The book “Things Fall Apart” is a fictional story about a person named Okonkwo. The story takes place in present day Nigeria. Okonkwo is a leader who leads his own tribe and lives with other neighboring tribes around him. Oknokwo’s nation worshiped wooden and stone idols and planted yams as their main source of food. Later in the story, British colonizers arrive at Oknokwo’s nation. These colonizers try to make Okonkwo’s nation abandon their beliefs and practices. The colonizers also brought religious leaders who tried to spread Christainity. During the end of the book, many people convert to Christainity or don’t fight back against the colonizers. Although “Things Fall Apart” is a fictional story, Africa did get colonized by many European countries including Britain.
In around 1860, the Industrial Revolution was starting. Countries that were industrializing needed raw materials to supply the Industrial Revolution. European countries found out Africa had raw materials such as gold, ivory, diamonds, and rubber. After hearing about the natural resources in Africa, Britain would plan to conquer nearly half of Africa, including present day Nigeria, the location of “Things Falling Apart”.
In 1870, Britain and other European countries took part in imperialism and colonialism. Imperialism is the idea of making an empire by capturing weaker countries with military or political methods. Colonialism is when an imperialist country imposes cultural, economic, and political life on the captured countries. Many African nations tried to fight back fiercely against the European military, but ended up surrendering to European rule.
“Things Falling Apart” mainly depicts the British colonizers imposing religious and cultural life. However, actual colonizers did more harsh actions. The British colonizers would force some natives living in the area to be laborers in mines or workplaces. These laborers would mine or produce raw materials. The British colonizers forced Africans to learn English and wear British clothes. People who were colonized by the British had to pay taxes to Britain.
In 1945, African countries started to gain their independence. During World War 2, some Africans fought with Britain and the allies. Britain and other European countries started to question the costs of keeping the captured African lands and the morality of colonization. It was at the end of World War 2 that European countries started to acknowledge Africa’s Independence. Nigeria gained its independence in 1960.
The effects of colonization drastically changed African countries. Before colonization, there were 100 different ethnic groups that spoke 1000 different languages. After colonization, many of these ethnic groups were gone and people in different regions spoke English, French, German, or any other language of the country that colonized them. Because colonizers took their natural resources, they became poorer. There are some positive outcomes though. Britain and European countries brought technology such as railroads in Africa during colonization. Nationalism sparked from being colonized. Some authors such as Chinua Achebe would write books about African culture before colonization and what colonizers did during colonization.
Sources:
Grill, Mark. “The National Archives | Education | British Empire | Living in the British Empire | Africa | Background.” The National Archives, Case Study, 22 July 2010, https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/empire/g2/cs3/background.htm.
Hardin, Graham. “British Colonization of Africa.” Story Map, ESRI, 12 Mar. 2019, https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=e8f24a9c56404e67b209dfcdfb37bc82#:~:text=The%20British%20colonized%20Africa%20in,hesitate%20on%20conquering%20the%20land.&text=Another%20resource%20in%20Africa%20was,good%2Dsellin
Iweriebor, Ehiedu. “The Colonization of Africa.” African Age, Schomburg Center, 19 Apr. 2011, http://exhibitions.nypl.org/africanaage/essay-colonization-of-africa.html.
Singh, Amardeep. “Colonialism/Imperialism: The Simple Way to Distinguish These Two Is to think of Colonialism as Practice and Imperialism as The.” Home | Lehigh University, Amardeep Singh, 14 Oct. 2001, https://www.lehigh.edu/~amsp/eng-11-globalization.htm.
Hello!
Great job summarizing and growing on the novel we read for class this week. I really enjoyed reading about the Industrial Revolution and how the resources in Africa intrigued British rulers and ultimately resulted in their colonization. Before reading this I wasn’t sure why Europeans chose to colonize countries such as Nigeria but you cleared that up for me! I also researched and discussed the effects of this colonization on the people of Nigeria and found it was very interesting and some was surprising. I really enjoyed reading how Achebe depicted the British colonization, it was different than I thought he would address it. Great post!
I thought you did well on your presentation, and I liked how you gave us a timeline and the reasons as to why Britain and other countries were in Africa at all. I think the violence that you pointed out between colonizers and these African nations is something we saw in Achebe’s book as well. The scenes where Okonkwo and other leaders were abused, and when Okonkwo killed one of the British administrators gives us a sense of how bloody this takeover was. Lastly, I liked how you included the effects that colonization had on the future culture of these countries, because that was something I was thinking myself while reading the novel for this week. All in all, I enjoyed your post and how I could take a dive into history and know just how this era all started.
Hi, nice job on summarizing what mainly occurs in the book “Things Fall Apart.” I enjoy how your post transitions from the story of the book, then dives into the actually history of the imperialism and colonization of Africa. It is a tough pill to swallow that so many different cultures and ethnicities were reduced to European ways due to the technological and militaristic advances. While there may be some positives that eventually rose from this colonization, it’s hard to believe that those advances are necessarily worth the sacrifice, especially when several parts of Africa are still considered third world countries today.
Hi!
I actually read “Things Fall Apart” my junior year of high school. I admire the book’s flexibility in contexts, as it is equally applicable to both classes I have read it for. I think you did a nice job of summarizing the book and describing the context of colonization when it comes to the story. Good Job!
It is impressive to me how much colonialization and imperialism have defined our world’s history and perspective of power. With this context presentation, you were able to point out and describe in detail the transition of powers and the negative points of colonialization and imperialism and its impact on Africans, but also the British as well. I often think about what the world would be like if colonialization and imperialism were not ‘things’ of the past. With the newest Industrial Revolution in technology occurring, I wonder if we are experiencing a different type of colonialization/ imperialism as large countries build more high technologies requiring more natural resources and minerals, which are located in places such as Africa. The more we are extracting and taking away from other countries, this could be seen as a different type of imperialism.
Hi! Really great post. I loved how you transitioned from the book to history to further explain the books background. It answered some of the questions I had about colonization after reading the book. It was extremely sad to read about the horrible things the British did to these cities in Africa. Although it was fiction, it describes the reality of living in Nigeria during this period. The arson, beatings, and murders were all negative aspects of colonization. They also had their culture ripped away from them, as well as their goods. Imperialism and colonization could have been positive things, but in this story it showed us that the British abused their power.
Hello! Your context presentation was a great summary of key concepts in “Things Fall Apart.” I am assuming the book is titled “Things Fall Apart” because it is referring to the African countries falling apart as they are colonized. I feel sad thinking about how many African cultures were impacted by imperialism and colonialism. Britain and other European countries changed African countries permanently. These irreversible changes through colonization have shaped our world into what it is today. For example, colonizers took Africa’s natural resources including gold, ivory, diamonds, and rubber. This ultimately made Africa poorer. Could this be a reason why Africa is still considered a Third-World country today? Once again, thanks for a great post that goes in chronological order!
Hello, I first want to say that your context presentation does an excellent job of putting together the main points from the story, as well as connecting them to issues that are still existent today. Something additional I would want to explore from the presentation was the lasting effect that European colonizers had on Africa, particularly the awful crimes they committed to establishing their governments and economies. I think that typically, for most in the class, we learned about this era coming up through middle and high school, but almost exclusively through history books. Those books provide the facts and relevant background information about the era, but they don’t put into perspective the damage that these crimes from the Europeans caused. In putting forth those same facts, but instead, through the eyes of someone living in Africa at the time, readers get a sense of how exactly everyday life and traditions were upended and ruined by colonization and imperialism. Adding this extra perspective, I believe is what makes Thing Fall Apart so impactful, a textbook or other form of text not sharing a first-hand account simply can’t get across the complete story behind that time period. Despite the story being fictional in terms of the characters, the description of the time period and all that happened when Europeans arrived is 100 percent real, and for myself goes into details that hadn’t been covered in history books I had read.
Hi. I think you did very well on this presentation and I want especially point out that the timeline you set was very organized and helpful as a reader to understand the whole thing. you also did a good job on finding the main points in the story and put them into today´s context. It´s sad looking learning about these things and knowing the impact it had on the african countries that was being colonized, you did job highlighting some of these effects.
Hello! I enjoyed reading your presentation and thought you did a great job detailing the effects of imperialism as well as the reality of it. This post also puts into perspective the history that ties into the novel, even though it is fiction. While those countries imperialized did gain their independence, we will truly never understand all the beyond horrific things they endured during the Age of Imperialism. That’s one special things about “Things Fall Apart,” is that readers get to see the before and after of what Africa was like in regards to imperialism, and see some of the culture that might not be as well-known as we only know Africa post-imperialism with qualities they were forced to assimilate to.
The state of Umuofia before and after the colonizers arrive in Igboland demonstrates the impact of what Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was describing in her presentation on forming a single story and who gains the most influence over the story’s final narrative. Things Fall Apart is a good book, but I enjoyed Achebe’s “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness'” a bit more as a nonfiction read. There are even critiques on Achebe’s critique of Conrad. Your connection between the novel and the diminishing of languages across African countries was great because I also think colonization, and civil wars, contributed to homogenizing many nations throughout history.
Hi!
I enjoyed reading your presentation and felt as though you did a well job providing enough details and analysis. I thought it was essential how you connected the story to the meaning behind the title where Britain’s plan to take over Africa implied things falling apart. I also thought it was nice how you focused on the history, imperialism, and the background of the novel rather than focusing on just the characters, as there are several points that may have been missed in the readings, but are essential to know. This is very significant in relation to our in class discussions about first world countries in relation to third world. This is a prime example as Africa is a third world country, whereas they had the necessary nutrients and materials but were treated as less still. This is necessary to single stories as today people may not know how or why Africa is perceived as a third world country, where they only have access to what they think Africa is like. But this novel provides necessary information in analyzing it and gaining the sad but truth of history.
Hello, great job.
Your presentation is well thought out, detailed, and organized. It was very interesting reading about all of the countries that were being colonized. I like that you wrote the effects of this and what they had on African countries.
Again great presentation!
This post was really informative, and I feel like I was able to learn so much in such a little amount of time! I actually read this post after the other post for this week, and it solidified my comment that colonization is mostly bad because the underlying intentions are about taking from someone else. Additionally, I did not know the difference between imperialism and colonialism. Colonialism is something that I really struggle with, as I can see why someone who wholeheartedly believes something would want to share that, but I also don’t see how anyone can say that their beliefs are more true than another. We all think that we are right in our beliefs. I’m mainly referencing religion here, as I don’t think making people assimilate in other ways is a good thing at all.
Another thought that I had was that we have always thought of many European countries to be good, especially when they were our allies in WWII, but at that time they were still colonizing other countries! I really had no idea about that, and it leads me to question my outlook on that time period and the assumption that everyone is good just because they are on your side. Anyways, thank you for this informative post!
This was a great context presentation. It did a great job giving a background to what the story would be and it really helped me better understand the actual setting of the story. I liked that you viewed both the positive and negative sides of colonization. Colonization can sometimes have a negative connotation because it was aggressive and insensitive in certain scenarios. However, the nationalism that came from this time is a good thing. People identified with their countries and wrote stories about their culture that we need to read so that we can understand the rest of the world.
Thank you for sharing your context presentation! When reading a story like this, it is very important to know the time of the story and the location of the story. Your context presentation helped me be able to really envision Things Fall Apart as I read it. It also helped me understand the context better since your presentation gave a nice timeline and background on colonization. Your presentation helped me relate this piece to issues today. Thank you!
Hi!
Thank you for this very informative context presentation! I had no idea just how many languages and ethnic groups there were in Africa before colonization. I can’t even begin to imagine how much rich culture and history was lost to the greed and power of the Western world. The presentation provides further context for all of the cultural points during the novel, and how it might get lost quickly after the British took control. While it is sad to think about what has been lost by colonization, it is interesting to see how Nationalism was improved through better technology.
Hi! Very interesting presentation. I enjoyed how you broke down and explained the timeline of events that occurred and also mentioned how there were some positive outcomes from the colonization. Although the colonization had a lot of negative impacts such as losing their culture and identity, they did gain technology and nationalism.
Hi! Thank you for the great presentation! It was very informative and interesting. It is a very interesting topic to read and learn about the colonization of these countries. I think you did a wonderful job explaining the timeline. Overall it was very informative and helped me a lot, thank you!
Hello! Your presentation was very well out together and the timeline made it a lot easier to read and understand. I find it interesting how in the story most people from that tribe converted to Christianity. It makes me wonder what things were said to convince them to do so or if it was more of threatening them. I also think it is sad how after colonization many of these ethnic groups were abandoned and started speaking English as their first language.