Things Fall Apart :: essays research papers fc

In Chinua Achebes novel Things Fall Apart the life of a earthly concern named Okonkwo and the tribe of Umuofia is depicted in three chapters which each represent a significant era in the tribe. In the first chapter, Achebe describes the life of the native African tribe before the coming of the white serviceman. This chapter enables the reader to visit and respect the life of the Igbo. The second chapter describes the beginnings of colonialism and introduction of the white man. Suddenly, the Igbo personal manner is questioned. The natives lives argon turned upside down as they search for a way to understand the new religion and laws of the Europeans. The third chapter describes the effect of colonialism on the Igbo tribe. This incision explores the many ways which the Igbo people try to adapt to the new society. From the self-destruction of Okonkwo to the abandonment by other tribe members, it becomes apparent how difficult it was for the Africans to adjust to the change. Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness tells of an English man named Marlow and his journey into the Congo and interest in a colonist named Kurtz. Marlow is the vote counter of the novel. He describes the natives and the Europeans from a somewhat objective view. He finds colonialism questionable, but withal cannot relate to the Africans. Kurtz is the antagonist who exploits the Africans to make money by selling os and subsequently goes insane. Both novels depict the colonization of Africa, but each has a markedly different perspective on the Africans lives which were irreparably altered when Europeans came to conquer their land and convert them to Christianity.Conrads descriptions of the Africans are inherently racist. The text is full of demeaning descriptions and negative thoughts about the blacks. The thought of your contradictory kinship with this wild and passionate uproar. Ugly" (Conrad 32) Conrad refers to the natives as niggers and compares their looks to animals. He was there below me, and, upon my word, to look at him was as edifying as seeing a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat, walking on his hind legs. (Conrad 33) These passages and attitudes toward the natives promote the view of the natives during colonialism of Africa in the way that Achebes district commissioner sees it, He had already chosen the agnomen of the book, after much thought The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger.