Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Reading Response: Things Fall Apart
One of the central questions of the novel related to how we think about cultural conflict. What happens when two cultures' values come into conflict? What do we learn about the dangers of assuming one culture's superiority over another? What do we learn about a culture's inability to adapt or change? Use one episode from the novel, explore what Achebe wants us to see about the interplay between two vastly different cultural groups. This response is due by class time on Thursday, March 30.
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Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe is a book that includes two cohesive stories based on Okonkwo, who is known as the “masculine and strong” man of a village in Nigeria. This story helps us to better understand how we deal with cultural conflicts and what happens when the values of cultures clash. Things Fall Apart delicately handles the controversy with responding to how we should go about the dangers of assuming one's culture’s dominance over the other. One episode in the novel where Ikemefuna is killed shows a lot about Okonkwo’s character and in a way he represents the entirety of the culture.
ReplyDeleteOkonkwo is a masculine character in the book who is afraid of appearing weak. In his culture, a man is seen as ‘strong’ if he is hard working, rough around the edges, tough, etc. He has even beaten his wife to show his masculinity. In chapter seven of Things Fall Apart, he kills a boy who is like his son because he does not want to be seen as weak. It is truly shocking that a person is so afraid of being seen as weak that they would do something as drastic as killing another human to prove something. “Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought as weak.”(pg. 61)
Okonkwo in a sense represents culture’s inability to change even if it comes down to life or death. Many cultures will put their customs and traditions before the people. It is life or death to them. If their culture is compromised they will do everything in their power to protect it. It becomes uncomfortable when changes happen. It also becomes foreign when trying to adapt to a different culture. For example, Americans will sometimes be ignorant towards how different cultures operate. We assume that things are a certain way, when we should be making an effort to learn about it instead of concluding that we know everything. It is important to be sensitive to what is important to others and knowing the facts. On the other hand, other times if one culture doesn’t have the power to dominate another, natural processes work in bringing these cultures together. It all depends on where the cultures stand.
Achebe wants us to be aware of how different cultures can be. They are foreign, but we can learn to appreciate the differences when we take the time to understand and sympathize. We don’t always agree with, or like the way other cultures behave because it is different. We therefore perceive it as wrong, and develop negative perceptions of it. When we have problems with someone of a different group, we tend to identify the problem as having to do with the group, rather than ourselves or the specific person. So stereotypes do get in the way of how we think and feel. It makes us very judgmental about others. Without understanding that everyone has a culture, and that knowledge of one’s own culture is crucial, we have a tendency to reduce learning about culture which then creates stereotypes. Achebe does a great job informing the reader on how we should handle foreign cultures.
One of the passages that stood out to me the most in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is the part in the beginning of chapter 21 that describes the relationship between the white church leader, Mr. Brown, and a respected man of the village, Akunna. They are both strongly rooted in their faiths and do not convert, yet they attempt to understand each other. They find similarities, such as Akunna finding Chukwu in the clan's religion to be similar to God and His role because he is the ultimate god and creator. However, Mr. Brown explains that Chuknu and the gods he created are false gods because there is only one true God. Akunna thoughtfully compares the clan's god system to the church's governmental system: the supreme one cannot do it all, so there are lower helpers chosen to carry out some tasks.
ReplyDeleteTheir dialogue reveals their values. Both religions value a supernatural order that they must respect through traditions and customs. Both make their religion a major player dictating their everyday lives. However, one religion is monotheistic and the other is polytheistic. The Christians that arrived made it clear that they believed the clan's gods to be false and no more holy than wood that can be destroyed. The clan saw Christianity as disrespectful to the environmental gods and thought the Christians were ignorant to the spiritual realm that collided with their mortal realm.
Right after the passage about the interaction between Akunna and Mr. Brown, we have the arrival of Reverend James Smith in the beginning of chapter 22. Reverend Smith declares the superiority of Christianity and has a harsh way of expressing it. This causes a gain in backlash rather than in converts. Mr. Brown used enriching the social lives and status of clan members with hospitality and education which pulled clan members towards Christianity rather than pushing them away. People are programmed to defend the idea that they are right, and people are not open to change their minds without an environment that allows conversation and enlightenment. We are all humans equal under God, and that must come before declaring the wrongness of a group's beliefs. God wants Christians to live in the world alongside nonbelievers, not to put themselves on pedestals above them (1 Peter 2:12 NLT).
Overall, I believe Achebe wanted us to see the differences in approaches and responses when addressing different cultural groups. There should be boundaries within dialogue that should not be crossed. By Smith crossing those boundaries, we see how claiming superiority is counter productive. Naturally, there will be a sense of claiming disbelief in what another may say. However, if one is wrong that does not make them inferior. It is best to produce an even status and respect for one another to allow a deeper analysis of each other's thoughts and beliefs. It is through even and hospitable conversation and interaction that cultures will learn to accept each other and coexist.