Things Fall Apart

“One could almost write a whole chapter on him. Perhaps not a whole chapter but a reasonable paragraph, at any rate”

Jam and I fulfilled a lifelong dream for her 30th birthday this year, we made it back to the continent. We went to Ghana this February and had easily the best trip we have ever been on. Whether it was the delicious kebabs at three in the morning; the chaos of Makola Market; or the sanctity of Cape Coast Castle or Elmina- we walked away full. My plan was to read Things Fall Apart while on the continent in a hyper-symbolic way, however between all the 3-4 am nights and jet lag, I never got to it. When I returned I watched an interview with Toni Morrison (my north star for all things literature) where she described Things Fall Apart as one of the most formative novels for her learning how to write for her audience and not bend to the gaze of a white or western audience. Truth. Chinua Achebe succeeds in completely shifting my view on colonialism by writing to his community, not mine.

So what had happened was…

The entire book follows the rise and fall of Okonkwo who at the books beginning becomes a well-respected man in his community, Umuofia, by becoming one of the best wrestlers in the clan. This is despite his father who was considered a failure in the community due to his idle and gentle ways. His father is titled an agbala, connoting an undignified femininity. Okonkwo thus becomes the exact opposite, hyper-masculine and enjoys the respect that hypermasculinity grants him. While Okonkwo is a violent man, including various forms of domestic violence, he is respected and asked to care for a young boy, Ikemefuna, that was offered to his village as a peace treaty. Ikemefuna becomes a loved member of Okonkwo’s family, becoming a positive influence on Nwoye, Okonkwo’s son who he considers feminine. And not in a way that is praised like his daughter Ezinma. However, the oracle pronounces that Ikemefuna must be killed. Okonkwo is told to stay out of it, but in fear that he would be seen as feminine, Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna. Things begin to fall apart. Not long after, Okonkwo accidently shoots the son of his best friend and under the laws of his community is banished for 7 years. His farm and all of his wealth is burned down to acknowledge the crime against the land. Okonkwo escapes to his mother’s homeland where while he is treated nicely, he begins to see and hear of changes due to the new presence of white men. Okonkwo considers these communities inferior and longs for the day he can return to Umuofia, which in his mind would never fall to these curious white people. However, white men have brought their religion and it begins to deteriorate society. Nwoye, who never became as masculine and thus as loved as Ikemefuna, converts to Christianity leaves his father and returns to Umuofia to work as a missionary. Okonkwo eventually returns from his exile to a fractured society which breaks further by the introduction of a new white missionary who encourages wanton acts. One of the new radical converts intentionally disrespects a traditional religious ceremony and in retribution Okonkwo and leaders of Umuofia burn down the church. The missionary reports the arson to the District Commissioner who arrests Okonkwo and the leaders of Umuofia. The converts of Umuofia subject these tribal leaders to abuse and insult until the community gathers enough funds to bail them out. Upon their freedom the leaders call a meeting, which the courts attempt to disband. Okonkwo reacts violently beheading one of the court messengers. He then notices that his fellow leaders do nothing and realizes the leadership is unwilling to fight. Thus Umuofia is destined to fall into the hands of the white men. Okonkwo takes his life. Upon seeing Okonkwo the District Commissioner remarks that Okonkwo’s story was interesting enough to be a small part of his book: The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger.     

Aiight so boom…

In Cape Coast Castle our tour guide said that when white men came all they had was the Bible and Africans had all the land. The white man taught Africans to close their eyes to pray, however when Africans opened their eyes all Africans had was the Bible and the white man had all of the land. I had heard similar metaphors before, but hearing it while standing where your ancestors had been treated and traded like animals with a church immediately above your head hit different. As an African American Christian, I had always read the Bible from a viewpoint that applauded the class war fare of Christianity. In my eyes Jesus taking the most disregarded persons of a society and making them foremost was the focal point- whether it be a leper, a sex worker, or the criminals that hung beside him at his state sanctioned execution. The last among you shall be the first. It wasn’t until this book that I realized the power vacuum that leaves. A vacuum that someone can take advantage of. I didn’t make the connection until I saw the pattern of those who had been turned away from power in the clan, like Nwoye, accessing power through Christianity. With others gaining power the finite resource began to slip away from traditional leaders like Okonkwo. These traditional leaders could no longer access the power they once had to fight back and in this destabilization, colonizers were able to not only steal vital resources, but quash a culture. This destabilization, in my African American context, was always something that I rooted for. That the US power structure would fall and my people would enjoy a freedom made possible by God (see Exodus). However, it was this same destabilization that caused the things to fall apart. A viewpoint I would never understand without Chinua Achebe masterfully writing to his community, instead of my now westernized community.