Chris Albani’s novel GraceLand is a coming of age tale that exposes the reader to the many dilemmas a Nigerian may face in life. Although this is a fictional novel it encompasses many cultural, political, and economic truths about Nigeria during 1972-1983. This time period is a bit unstable since the country is attempting to after a long reign of British Colonization. A common theme in this novel is violence where opposing ideals or concepts are present. As reading the novel detailing the many experiences of Elvis Oke’s life one will notice the change of family structure, culture and religion, and morality and ethics due to global economics. The novel is riddle with disheartening descriptions of changes in the Nigerian family structure. Although …show more content…
The most obvious example of culture influence from western society is Elvis Oke’s fascination with the American Phenom Elvis Presley. Two portions about this seem to be the most intriguing. One the fact that Elvis Presley is an American performer that he chooses to reenact. Two foreigners such as vacationers or “pink expatriates baking in the sun” were often Oke’s target market. Both of these things lead to the conclusion that Westerners or Europeans have a great deal of influence on the culture. Altoough Oke is a performer to provide for himself it still show that the monetary power of Westerners can influence culture as well. Then with the influx of missionaries one will see the change from spiritual healers or diviners to major religions such as Christianity. Although there is change one will notice that all of the historic rituals of Elvis’s ancestors have not been wiped away, but instead they have been altered. For example “Christian prayers have been added, and Jesus has replaced Obasi as the central deity” (Abani 2004: 291). This shows the roots of the culture are there but they have truly been distorted. The growth of western culture is creeping in like a weed slowly smothering African culture until Western culture is the only survivor. This consistently becomes more prevalent when you see the increase in African missionaries instead of just white or Anglo-Saxon missionaries. Morals and ethics change drastically throughout the book. In some ways the change of Africa almost seem to manifest it’s self in Elvis Oke. When he was younger it seemed as if he was a young and possibly naïve child. Dreams of becoming a great performer seemed realistic to him. Later he learns that his dream just may be a “pipe dream” never to come true. The following box quote Oke had to come to
Okonkwo’s world changes when the missionaries change the entire culture of his people and the culture and surrounding of the Price family in the Congo changes them The most
A hierarchy is present in every aspect of life – in family, in school, in the workplace, and in society. The details of the hierarchy may change, but one is always present. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart reflects on the changing hierarchical structure within the Igbo people (pre-colonial Nigeria) over several years. In this novel, the protagonist Okonkwo centers his life around being at the top of the Igbo hierarchy but rejects the changes made to that hierarchy, with his inability to change eventually leading to his downfall.
There is only one King of Rock ‘N’ Roll. Elvis Presley made stupendous advances in the music industry starting in 1954. He lived through the Great Depression, active duty in Germany in 1958, and many more things that formed the world that American’s get to live in today. Presley served in war, gave money to numerous churches and charities, made a large amount of films, and wrote and sang a gargantuan amount of music. Today, Presley’s legacy as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll lives on.
The novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, defines an important literary example of the historical conflict of European colonialism in Nigeria during the
Okonkwo’s values are restricted to physical strength, power, and prosperity, and when the Europeans suddenly arrive, the cultural convergence prompts Okonkwo to respond with even more violence. While the majority of his tribe, including his son Nwoye, is open to considering
The tripartite novel “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, published in 1958 focuses on the changes taking place in Nigeria, as a result of colonization during the 20th century. Chinua Achebe’s pragmatics when writing the novel focused on changing the perspective of Western readers with regard to African society. He mainly wanted to falsify the assertions in books such as “Heart of Darkness” which he claimed gave people of African descent a dull personality. Social status is one of the novels’ main themes. Chinua Achebe successfully incorporates the importance of social status, giving readers the impression that for the Ibo society, social structure consists mainly of a hierarchy of both skill and strength.
In Chinua Achebe novel, Things Fall Apart Nwoye a young man under Okonkwo’s responsibility is affected positively by the introduction of western ideas into the Ibo culture. This being said Nwoye has found a passion for being apart of a religion not known by any local in Igbo called Christianity, to some it was a blessing and to others a disgrace. To Okonkwo he feels that anybody who converts to Christianity is a disgrace to their village. And how surprising is it that his own son converts to a Christian. And in his conversion he tries to escape his strict culture and find out who he is as a person.
As Obierika explains, “The white man is very clever... he has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart” (176). Achebe’s in-depth story exhibits all aspects of Igbo culture and examines the way a culture can transform as the world progresses around it. Throughout the novel, readers sense the shift in the characters’ attitudes and beliefs towards once-vital traditions. The bold protagonist, Okonkwo, represents the culture, and as pressures to change appear from the outside world, he comes apart at the seams.
Everyone as a human being has experienced some form of change in our life, big or small, and it has a lasting effect on who they are and how they act. In Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’, change is a forward facing theme of the whole story, we see change in all forms occur throughout the book; the arrival of the white men and their changing of the igbo culture, the tearing apart of Okonkwo’s family by religion and traditions, and the change that occurs within Okonkwo himself when he realizes he cannot prevent change from happening in the community and culture he loved. Change is destructive in ‘Things Fall Apart’, especially to such a magnitude as we see in the story, it is destructive to communities, to families, and especially to individuals.
“Things Fall Apart”, a novel written by Chinua Achebe about Africa through the character Okonkwo, a man who Achebe uses to illustrate the complexity Igbo culture, contrary to what the Europeans portrayed Africa as. One main focus of the book is to counter the single story, which is the idea that an area is represented by one story, similar to a stereotype. However, differing from a stereotype a single story often completely misrepresents something, and in this case Africa. Europeans had been the only ones writing about Africa, describing all the culture as problematic for being different, rather than looking at what African culture really is. Achebe was one of the first to write about African culture for westerners to read about, making Things Fall Apart a true innovation in writing.
Culture, an assortment of human activities and principles, leads a group of people with common beliefs and values; but after it was taken away by the Europeans, all they felt was lost and with no identity. (Arowolo 2010, 4) Colonialism caused an abrupt decline of culture and tradition in the colonies because the Europeans imposed a new culture on the African’s traditional one. Due to Africa’s subjugation and it being controlled by the Europeans, Western civilization and life style began shaping the colonies. (2) One can say that European culture is characterized by a Christian worldview and individualism. (7) Consequently, imperialism caused African cultural heritage to become replaced by a prosperous European-based one.
Feminist Theory In Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”, they recognize the life of the Igbos which are a tribe in the village of Umuofia during European colonization. There are many topics brought up in this book like the effects of colonization, culture and tradition, religion, race, etc. It is relatively easy to read “Things Fall Apart” as an anti-feminist text due to the face that the Igbo clan’s customs and traditions seem to side towards masculine features, such as power and strength. The novel is told through a male protagonist’s point of view in nineteenth century Nigeria, while women there do not have much rights, they do wield heavy influence over the leaders of the clan.
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the positive and negative impacts of colonialism. Key words: - Colonialism, Religion, Culture, Civilization, Conflict INTRODUCTION Things Fall Apart was published in 1958 just two years before Nigeria’s independence from the British’s rule in 1960. Achebe, who was born in 1930, had experienced colonialism in his country. The novel depicts the pre-colonial and early colonial Nigerian society.
The author utilizes characterization to represent the people in the Nigerian society and what they experience in order to provide for their families. The theme is further developed
Nigeria is Africa’s most densely populated country and the world’s eighth largest oil producer, but its success has been undermined in recent decades by ethnic and religious conflict, political instability, rampant official corruption, and an ailing economy. Chris Abani’s GraceLand poses a challenge to the way critics think about the disciplinary bounds and limitations of national and postcolonial. Born in 1966 in Nigeria on the cusp of the Biafran War, Abani is a child of the postcolony and as such he grew up through the domestic turmoil that plagued early Nigerian nationhood. The issues of identity, home, and exile that Abani writes about in GraceLand and that other third-generation Nigerian novelists address reflect a generation that has