Things Fall Apart And British Colonialism

Imperialism, 1865-1900,” by Eric T. Love, talks about how race has moved, shaped, and inspired the late-nineteenth-century U.S. Imperialism. Love also mentions the racial ideologies rooted in white supremacy that gave expansionists a grand rational for empire . White Supremacy became an imperative piece of the imperial project. They believed the conviction that people of European descent were inherently different from those and more superior to those of Native Americans, Mexicans, African Americans, Asian, and even certain European groups (the new immigrants from southern and eastern regions) .

Race and the idea of difference plays a massive role in how settler colonialism works. During the expansion westward, race was used as a tool to separate the white civilized peoples and the underserving uncivilized Native Americans as well as to create a moral, social, and political justification for the extermination of the Native American people. When comparing settler colonialism to colonialism, a few of the most obvious distinctions between the two are the facts that settler colonizers “come to stay” and settler colonization inherently seeks its own demise. While ordinary colonizers come as governors, armies, or merchants, settler colonizers seek to permanently take up residence in and assert complete political control over foreign lands. The only way to gain this kind of sovereignty in indigenous lands is to exterminate the native population, to which the United States did just that.

Colonization used to be described as attempts to benefit the colonized country, but in Purple Hibiscus, it seems to bring about more harm than good. The story is set in politically aggressive modern Nigeria, where corruption and religious fundamentalism grips Adichie’s native country. In a way, she is describing the political turmoil happening in Africa, post colonial rule. The novel deals with the politics of Nigeria, the corrupt military rule and bloody coups. Religious fundamentalism and its

Political competition and power were related driving causes for imperialism in Africa. In 1870, John Ruskin, an English intellectual, asked the youths of England if they would "advance the power of England by land and by sea" through the colonization of "every piece of fruitful waste ground she [England] can set her foot on" (Document B). In Germany 1879, Freidrich Fabri, an influential German author, stated: “It would be wise if we Germans would learn about colonial skills from our Angelo-Saxon [British] cousins and would begin- in a friendly competition- to strive after them” (Document B). The competition for power between England and Germany was evident; both the English and Germans wanted to expand their influence worldwide and overpower other nations. The phrase “advance the power of England by land and by sea” represents England’s devotion to imperialism, which, eventually, led to their success in Africa.

Things Fall Apart is a novel written by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe and it follows the Igbo tribe in Nigeria, and the influence of British colonialism and Christian missionaries on the tribe. Okonkwo, the main character of Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart, fits into description of Aristotel's tragic hero. Aristotles definition of the tragic hero and his downfall is: ''the character between these two extremes,—that of a man who is not eminently good and just,-yet whose misfortune is brought about not by vice or depravity, but by some error or frailty. He must be one who is highly renowned and prosperous,—a personage like Oedipus, Thyestes, or other illustrious men of such families. (gutenberg) Achebe followed this description when characterising Okonkwo.

The Conquest of the Igbo Tribe by the Simple-Minded White Imperialists Prior to the arrival of European colonialists in Africa, the people who inhabited various regions of the continent had their own rich, distinct cultures, in which they thrived on their own. Things Fall Apart is the story of the British arrival to one of these tribes in Nigeria, and how their forthcoming brings death to that community. The Igbo tribe’s polytheistic religion is essential to the culture in this novel, and the coming of British Imperialists who force their monotheistic religion and culture upon this tribe holds culpability for the deterioration of such a community. The Igbo tribe in Things Fall Apart thrived with its own civilization, customs and rich culture. Aside from the music, dancing, food, and society that brought the Igbo people together, the Igbo people’s religion brought the community together.

In contrast, when Tecumseh died, the land of Indian was still declining. Toussaint tried to keep a good relationship with Britain and Unites States in order to have a higher financial abilities through foreign trade, therefore, it helps the African slaves to keep fighting until the establishment of Haiti in1804. Moreover, the establishment of Haiti and the promotion of freedom and equality by Toussaint inspire African slaves to fight for the abolition of slavery, including the abolishment of slavery in

The Eurocentric views of whiteness being directly correlated to superiority and civilization was used a tool to exploit native peoples while legalizing entitlement to lands that have already been discovered (Miller, 2010, p.87). The process of land dispossession had a profound negative impact on Native peoples. Their identity became outlined by colonial institutions rather than from their own definition. The conflicting methods of defining identity is integral to Kauanui’s Hawaiian Blood: Colonialism and the Politics of Sovereignty and Indigeneity. In her work, she describes how indigenous Hawaiians themselves have historically determined their identity through genealogy and a system of common descent.

This, allows the authors to critique multiculturalism; which they perceive as another colonial attempt to whip out indigenous narratives. Brascoupé and Waters argue that the idea of a nation built in immigration (mainly by white/Caucasians) undermines indigenous history. Under this line, they also analyze how color-blind and race-blind policies perpetuate systemic violence by denying the rampant discrimination and marginalization that non-white communities (broadly) and indigenous communities (specifically) are subjected to. The authors defend that decolonization is based on self-determination, which inherently would empower indigenous communities and would bolster the healing process by helping them overcome the legacy of

I will now proceed to examine how George Bernard Shaw’s the Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God (1932) critiques rational inquisition into matters of religious faith. In hindsight, the sense of “cultural and racial superiority that...accompanied European colonization” was evident in the work of Christian missionaries in Africa. Rudyard Kipling, believed it was “the White Man’s Burden,” to move Africans from their backwardness, and towards civilization, through the spreading of Christianity. In Shaw’s the Adventures of the Black Girl...the white missionary responsible for converting, and as Kipling suggests, reversing the backwardness of the central character, the Black Girl, is annoyed by her constant inquiry pertaining to the ways of God, and consequently leaves her with an empty palate of unanswered questions. It is in this very first scene where Shaw is highlighting how religion, moreover Christianity, looks fallible under scrupulous light, and rational inquisition.