It uses the old method popular among novelists of highlighting the prevalent social injustice and conditions through a shocking event - you know how MIt uses the old method popular among novelists of highlighting the prevalent social injustice and conditions through a shocking event - you know how Medea's killing her children reflected on patriarchy of her time, when 'Beloved's heroine kills her child it reflected on slavery. Camus' Outsider's narrator failed to feel any grief for his mother's loss - reflecting the way how people are unable to feel a sense of belonging to our surroundings and so on, Before I had read Phaedra I thought her incestual intentions reflected on the unjust assumption where a woman expected to remain happily married to a man twice her age and take a man her own age as her stepson. Here the event disclosed in the very first sentence is narrator's (then a little girl) inability to feel any remorse on the accidental death of her brother and reflects on unequal treatment of girl and boy child.
One of the first African feminist novels - what at first seems like a coming of age novel of a girl in Zimbawe expands to contain stories of other women around her. At one point, the narrator points how the women are unable to react to a situation as they wish to and feel morally obliged to because the identity that the society and culture have imposed on them (and which they have come to completely identify themselves with) expects them to stay silent.
It is unfortunate indeed to think of families where only one child would be able to get the education - but to resist a better life style choice just because it seems western culture ... To be honest, I'm not a big fan of those words - 'culture' and 'identity'; the only purpose they seem to serve is to confuse people and make them avoiding taking choices which will help them to live their lives to fullest. I think it is foolish not to make a life style choice just because the community you identify with doesn't normally make such choice or its members aren't allowed to.
And culture - except for really first civilizations (bronze age-iron age); great civilizations that were also really productive in sciences and arts have only shown up only in places where people have been willing to learn from different cultures. Romans were willing to learn Greek Philosophies, Ottoman empire learned sciences and philosophies both from Romans and Indians, Mughals at their best (Akbar, Shah Jahan, Jahangir) had artists from every living culture in their courtrooms, renaissance artists were willing to adopt dead civilizations and gods of Greece. Even colonial empires were in time of their rise translating literature of their colonies. Russia's great literary periods were at best when authors like Dostoevsky and Tolstoy were studying ideas from around the world and ended slowly when they raised the Iron curtain. USA's first became world power when it was willing to accept migrants from around the world. More recently, the Latin American literary boom was the result of works by authors who refuse to limit their inspirations to Latin America. It thus seems foolish to denounce something just because it wasn't first created or done in the country.
Okay now some ramblings on India - there is nothing more about the book itself.
The problem of these confusing words is particularly relevant to India - where there is always a talk of saving Aryan, Hindu and Indian culture. There is a fallacious reasoning that just because something is being done for centuries, we should continue to do it. Another very stupid belief is older is somehow better. So Vedas are superior because they come earlier than other books and culture; being first ancestors they deserve to be followed. But if you go along this chain of reasoning - we should rather be living on trees because we lived on trees even before we wrote books and monkeys are our real ancestors. Also, think of it, the practise of Sati was defended on cultural reasons. IMO, culture should not be thought of as a guide to direct our future but in terms of footsteps left behind by society.
Moreover, all this talk about saving culture is always raised when it is a question of maintaining some sort of maintaining some sort of injustice - typical examples include the protests against reservations for SC/ST when they were first made, protests against Hindu marriage act because it divided property equally between all heirs (rather than merely male heirs) and legalized divorces and now there are similar protests against a similar reform law for Muslims.
Same thing with those goon attacks on pubs. Have you ever wondered what part of pub-culture is not Indian? A pub is just a public drinking place and such public drinking places were always there in India. What are called pubs are merely more fashionable. It isn't drinking itself these culture-protectionists are against or they would have attacked alcohol factories. It is not men getting drunk or getting drunk in public they are against - again those things that has always been done in India. You might for once think their problem is presence women at those places but wrong- the problem is not the fact of the presence of women itself but who those women are. You see these goons maintain a list of actions that a good man can do but good women can't. And so ... okay, this lecture just got boring and I feel sleepy...more
Called the father of modern African literature, Chinua Achebe is widely respected in Africa. Nelson Mandela, recalling his time as a political prisoneCalled the father of modern African literature, Chinua Achebe is widely respected in Africa. Nelson Mandela, recalling his time as a political prisoner , once referred to him as a writer “in whose company the prison walls fell down”. He has inspired some big names in literature including Tony Morrison, Margret Atwood etc.
‘Things fall apart’ despite its ridiculously simple story is very aptly recognized. It involved breaking new grounds – the very choice of language of colonialists over any of domestic dialects was a major decision – Achebe thought English was the only language that can be used to communicate all over Nigeria; rather than country's multiple dialects. There was an effort at creating a common dialect but the common dialect ‘just didn’t sing’.
Set in Nigeria of 1890s, Things Fall Apart (Title is taken from a poem of W.B. Yeats) doesn’t wave any Tolstoyan worlds or tries to go into the depths of individual psyche like James Joyce. What TFA does is that it breaks new grounds; puts a dot of light in that undiscovered plane, which was so far summed up by colonial mentality as ‘dark continent’. The strange use of words and phrases, description of religious practices and marriages in TFA are an effort to extend boundaries of English language to create an African voice. They may fail on many of us, but they worked really well on me – may be because I have seen Indian writers openly using phrases from regional languages in English to accommodate local thought.
TFA is read in schools across Africa and being in English, it has gain popularity all over world, giving people a perspective to look at Africa that is different those colonialists (Joseph Conrad) or in present times, from Discovery-Channel-Men-in-wild way .
Masculinity
Set in Nigeria of 1890s, where people were entirely involved in Agriculture, with almost no division of labor except priests and farmers, the society is divided into small inter-fighting villages, no education to talk about, women being given as trophies for victors in wrestling matches; TFA points from very beginning to a society where physical strength is the sole virtue that can lead to success (wrestling and hunting are only sports mentioned). Thus being strong is good and manly; and being weak or so much as display a little emotion is being like a woman. A successful man can marry as many times he wishes to, a warrior takes pride in drinking from skull of the enemy he killed etc are common ways of recognizing honor.
Before we start judging this society, we must remember life was hard to these people. There is so much of talk of dying children - a few of women have lost multiple children. Add to that no education and the fact that lack of division of labour wouldn’t allow any art to prosper (except community songs and dances). It is almost imposible for these people to think in any way different from old ways.
An exemplary citizen
Okonwho, the protagonist, is one of best citizens of this society. Along with above mentioned socializing factors, there is also his repulsion from his considered-weak-and-not respected father to try to be more masculine.
He is the strongest in the village but also he has to maintain an appearance of being strong. He makes no display of emotions – not even in private to his family. The whole family is scared of him. He is too close minded to share any of his thoughts with his family. It is ironical that in effort to maintain his appearance of strength, he won’t protest against villagers’ decision to kill his adopted son. Again, carrying his masculinity to another extreme, he scolds himself for feeling sorry for loss of his son. However, after losing his honor due to a few tragedies he commits suicide – completing his tragedy. Too strong to live ,Uh!
Illiteracy and Oratory
One of effects of illiteracy, is that there is too much of superstation and religion in lives of people (Okonwho killed his son because of such superstations) ; another and more interesting thing is great stress given on oral language.
Proverbs and stories are widely used among people – as a kind of oral books. They are only way to remember anything wise, also only way to explain an otherwise inexplicable physical phenomena. It seems that art of oratory among masses suffers with an advance of education - you won’t see too many proverbs used in societies where literacy levels are high. Story telling must also had been a sort of entertainment – a beautiful skill killed by television. Of course even in oratory, there is no specialization, and thus these stories are so small. Bards like Homer and Valmiki can nourish only in larger civilization than a mere village.
Anyway here are some of proverbs: sun will shine on those who stand before it shines on those who kneel under them.
As the elders said, if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings
an old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb.
The lizard that jumped from the high iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no one else did.
A child's fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam which its mother puts into its palm.
‘It is like Dimaragana, who would not lend his knife for cutting up dogmeat because the dog was taboo to him, but offered to use his teeth.’
‘As our people say, 'When mother-cow is chewing grass its young ones watch its mouth.'
…. as the dog said, 'If I fall down for you and you fall down for me, it is play'.
Looking at a king's mouth," said an old man, "one would think he never sucked at his mother's breast."
Eneke the bird says that since men have learned to shoot without missing, he has learned to fly without perching.
As our fathers said, you can tell a ripe corn by its look.
The white People
Why 1890s? Because that is when first western contact was made. Achebe fictionalizes the history of Nigeria from then on in his tri series. The first effect is that social outcasts (those not macho enough or those who are victim of some superstations) convert to Christianity. There is advent of schools (education and religion must go hand in hand) which offered great career opportunities. There is not enough opposition in beginning because there is a chance for local people to have a wider market. Later, when opposition is made – they are threatened by force. The book ends at point when these cultures are still clashing....more
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