Things fall apart is about the unfortunate fall of the Ibo society and how effectively the Europeans invaded their land and ultimately infiltrated their community.
It is apparent that the Ibo people have a judicial system in place, where petitions of the clan members are heard. The aspect of self-governance is also seen when Okonkwo was sent to exile for killing a fellow clansman. As seen in the twentieth chapter, Okonkwo returned from exile to find that the Europeans had already set up a government court of law, built a prison and hired African natives to help them in enforcing the law ( Achebe, 2009 ). The use of African natives to enforce the law was effective in the Europeans’ ‘divide and rule’ strategy.
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In the beginning of the sixteenth chapter, the Europeans arrived in Umuofia and built a church. The church started attracting followers although at the beginning they only attracted the ‘worthless men’ in the community. In due time they also managed to convert men with titles in the community as seen in the twentieth chapter of the book ( Achebe, 2009 ). The Europeans sought to convert as many as possible, in a bid to weaken the traditional religious values of the Umuofians, which was an essential part that unified the people.
The Europeans introduced an economic aspect to the Umofians as seen in the twenty-first chapter of the book. They started to export palm-oil and palm nut kernels. The Europeans bought the commodities at a high price, and this resulted in high profits to the Umuofians ( Achebe, 2009 ). These practices are seen to greatly undermine the clan’s self-sufficiency, though highly welcomed by the clan members. Commerce was an aspect introduced by the Europeans in a bid to convince the clansmen more.
The introduction of these elements to their culture benefited the clansmen but also increased the Europeans’ influence and eventually ruled over the Umuofians.
Reference
Achebe, C. (2009). Things fall apart . Toronto: Anchor Canada.
