Things Fall Apart: An Analysis of Pre and Post-Colonial Igbo Society

Things Fall Apart: An Analysis of Pre and Post-Colonial Igbo Society

Abstract
Chinua Achebe (1930- 2013) published his first novel Things Fall Apart (TFA) in 1958.
Achebe wrote TFA in response to European novels that depicted Africans as savages who
needed to be enlightened by the Europeans. Achebe presents to the reader his people’s history
with both strengths and imperfections by describing for example, Igbo festivals, the worship
of their gods and the practices in their ritual ceremonies, their rich culture and other social
practices, the colonial era that was both stopping Igbo culture and also brought in some
benefits to their culture. TFA therefore directs the misleading of European novels that depict
Africans as savages into a whole new light with its portrayal of Igbo society, and examines
the effects of European colonialism on Igbo society from an African perspective. Hence this
essay is an attempt to show an insight of pre and post colonialism on Igbo society. It is
argued that the interaction between the whites and the Igbo people had both negative and
positive consequences. It is evident in Achebe’s novel that the Europeans greatly influenced
the lifestyle of Igbo society
Introduction
The novel Things Fall Apart (TFA) (1958) is written by the late Chinua Achebe (1930-2013) who was a Nigerian author. The setting of the novel is in the outskirts of Nigeria in a small fictional village, Umuofia just before the arrival of white missionaries into their land. Due to the unexpected arrival of white missionaries in Umuofia, the villagers do not know how to react to the sudden cultural changes that the missionaries threaten to change with their new political structure and institutions. Hence, this essay aims at analysing the effects of European colonisation on Igbo culture.
Towards the end of the nineteenth century most European states migrated to Africa and other parts of the world where they established colonies. Nigeria was amongst other African nations that received visitors who were on a colonising mission;...

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