Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe - Episode 4 - The Clash Of Cultures Ends Tragically - a podcast by Christy and Garry Shriver

Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe - Episode 4 - The Clash Of Cultures Ends Tragically

 

Hi, I’m Christy Shriver and we’re here to discuss books that have changed the world and have changed us. 

 

I’m Garry Shriver and this is the How to Love Lit Podcast.  This is our fourth and final episode discussing Chinua Achebe’s groundbreaking novel Things Fall Apart. In episode one we discussed the country of Nigeria, the history, the cultural context, Achebe’s life, the poem from which the book got its name and a little of the life of Okonkwo- our hero in the story. In the second episode we explored the first seven chapters of the novel and talked briefly about the book that inspired Achebe to write it, Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness. Last episode we got into more controversial territory as we broached issues of gender as expressed by Achebe.  This week, in case gender wasn’t controversial enough, we will focus on colonialism, religion and father/son relationships- Good Lord- Achebe is merciless!!!  He’s killing us with controversy. 

 

Killing us- haha- irony!!!  Is that foreshadowing?  It’s true, but some how he does it so sweetly and can be confrontational without being offensive.  I really love to listen to Achebe lectures.  His voice is comforting.  Achebe conveys hope when he talks- especially in his later years, he really does, and I encourage anyone  to just google some of his lectures and listen to him.  I’ll put some links on our website.  By virtue of his birthplace and age, he confronted issues fifty years ago that today are common problems all of planet earth.   By being born a child of two cultures and two distinct religions, by living in a country plagued with colonialism, civil war, racism and corruption, his perspective from lived experience has credibility, and on that note I do want to draw attention to a contemporary Nigerian author of our day who follows in the same vein as her mentor- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.  Adichie first came to my attention through a friend who told her about her TedTalk “The Danger of a Single Story”.  Adichie, just like Achebe understands that things are more than just one thing- that balance must be the goal- and she speaks to our generation about how to apply these things today.  I’m going to link her TedTalk to our website as well.   

 

So, let’ begin talking about religion and the introduction of Christianity into the Nigerian landscape which is where we left off last week.  Last week, we were still in part 2 of TWA, Okonkwo was still in his mother’s land.  Today we finish part 2 as well as discuss the most important ideas of part 3.  

 

We finished with chapter 15 and the incident of the white man entering into Abame, being killed there by locals encouraged by the oracle and then slaughtered en masse by the full force of the colonial army.  And the pattern is established: The missionaries come first, but after them comes government in that order or as it says in chapter 18, “The white man had not only brought a religion but also a government.” 

 

By chapter 16, we are referencing the white man, but not by missionaries building hospitals or even teaching in schools, but as soldiers.  It doesn’t take long for one to follow the other.  We are also led to understand some of the things about Christianity that appealed to the native people. It’s the second year of Okonkwo’s exile and Obierika comes back to Mbanta to visit, but this time when he talks about the white man, it’s about the white man coming to Umuofia, and not just that, it seems Okonkwo’s own son has converted to Christianity and had been one of the missionaries to visit the clan.  Obierika was shocked.   

 

Yes, and this again is where we see Achebe hitting on universal issues and setting them in a context that is foreign to most of us.  Okonkwo’s issue with his son is more than just an example of colonial intrusion.  Why is Nyowe an early adopter of Christianity?  In large part, the only people converting to Christianity were the what they called efulefu- or worthless people- people that were on the absolute bottom of the Igbo social system.  In fact, this was one of the reasons the clan permitted Christianity- they were collecting all the garbage the clan really didn’t want and were living in the Evil Forest, a place no one wanted to be. Here Achebe also explains that Igbo society had a class system, and not everyone was flourishing under it.  Those who were rejected by that system were the first to accept the new system that elevated their worth.  If you’re an efulefu or an osu, which literally means outcast, that makes sense.  But Nyowe isn’t efulefu?  His father has two titles.  Achebe answers this question very subtly for his audience by again using the narrative technique of gently letting us slip into Nwoye’s mind- remember we call that indirect discourse.  Let’s read the passage where the missionaries are talking about Jesus Christ and what exactly led Nwoye to convert to this new faith. 

 

Read page 145-147 

 

Now let me read what Okonkwo thought of his son’s conversion. 

 

Page 152-153 

 

In some ways, what we see happening with Nyowe is very Freudian.  He basically rejects Igbo faith, in part at least, as a way to reject his own father.  Okonkwo won’t bend on what his idea of a man is, so Nyowe embraces more of what Okonkwo hates.  The relationship falls apart. How many sons and daughters have done something just because they knew their parents hated it?  How many of become something their parents hate just to spite them?  Okonkwo himself is a reaction to his own father.  His obsession with masculinity is a direct response to his father as is his son’s a response to his.  How complicated is this crazy thing we call the parent/child relationship.  The relationship you have with your parent or child is totally unlike any relationship you will ever have with any other person on this earth- and it goes on through the generations- although not this pronounced- but one generation reacting to the previous one. 

 

And in the case of Okonkwo and Nwoye it brings us back to the imbalance between the masculine and feminine principles.  It is one of the things that divided these two men.   

 

I think it’s important to understand that not everything portrayed about the Igbo culture is something Achebe endorses.  Achebe never claims that Igbo culture is a perfect culture.  There is no such thing.  We have seen this raw expression humanity from the beginning.  One example would be the killing of twins.  As we make our way to the end of the book we began to understand more fully why it is important to Achebe to portray Igbo culture in as honest a way as he can.  Igboland is not Adventureland at Disneyworld; it’s humanity on display.  Their civilization is not flawless, but it IS a human civilization. That seems obvious from this vantage point, but if we understand a little about colonial education, it becomes an important point to emphasize. 

 

 

 Actually, I heard Achebe talk about his homeland when the book turned 50 years old.  He talked about his love for his homeland.  He clearly loved his homeland deeply, but he also described Nigeria as frustrating.  He called it annoying, but then said, “It is the only home I have.”  There are things about it he loved about his home, his culture.  He loved their admiration of hard work and excellence, their appreciate of dialogue, but there were things about his homeland that he hated- the propensity for corruption as we will see exposed in part 3 is one I heard him talk about specifically- although I will say, if you could name a country that was without corruption, I’d move there now- no such animal exists.  But as he explained himself he made the point that his loyalty to Nigeria and to the Igbo was never contingent on Nigeria’ perfection or really even on their commitment to improve- although he longed for the day when a leader would surface that could lead them into a better reality.  He talked about loving home because it is a part of who we are and we are a part of it- the improving part- that’s where we do our part.  When we demand our homeland to be a perfect place as a requirement for our acceptance- we create a binary that cannot withstand pressure.  

 

And may I point out that is also true between parents and children.  When we make uncompromising demands from anyone that puts the relationship exclusively on our terms, we create binaries that divide and ultimately makes relationships fall apart. 

 

When I heard Achebe talk about his home country, it made me think about my home country- the United States but what he talks about applies to any country.  Achebe explains that the Igbo worldview is made up of ideals and beliefs- values, but even people who believe strongly in the ideals, like Okonkwo, don’t always live up to their own beliefs and it is these weaknesses from within the culture that destroy it.  I understand him to be arguing that the military force was not the biggest threat during the colonization period- it was the cultural colonization that was given an opportunity to flourish because internal weaknesses.  This is kind of how I interpret the final part of the book.  That also seems to be similar to Yate’s idea in the poem “The Second Coming” which not only gives us the book title, but if we read the whole stanza sort of outlines what happens in the story- Look at the stanza of the poem where Achebe gets this title 

 

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; 

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, 

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere    

The ceremony of innocence is drowned; 

The best lack all conviction, while the worst    

Are full of passionate intensity. 

 

Look at these last three lines- The ceremony of innocence is drowned”- that’s what we’re seeing now in part 2.  We had this ceremony of innocence in part one, but it’s drowning.  We also see that The best lack all conviction- - and finally we’re going to see with the introduction of the character Enoch and the corrupt government officials- that “the worst are full of passionate intensity“.  This is the recipe that drives things to fall apart.   

 

I agree with you. Humans, families and civilizations fall because of weaknesses from within the system- not without - the center no longer holds, to use Yeats words- and things fall apart.   

 

Yeats actually believed that all civilizations eventually fall apart.  We can talk about that next episode when we feature the poem itself.  

 

Well, he may be right.  How does a civilization evolve with people of integrity doing their best to preserve ideals and values while changing with the times?  How do you fight corruption from within?  There’s a lot of opportunity, when things change, for power-grabbing.  People without integrity or wisdom often rise to power.   

 

Achebe illustrates in this third section how all of this creates disaster.  On the personal level, we see a man of integrity, Okonkwo, but he cannot evolve or change.  We also see a society who will evolve, but corruption immediately sets in.  In times of great transition, it’s just easier for people without integrity to get to the top.  They are willing to do things people with convictions just won’t do- and the center doesn’t hold= so  discuss the historical narrative of colonialism and how things break down on a community level, but before we do I do want to make one HUGE clarification- Okonkwo is going to fall, but let us be clear about one thing- the Igbo people have not fallen apart- not by any definition of the term.  It is actually a thriving community all over the world to this day.  Listen to what Achebe said when talking about Igbo culture later; 

 

A culture can be damaged, can be turned from its course, not only by foreigners. . . . [A] culture can be mutilated, can be destroyed by its own people, under certain situations. . . . The Igbo culture was not destroyed by Europe. It was disturbed. It was disturbed very seriously. But... a culture which is healthy will often survive. It will not survive exactly in the form in which it was met by the invading culture, but it will modify itself and move on. And this is the great thing about culture if it is alive. The people who own it will ensure that they make adjustments: they drop what can no longer be carried in transition[.] .. . So I think what has happened is that we still have the fundamental principles of the Igbo culture. Its emphasis is on the worth of every man and woman. 

 

 

And so there we land once again on this idea of balance and finding balance during transition which is the big takeaway from the middle part of the book.   

 

Christy, as we think about the role of missionaries in Africa, I know we start to get a little personal with you because of your family’s involvement with missions all over the world and specifically the many ties you have to Africa.  For those that don’t know, Christy was raised overseas and even before that her dad was a missionary in Vietnam during the sixties and her mother was in Nigeria, actually during Achebe’s time there, working in education- although she worked with the Yoruba people.  Christy, it’s been a long time , literally over 100 years, since the first missionaries were sent to Africa and there is no debating that the colonial government grew in parallel with the missionary efforts.  What are your thoughts on this last section book that looks at the mission work from the side of the indigenous people? 

 

Well, honestly, I truly appreciate the fact that Achebe does not put all missionaries in the same basket.  Christian missions, and that’s what I know although it’s not the only religion to practice missions, but mission work obviously is cross-cultural by definition.  Historically there is no denying that a lot has been done in the name of missions that is destructive to native cultures and even individuals- sometimes because of ignorance but also sometimes intentionally. There has been a lot of arrogance- many have what today we call the “savior complex”- no doubt. But I don’t believe missionaries are the only group that can be accused of that.  Any person or organization if they have a new technology like hospitals or bicycles or even a worldwide trade language like English- in this case, but it could just as easily be a computer or any other technology- Knowing something other people don’t brings with it an arrogance- in most people.  I’ve seen it even in my little work place here in Memphis, but certainly in the US at large.  People with the technological edge in one domain can be led to misunderstand themselves and think they possess wisdom in all domains.  Some but not all  missionaries are like that- the ones that are going to be any good most certainly will not be- and Achebe makes this distinction very clear. Mr. Brown and Akunna have extensive dialogue over spiritual things that are respectful and helpful. There are missionaries like Mr. Brown, who are very aware of differences in cultures and want to respect them.  Mr. Brown holds on to his Christian interpretations of life principles like a Christian definition of human life but introduces the values as something to be discussed and accepted voluntarily not superimposed.   

 

Well, you would think that the value of life would be something easy to define, but it actually isn’t. 

 

No, it’s definitely not.  The Igbo obviously hold life as sacred; as do the missionaries, but how do we protect life.  How do we protect the lives of most people?  These kinds of ethical questions plague all cultures and Achebe expresses this with the killing of twins- that’s the example we see here.  The Igbo see the twins as a threat to the lives of the already living; Christianity sees the value of the newborn babies as trumping the value of the adult members clan.  This is an honest discussion, but there are those like Mr. Smith who don’t have dialogue at all.  They don’t see differences of moral interpretation as related to culture but instead see  all things as my culture is morally right and yours is morally wrong.  We are good people and therefore you are bad people.  There have always been both types of missionaries and only someone with large amounts of direct experience with both kinds, like Achebe, would be interested in making a nuanced description of both. There do exists culturally sensitive missionaries who do have religious convictions but also seek to respect indigenous values and there are also unreflective cultural imperialists- and this second version is portrayed through the character of Mr. Smith. 

 

Another interesting nuance that Achebe acknowledges is that there was some positive and immediate impact of British education, medicine and even commerce. I am a huge believer in education as a tool for empowerment, and even Achebe’s influence on the world scene would not have been possible without missionary schools… Achebe was an individual shaped by two cultures- and he explores the messy nature of the colonial encounter.   

 

Yes, and Achebe underscored more than once that Africa did gain a lot from the missionaries.  The question he raises is if culturally, they did not lose more than they gained, and he’s not talking about soldiers or government- he’s actually talking about education- and his reasons for this are psychological.  Africans were taught in colonial schools, whether directly or subtextually, that their history was inferior to European history.  That the “great” men to be imitated were all European, men like David Livingston.  They were taught that the important history of the world was history that occurred far away, not near where they lived or within their social fabric.  None of this is healthy for critical thinking and all of it creates feelings of inferiority in individuals as well as in entire cultures.  Achebe spoke of feeling that struggle within himself.   

 

 True and we must remember Achebe speaks as one of the children raised in the church, not in the village.  He went to these schools, did well, and in fact was one of the most successful in the entire nation.  This is what he said and I quote from an essay he wrote in 1976, “I was born in Ogidi in Eastern Nigeria of devout Christian parents. The line between Christian and non-Christian was much more definite in my village forty years ago than it is today. When I was growing up I remember we tended to look down on the others. We were called in our language “the people of the church” or “the association of God.” The others we called, with the conceit appropriate to followers of the true religion, the heathen or even “the people of nothing.” .   

 

Again, we see her in a religious context what we were just talking about in terms of education.  This kind of thing reinforces the psychologically harmful idea that native Igbo or African culture of any kind is inferior-in fact, as far as Africans were taught- they were taught that before the Europeans came to Africa they had no history, no culture,  no civilization at all- that they had been savages- lesser forms of humanity.  That’s what enraged Achebe and motivated his writing. 

 

This is what these confrontations at the end of the book are about.  Achebe wants to write his book about his people- to incontroverdibly illustrate their humanity.  In order to do this he chooses to draw attention to the weaknesses within the community and within individuals that gave place to chaos- not the weaknesses in colonial schools or other outside pressures.  Let’s look at Nyowe, for example, he had questions that were not being answered within the framework of traditional Igbo culture about his own identity and definition of masculinity.  He had deep wounds over the death of Ikemefuna that were legitimate.We also see other problems.  In chapter 18 this is highlighted through the character of Mr. Kiaga, the native-African missionary leader/interpreter as he tries to balance two contrasting worldviews in regard to the Osu or worthless people. The church, who you remember is mostly composed of people on the lower rungs of regular Igbo society, want to reject people from the church based on their being lower then them.  Mr. Kiaga, as an African leader in his own right, navigates Christian faith in an Igbo context, and Achebe displays how complicated this is.   

 

Page 155 

 

So, having discussed the messy situation as it pertained to the church and even the schools, I think the imperial imposition of colonial government is easier to understand.   Which brings up the natural question?  How does one country just show up in another country and set up government?  It’s hard to understand how that happened?  From the view of the natives, these people just showed up.  

 

That’s a great question, and it has everything to do with what was happening outside of Africa while all this missionary work was going on inside.  It is outside forces that villagers didn’t even know existed that was going to create the cataclasmic clashes we see in part three of the novel.  And honestly, from our vantage point in history, it just seems incredible that this happened.  So, in 1884, Otto von Bismark called together something called the Berlin or the Congo Congress.  Representatives from 14 countries attended, none of them were African, and they organized what was called the “Scramble for Africa”.  By the end of the conference, all of the countries with the exception of the US, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden-Norway, had made a claim to lands in Africa.   

 

You mean, they agreed on where they were going to aggress and not to aggress the lands others were going to aggress? 

 

That’s definitely how Africans see it.  And honestly, colonizers had already been doing so- we talked about the Royal Niger company in episode 1. What happened at this conference did not start colonization in Africa, but it contributed to heighten it as well as help override most existing forms of African self-government that had existed up to this point. Colonialism happened with kind of this three prong front: religion, economics and finally military or government.  Could things have been different if only companies and missionaries had come to Africa and there were no political and military invasion?  We don’t know.  That’s not what happened.  In the case of Nigeria, the British military was associated with and aided by the advent of the missionaries and commercial endeavors, but the military presence immediately resulted in violence, a total upheaval of the political system, and taking away systems that were locally controlled- and in the case of the Southern regions of Nigeria, even the elimination of local languages as the language of state.  All of a sudden, everything is being done in English.  It’s also ironic to notice that the British came in with a totalitarian regime and replaced what was, in the Igbo case, a democratic system responsible to the people they were governing.   In the name of progress, the new colonial system was an autocratic system comprised of people from the outside who were accountable to absolutely no one on the continent.  After the British invaded, Crown rule began around 1897, these are the exact years discussed in our book.  These District Commissioners were accountable only to an office in Britain- the mandate was to secure British interests.  Who was looking out for the common man or woman?   The system was not designed to do that.  These district commissioners were despised by local people and the local people who worked for them were viewed pretty much like as traitors.   

 

 

Achebe uses a word that looks like an Igbo word, if you don’t know any better.  When I first saw it, that’s what I thought it was. the word Kotma- KOTMA- but it’s really a distortion of the English words “Court man”.  He’s making fun of them- calling them distortions of words- because that’s what they are- distorters of words- of truth- of reality- they are government messengers- but in a distorted way- kotma. 

 

And this distortion of reality is a total shock for Okonkwo as he returns to Umuofia to a totally colonial environment.  Okonkwo wants to rebuild just like he had done as a young man, and he has a plan to come storming back and climb up to the top of the social hierarchy.  He is prepared for the natural setbacks of being gone from home for so long.  He knows the white men are there, and he knows that will be a problem with his oldest son, but he has already decided how to address this. Let’s read how Okonkwo plans to deal with the fact that his oldest son is now a Christian. 

 

Page 172.  

 

Well, and although Okonkwo was prepared to deal with the missionary presence, he was not prepared for the colonial government as well as the Africans kotman- many if not most who were not even from the communities they served.  Let’s read that part.  

 

Page 174  

 

I will say, I’ve enjoyed the humor of the locals making fun of the invaders.  Some of the most thematically important lines of the entire book come from this chapter, chapter 20.  Okonkwo just cannot believe that his hometown has lost its self-efficacy.  It does not rule itself.  He cannot climb to the top of the social hierchy by hard work and getting respect from his peers.  Outsiders were coming, people unaccountable to anyone, and they were not honorable people.  These outsiders had control.  He’s shock, and we can clearly understand why.  It is shocking to all the readers.  This isn’t fair.  And we, like Okonkwo have to ask, how does this happen, to which the wise voice of Obierika once again weighs in.   

 

Page page 176 

 

And once again, Achebe resists the temptation to make the end of the book about the colonial invaders.  We understand what the invaders are doing, but it isn’t the focus.  Achebe wants to tell us what has happened from inside the culture.  He wants to also demonstrate what about Okonkwo himself that is problematic.  Why does this great man fall?  And even prior to that, we should ask the question, why is this a great man, and there is no doubt that we are to think of him as great- even if he’s imperfect- Achebe does not see perfection as the standard for greatness.  As we look at the ending of this book, we must see that there are three endings here- the first will center around Okonkwo- the personal.  The second will center around the district commissioner- the colonial.  The third centers around the Igbo people- the global.  When we see it this way, I believe, we can see that the colonial elements of this book are actually the most dated and least important of the three endings.  But let’s look at how we are to understand the ironic ending of this book. 

 

First, let’s look at Okonkwo’s personal story.  Okonkwo’s story starts in the vein of a classical Greek hero.  He’s mythical from the first chapter.  He epitomizes much that is admired by his community- he’s strong- but with a fatal flaw- harmatia if you remember that from our study of Oedipus.  He has hubris- excessive pride.  He reminds me in a lot of ways of Achilles- larger than life.  But, just like the classical Greek heros, his excessive behaviors puts him at odds not just with the members of his own community, but at odds with the gods as well.  He defies the gods, but he also takes up their cause as well.  In chapter 22, Mr. Brown, the missionary who is Mr. Smith’s successor was not wise in keeping peace between the Christians and the rest of the clan, and one of his hot-headed converts did one of the most disrespectful things anyone could ever do in Umuofia= he unmasked the egwuwu in public, if you remember this was a man who represented the voice of the ancestors.  Nothing could be more sacrireligious to this community.  Mr. Smith hid Enoch from the wrath of the clan and as a result the clan burned down the church.  When the egwugwu came to execute justice these were their words ‘page 190’ 

 

 

And of course, now that we know more of the Igbo civilization, their traditions, their systems, this retribution seems reasonable and understandable, and Okonkwo’s anger entirely justified. 

 

Exactly, it is also reasonable that in the next chapter when the six leaders of the community are invited to discuss this with the District Commissioner, they go in good faith.  Dialogue the instrument of balance in Igbo culture is the only way to peace.  It is also entirely understable that Okonkwo burns with rage, when they are deceived, locked up, shaved and humiliated.   This is a government who literally and ironically lies, puts men in handcuffs and ironically claims it’s in the name of a “peaceful administration.” The quote is, “Okonkwo was choked with hate.”  He’s mad at the District Commissioner.  He’s being humiliated by men who have not worked for their place in society.  They are given authority by the British, some outside agent that has not been given any permission by anyone to be in charge.  There is internal agreed upon, locally controlled system of justice.   AND, we, as readers are to clearly understand the people running the show are not ethical or moral people.  They are the opposite- the kotma overcharge the community for the bail- which itself is unethical, keeping a huge bribe for themselves.  The new justice system is totally corrupt at every level.  So, the reason or Okonkwo’s anger is justified.  But. His response which comes in the second to the last chapter of the book is foolish.  “In a flash Okonkwo drew his machete.  The messenger crouched to avoid the blow.  It was useless. Okonwo’s machete descended twice and the man’s head lay beside his uniformed body.”  But the twist to this hero story is the following sentences, “Okonkwo stood looking at the dead man.  He knew that Umuofia would not go to war.  He knew because they had let the other messengers escape.  The had broken into tumult instead of action.  He discerned fright in that tumult.  He heafd voices asking, “Why did he do it?”  He wiped his machete on the sand and went away.”   

 

If we look at this scene, we can be shocked.  Okonkwo didn’t kill a white man. He killed a fellow native and furthermore, then he wiped the blood off of his machete.  That was never done in their culture.  He had remained true to his values until he fell apart and violated a core principle- the deliberate killing of a native.  He has been broken as we can clearly see- this is not the honorable man from the beginning of the book. His suicide which we don’t see, but find, doesn’t really surprise the reader at this point.  It’s consistent with what has happened to him.  Okonkwo would rather die than yield to the Kotma.  But even more than that, he has fallen apart in his own culture- he would rather face the wrath of his own gods and commit one more crime against the goddess Ani- suicide- then live in this new world order.  Very Greek, really.  Obierika honors him with his angry words towards the District Commissioner.  The text reads, “Obierika, who had been gazing steadily at his friend’s dangling body, turned suddenly to the District Commissioner and said ferociously, “that man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia.  You drove him to kill himself, and now he will be buried like a dog.’  He could not say more.  His voice trembled and choked his words.” 

 

Well, truthfully and rather ironically, the application of British law in Africa was something the British considered to be their greatest contribution.  They considered themselves, and I will quote the journal of African law“The keeper of the conscience of the native communities in regard to the absolute enforcement of alleged native customs.”  As we can see from reading Achebe’s book, that is a totally foolish statement.  The British had NO idea what they were doing.  They created nicely phrased attempts at integrating African values with things like repugnancy laws and stare decisis- but neither British or African justice was faithfully implemented.   The whole thing reeks with irony.  This story is a perfect illustration. African natives had already executed justice with no loss of life until the British intervened.  The burning of the church was something the District Commissioner understood nothing about.  It WAS the execution of justice- not an aggressive act at all. 

 

And this is the irony that Achebe uses to end his book.  Let’s read the end of the book.  Let me point as we do that Achebe has again taken us into the mind of a character- this time the white District Commissioner.  He gets the final word after they have cut down Okonkwo’s body. 

 

Read 208-209 

 

In Achebe’s essay “Colonialist Criticism” he says this, “To the colonialist mind it was always of the utmost importance to be able to say: ‘I know my natives’, a claim which implied tow things at one: a) that the native was really quite simple and b) that understanding him and controlling him went hand in hand- understanding being a pre-condition for control and control constituting adequate proof of understanding.”  

 

Yet, look how he ends his book- such bitter irony- Okonkwo’s story is an epic story, but the District Commissioner understands so little of it, that he can’t even fill a paragraph.  He is no better than Conrad’s Marlow.  Nothing has changed.    

 

And with this bitter mockery of the colonizers, Achebe confronts and discredits the entirety of the quasi-historical record kept by district commissioners all over the continent for the duration of colonial occupation. 

 

 

And like I said, he can do this with a gentleness that cuts to the heart.  The final way to understand the ending of this book is to look at the people Okonkwo left behind.  That is where the tragedy goes from Greek tragedy to modern tragedy.  In Greek tragedy the audience finds catharsis or emotional release. It’s open; we’re free. And with the death of Okonkwo we have a classical Greek ending, but the story is more than just Okonkwo- what about the people he left behind.  What about his son Myowe who changed his name to Isaac?  He he okay now?  Nothing here suggests that he will be.   Modern tragedy provides no release by definition- to certainty.  In this case, we are left with a postcolonial Africa that is ambiguous.  Achebe called it “the crossroads of cultures”-  and that is where Achebe is very much a post. Modern writer of his day- very much in the vein of writers like Eliot, Kafka or even Fitzgerald to some degree. 

 

Well, and as students of history we can also find our current modern moment- today the entire world is at a crossroads of cultures.  Nigeria found itself in a world that was ironically aristocratic and democratic, heroic but ironic and both contemporary but ancient.  And in that sense, the world today very much reflects the clashes of culture Achebe so skillfully represented.   

 

And it’s much larger than race or even colonialism.  Are we, as citizens of on planet, going to discard ancient wisdom and tradition in favor of new outside influences and ideas that provide quick economic gains at the expense of a center that holds?  Are the young with their technology going to rule over old?  Are those with the power going to steam role over the many without?   Do our systems promote integrity or corruption?   And in that sense, we are all heirs of Achebe’s prophetic message- if I may be so bold and perhaps melodramatic to say.   

 

What a book?  What a man?   Thanks for listening…..etc..and the rest. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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