Blog Post: Things Fall Apart Analysis using a Post-Colonialism Lense

Chinua Achebe’s book goes in depth with the topic of post-colonialism from the second part towards the end. Okonkwo has been heavily impacted by the entry of white missionaries into Africa. His son accepted their religion and Okonkwo abandoned him, his mother’s motherland was influenced by them, and Umoufia crumbled right before his eyes. Chinua Achebe goes through the negative impact the white missionaries had on Okonkwo specifically. In the beginning, Okonkwo was a strong-willed person. He was mighty and he showed no sign of fear. He was “well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond… he had brought honor to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat” (Achebe 1). From what the beginning states about Okonkwo, his characteristic seems like he is unlikely to cower down to anything. This statement turns out to be true for the most part after the white missionaries came. He was against them coming to his homeland and he was against his son being influenced by them. However, his continuity has stopped after his final decision at the end of the book. After Okonkwo killed one of the messengers, the District Commissioner and his people came looking for him when “they came to the tree from which Okonkwo’s body was dangling, and they stopped dead” (Achebe 178). Okonkwo is seen as the pinnacle of African culture and African values. He catered deeply to his tribe’s customs, he was stern with his sons, he was strict with gender roles, and he was devoted to his tribe’s religion. Since his character has these traits, his death is significant. His death is the death of African traditions and customs after the white missionaries stepped foot onto his land. He was once a high and mighty person, but his position was taken away, his religion was fading, and his purpose was gone.

In the end, even Okonkwo was influenced by the whites. At first, he was strongly against the majority of everything the white missionaries came to Africa for. Slowly, Okonkwo witnesses the people of his mother’s motherland succumb to the whites’ influence, his son following Mr. Brown, and Umoufia eventually crumbling. The world that he once knew has become foreign to him. That is why his last decision was unmanly and cowardly for him. Okonkwo committing suicide is something that is extremely unexpected of him because the book portrays him as a powerful and determined being. Even his masculinity had crumbled after the white missionaries came

Post-Colonialism in Things Fall Apart shows the consequences the white missionaries have on the Africans. Through this lense, Okonkwo’s world has turned upside down, leading to his death.