Achebe’s novel had a profound impact on the discussion of cultural heritage and the importance of cultural preservation. However, while cultural preservation is integral to ensuring the longevity of traditions and practices, it is important to weigh how culture fairs with today’s social standards and norms. Laws are very important to society, especially in maintaining order. In the story, there characters were so adamant on insisting of keeping the practices because it will preserve their tribe. Thus, when the conquerors came, many narrow-minded people fought the changes. In fact, the lead character Okonkwo argued that they should follow because nobody questions the tribe’s practices. Blind obedience was promoted, while logic and reason tried to argue of its insignificance. Culture has a way of silencing the society from speaking about any form of injustice. Cultural practices, traditions, and rituals become socially acceptable because of the belief that it is rooted in from a long line of historical lineage handed down from generation to generations. Nevertheless, the majority of these traditions and practices violate the basic tenets of human rights. Some of the most disturbing examples of human rights violations include female genital mutilation of South Africa and several parts of the Middle East, cannibalism of the Korowai tribe from Indonesia, and witch hunting of Papua New Guinea (Grant, 2013). Unfortunately, anyone who defies and argue the logic of doing away with tradition will be expelled for succumbing into a system of materialism, racial hegemony and other culturally-determined violation of norms. Then there is the other side of culture that berates those who attempt to defend tradition but fails to succeed when failure is inevitable. Chinua Achebe’s novel entitled “Things Fall Apart” shows a man who was open to the realities of how culture and tradition can break even the most reliable foundation of society. Obierika, a respectable tribesman personifies a man who embraces his heritage but is not blinded by the norms that make injustice acceptable. This paper would show the effectiveness of Obierika in changing the culture that existed in their tribe without running the risk of being ostracized and exiled like his friend Okonkwo. Thus, proving that the most significant leader is may not always be a good follower, but a great follower will still make a great leader. Furthermore, this paper will also prove how the novel defends a culture that chastises bravery to promote a society of coward that can quickly be ruled by autocrats who know nothing about fair and just leadership.
References
Achebe, C. (2003). Things Fall Apart . St. Paul, Minn.: EMC/Paradigm Pub.
Grant, S. (2013). 10 Barbaric Practices That Still Exist. Retrieved from https://listverse.com/2013/03/02/10-barbaric-practices-that-still-exist/
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