a look through Achebe’s lens

Although Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, published in 1958, is set in pre-colonial Nigeria, it responds to the issue of misinterpretations about African cultures due to works published by European authors, as well as the racial discrimination being fought through the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s. Achebe writes about the colonization of Nigeria from the colonized perspective and did so to prove a point about the different perspectives that every person has. At the end of his novel following the story of Okonkwo from the clan of Umuofia, the Commissioner from Europe reveals his plan to write about his experiences in bringing “civilization” to Africa and he names his coming work, The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger. The title alone reveals just how shallow and ignorant his efforts or lack thereof truly are. He and his fellow missionaries believe they are bringing peace and helping the poor, unfortunate, and uncivilized Nigerians. The Commissioner decides that he may write a “reasonable paragraph” on his views of Okonkwo’s death, but “one must be firm in cutting out details” (Achebe 209). This idea of excluding parts of his experiences is reflective of how small one’s perspective of the world can be. There are always countless lenses in which one chooses to see the world, and in the time period that Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart, it is evident that racial discrimination stems in part from those lenses. One’s background and personal experiences often produce a short sighted and close minded view of other races and cultures. Achebe himself was Nigerian and had great respect and pride for his culture, but he also was a devout Christian which made for a unique style of writing with consistent Biblical allusions that worked to prove his point that cultures are easily disregarded and misconstrued. Achebe’s work, Things Fall Apart, is a response to Heart of Darkness, published in 1902, to reveal the detached and blind assumptions made by European colonists. He effectively represented his culture in an accurate way that disproves the view of the clans as “savages” and “uncivilized”. His connection made with the reader through Okonkwo’s journey was unexpected and they gained deeper understanding of another culture seen through Achebe’s eyes. He successfully connected pre-colonialism in Nigeria to the issues he saw during the 1950s Civil Rights Movement by exploring the roots of racial tensions and cultural misunderstandings as seen in works published by soley European authors.