Brief overview
This is the first book by an African author that I’ve read. Honestly, the book exceeded all my expectations. I had this preconception that since the book is about the colonialism of Africa, it would be shown in the obvious form — how cruel the colonists are, the suffering of the local population, and the loss of culture. Yes, all of that is there (since it’s a historical fact), and much is shown from the perspective of the locals, which makes the story emotional. However, the author wants to show a different angle — a clash of cultures/civilizations, in the course of which one inevitably gives way; that’s why the title of the book is things fall apart and not things get destroyed.
Chinua Achebe, as it seems to me, doesn’t pass judgment; he tells how things were. He shows his culture as it is — it has its achievements and peculiarities, but it can be cruel (the killing of twins and of sons, exile for 7 years); he tells why people start joining Christianity, and why his culture starts being lost. And it’s a sad process, but it seems somehow inevitable. There is, of course, the factor that brute force is on the side of the Europeans, and they could simply have forced the tribes to submit. And to some extent this approach was used a few times, but the catch is that even without it Christianity gained popularity among the locals. As the author noted, this religion has a feature of “subduing” human feelings, and its ideas sound tempting. That’s another reason why this is a book about things fall apart.
Colonialism
For several months now I’ve been thinking about colonialism, about the damage it inflicted on various peoples and cultures, and I understand why people think it’s obviously “a bad thing.” But I want to bring an alternative point of view. Let’s do a thought experiment. Say you’re in the middle of the 19th century and you are the leader of an actively developing power during industrialization. As the leader of your country, you put the welfare of your people first, which means developing your economy, and for that you need raw materials. It turns out that on another continent there is a less technologically developed population that can be used (very gently put) for these purposes. What would you do? Would you say “This is morally wrong to enrich ourselves at their expense, we’ll mine it at home,” or would you still go down the historical path? For me, the answer is obvious. And having read this book, I think the author is of a similar opinion. He doesn’t show the Europeans as villains enslaving Africa’s population. To me, Chinua Achebe describes it as a collision of two civilizations, and, unfortunately for him, his civilization is less developed and cannot put up strong resistance.
Interesting quotes/moments
- “What is good in one place is bad in another place”
- The tortoise story in Chapter 11 is so good.
- “But it was like beginning life anew without the vigor and enthusiasm of youth, like learning to become left-handed in old age. Work no longer had for him the pleasure it used to have, and when there was no work to do he sat in a silent half-sleep”
- Uchendu and Okonkwo’s discussion about “Mother is Supreme” in Chapter 14.
- “For whom is it well, for whom is it well? There is no one for whom it is well”
- Mr. Brown and Akunna’s discussion about religion in Сhapter 21.
- “From the very beginning religion and education went hand in hand”
- One could almost write a whole chapter on Okonkwo; perhaps a reasonable paragraph, at any rate. So many details to include in The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger.
Overall, I got a lot out of this book. It turns out there are many similarities between African culture and ours, and in principle these similarities are shared by many cultures. It used to feel like we were so special, but the more I learn about other cultures, the more I realize we have so much in common. Another feature that makes the book timeless — it describes people’s thoughts in the midst of cultural collisions. You could even take this paragraph (photo below), and if you change a few details, I can imagine it would be my dad’s reaction to the news: “I’m moving to America for good, and I’m not going to marry a Kazakh girl.” It’s not bad, it’s not good, it just happens. Overall, the ideas and feelings that drive Okonkwo when he thinks about this are the same ones people feel when they talk about developing their national culture.
Suppose when he died all his male children decided to follow Nwoye’s steps to abandon their ancestors. Okonkwo felt a cold shudder, run through him at the terrible prospect, like the prospect of annihilation. He saw himself and his fathers crowding round their ancestral shrine waiting in vain for worship and sacrifice and finding nothing but ashes of bygone days…
Reading time: 5h 25m