Cultural Differences in Colonial Africa

Paper Summary:

The paper analyzes "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe, a novel of colonialism and the downfall of a way of life in an Ibo village before and during the time Nigeria was colonized by the English. The paper discusses how the novel shows just how different modern American culture is from village life in Africa. The paper discusses five cultural differences between Africans in the novel and Americans today, using specific examples from the novel to illustrate them.

From the Paper:

"One way the Ibo culture differs greatly from modern American culture is their use of warfare between clans, which does not really exist in modern America. There is gang violence and such, but warfare is not condoned between Americans, but it does exist between other countries and America. Achebe writes, "'When did you become a shivering old woman,' Okonkwo asked himself, 'you, who are known in all the nine villages for your valor in war? How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number? Okonkwo, you have become a woman indeed'" (Achebe 56). The Ibo feel masculinity is tied to "valor in war." This is still true today, but society values brave warriors who war with other countries, not with other American social or cultural groups."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Oxford: Heinemann Publishers, 1958, 1986.
• Booker, M. Keith, and Simon Gikandi, eds. The Chinua Achebe Encyclopedia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2003.
• Brians, Paul. "Things Fall Apart Study Guide." Washington State University. 13 Dec. 2005. 21 June 2006.https://www.wsu.edu/~brians/anglophone/achebe.html
• Ogbaa, Kalu. Things Fall Apart: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999.
• Osei-Nyame, Kwadwo. "Chinua Achebe Writing Culture: Representations of Gender and Tradition in Things Fall Apart." Research in African Literatures a.2 (1999): 148-164.

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• Term Paper # 68921 : "European Colonialism"

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