Essay On British Imperialism In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

In his novel, “Things Fall Apart,” Chinua Achebe reveals the stories of a respected clan member, whose pride and anger eventually led to his end against the incoming British Imperialists. Okonkwo is a short-tempered man who is afraid of following the footsteps of his failed father. Although he works his way up in the community, his temper overtakes him and causes him to take actions that later lead to harsh consequences. After living for seven years in his home village to serve his sentence of banishment, Okonkwo returns to the village of Umuofia to find the British imperialists slowly taking over. Due to a sequence of events that include being taken hostage and murdering a messenger, Okonkwo decides to take his own life before the British have a chance to execute him. The British Imperialists transformed the village of the Umuofia by instituting a new religion, advanced technology, and a modern government system. Achebe conveys how British Imperialism led to the downfall of the Ibo culture. The arrival of the Christian Church led the Ibo villagers to

The incoming missionaries changed the views of the villager’s beliefs, which caused many to convert to the new religion. Due to isolation, the villagers of the Ibo tribes are unfamiliar with strangers and immediately turn to their gods, who deem them as an instant threat. It was the ‘iron horse’ incident that brought the Ibo villages to the British’s attention in the beginning. The villagers of Umuofia began to descend in power because of the implementation of the British government system, which sentenced many of the tribe’s high ranked officials to prison. For decades, the history of African culture has been overlooked by the glorious imperialization of the British empire. By exposing the reality behind European imperialism in Africa, there is a whole new generation who will never have a one-sided view of native