Things Fall Apart

I've been thinking a lot about the native structure of things, in the most primitive sense, i.e., how law is written, cultural change, and the like. It seems the more I think about it, the more I am reminded of the great book by Chinua Achebe, How Things Fall Apart.

The book is an ostensible treatise on the overbearing nature of Westernism, as portrayed in pre- and post-colonial life in late nineteenth century Nigeria. The novel follows the life of Okonkwo, an Igbo ("Ibo" in the novel) leader and local wrestling champion in the fictional Nigerian village of Umuofia. The work is split into three parts, with the first describing his family, personal history, and the customs and society of the Igbo, and the second and third sections introducing the influence of British colonialism and Christian missionaries on the Igbo community.

In course of Okinkwo's life, he experiences the dichotomy of a maintaining a warrior's mind in the face of his own gravely vulnerable culture, ultimately taking his own life after being culturally shamed for protecting those whom might, under less threatening circumstances, otherwise applaud his heroism.

Achebe's writing about African society, in telling from an African point of view the story of the colonization of the Igbo, tends to extinguish the misconception that African culture had been savage and primitive. In Things Fall Apart, western culture is portrayed as being "arrogant and ethnocentric," insisting that the African culture needed a leader. As it had no kings or chiefs, Umuofian culture was vulnerable to invasion by western civilization. It is felt that the repression of the Igbo language at the end of the novel contributes greatly to the destruction of the culture.

Although Achebe favours the African culture of the pre-western society, the author attributes its destruction to the "weaknesses within the native structure." Achebe portrays the culture as having a religion, a government, a system of money, and an artistic tradition, as well as a judicial system.

The book holds important lessons for us all.