The Story of a Proud Man
Chinua Achebe, Father of Modern African literature, passed away on March 21, 2013. He was 82 years of age. It was unexpected, as some thought he would live long to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.
"Things Fall Apart", which was published in 1958, brought him worldwide fame. It was his first novel. Achebe based his works from Africa's oral tradition, telling stories of mighty civilizations that collapsed under mysterious circumstances. (Think of the old towns in Djenné, Mali). The author, who hailed from Ogidi, Nigeria, recalled the struggles of his fellow Africans during colonization, of how it emasculated them. More trouble came when they achieved independence.
Twin dramas
"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart, the center cannot hold,
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world."
- "The Second Coming" (W.B. Yeats, 1919)
To understand the novel better, one must be familiar with Nigeria's history. The Kingdom of Nri ruled more than a millennium, their influence waned upon the arrival of English missionaries. The Igbo people, the descendants of the inhabitants of Nri, struggled to adapt to Western culture. Nigeria gained its independence in 1960. The region of Biafra attempted to break free in 1967. A period of political unrest followed.
The story took place during the turn of the 20th century, when tribal villages defined most of Nigeria (and other parts of Africa). Okonkwo was the principal character of the story, a self-made man whose downfall could be compared to a Greek tragedy.
Some might wonder if Achebe's usage of the English language would have any effect. Many authors from non-English speaking countries have their works translated in able to gain a worldwide audience. The meaning didn't get lost. Perhaps Achebe was thinking of the oral customs.
Okonkwo was stoic to a fault. He grew up to believe that this was how a strong man should be, as his village was situated in a hostile environment. He was also fearful of ending up like Unoka, his father, who didn't have the biggest harvest, even once. Okonkwo's story is also an illustration of someone struggling to conform to the beliefs of the elders - at the expense of his own feelings and family's. There was a twist to it, when he saw how his village was overran by the missionaries. He didn't like the change that was coming.
Some would see Okonkwo's lack of modesty as the reason why he didn't have a good life that he deserved. Karma was the word for it, but he worked hard for what he achieved. Achebe didn't pen a parable, but rather an enigmatic case of what went wrong with someone who had it all. Okonkwo could be anyone in Nigeria, even in Africa. Did colonization left the continent in shambles? Consider Liberia, one of the few countries not colonized by Europeans. It was first ruled by the free slaves from America. But the problems came. Maybe one would seek amusement. Not a few saw it in the book's final pages.
