he had in Africa.

Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian author, found this work particularly racist and wrote a response to it, “An Image of Africa”. Through Achebe’s work, we realize Heart of Darkness contained a single story leaving naive readers with a single image of African natives.

Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart is an attempt in literary form to reinstate the dignity of the Igbo (and African) culture and people that had been become absent and restrained with the advent of colonisation of Nigeria by Europeans. Achebe demonstrates in the novel that, in a world where white colonists find the traditional customs and practices of the Igbo people as savage and primitive; the culture of this society is one of depth and dignity, where the traditions and practices of the people throughout their history demonstrates a solid and civilised structure in their own right. Analysing three episodes that occur in Things Fall Apart, this essay aims to discuss how Achebe tries to accomplish his aim of restoring dignity and self respect of the African people.

“Things Fall Apart”, a novel written by Chinua Achebe about Africa through the character Okonkwo, a man who Achebe uses to illustrate the complexity Igbo culture, contrary to what the Europeans portrayed Africa as. One main focus of the book is to counter the single story, which is the idea that an area is represented by one story, similar to a stereotype. However, differing from a stereotype a single story often completely misrepresents something, and in this case Africa. Europeans had been the only ones writing about Africa, describing all the culture as problematic for being different, rather than looking at what African culture really is. Achebe was one of the first to write about African culture for westerners to read about, making Things Fall Apart a true innovation in writing.

This sense of racial dominance offers insight into the Western justification of their brutal treatment of natives –ruling through violence and intimidation rather than diplomacy. Moreover, as native Africans are degraded in the background, the wicked imperialistic operations of European companies lowered the moral standards for arbitrating the evil and madness of their

Even though there were Africans during the first part of the book, the representation of the Africans changed from the first half of the book during the second half of the book, allowing readers to feel insecure and other

Twain used him and his environmental background to connect racism to the relationship between Huck and Jim. Jim was a slave but that does but “nigger” is the correct term to describe him even though the author portrays it in this manner. The relationship between these two characters grew very deep with the progression of the novel but so did the understanding racial differences between the two. In chapter 14, Huck says, “Well, he was right; he was most always right; he had an uncommon level head, for a nigger” (Twain 176). Although this may appear to be a compliment, I felt that the positive aspect of this statement was taken away when Huck lacks the understanding of how rude it is to refer to Jim as some “nigger”.

Many stereotypes of African culture have emerged due to western literature and media and first hand accounts of explorers. Things Fall Apart offers a view into the truth and reality of African cultures, which are often misconceptualized by these stereotypes. Acebe shows how African society functions well without assistance from foreign travelers. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe counters the imperialist stereotypes of Africa by keeping certain words in the Igbo language, as opposed to translating them into English, to fight back against the spreading western culture and to embrace their own way of life. He also counters the imperialist stereotypes of Africa by using Igbo proverbs to show how their culture values many of the same things that western

DuBois believed that African Americans could never achieve equality by copying white American ideals, and that equality could only be achieved by teaching racial pride and African cultural heritage. On the other side of the coin, Marcus Garvey and his Pan African Movement was preaching a return back to Africa message and encouraging black economic independence. The political awareness among African Americans was increasing significantly, it was realized that it was necessary to become active in society in order to achieve racial equality. “The emergence of the New Negro symbolized black liberation and the final shaking off of the residuals of slavery in mind, spirit and

Before imperialism there were: large kingdoms, small villages, sheredes/chefs, some had large herds and cattle, good educated, islamic rulers, and people who worshipped gods. Europeans disrupted traditional ways and impeded their beliefs and social structures on colonized africa. Africa was changed into a caste system where racial, ethnic, and religious differences were of extreme significance, as enforced by European law. The structure and business of the African economy was directed by what the colonial powers felt was needed. The European powers blended with the African society and inflicted them by their supposedly superior way of life.

Walker’s statement on the bottom of page 69 and the top of 70,”what now masquerades as World History is largely fictitious.” raises a serious topic that causes extremely heated debates. Agreeing with the statement, I understand that Walker wants the truth of Africa and its people to be heard and believed. European historians seized and intentionally manipulated history in order to create the idea of them being the founding fathers of the African civilization. When Europeans first began their journeys to Africa they were completely baffled in the discovering of something they were intimidated by. Africa was not a place that was meaningless and worthless, but instead to their surprise it was a place that was rich in culture.