"The drums were still beating,
persistent and unchanging. Their sound was no longer a separate thing from the
living village. It was like the pulsation of its heart. It throbbed in the air,
in the sunshine, and even in the trees, and filled the village with
excitement."
- Chinua Achebe (Things Fall Apart)
"Things
Fall Apart" written by Chinua Achebe shows many contrasts, traditional
culture, colonialism, Christianity, the Masculine and the Feminine, animism,
the ignorant and the aware. Achebe has shown a culture which is rife with
superstition but rich in context. We are told about African proverbs, folk
tales, details of the Igbo clan system, African culture. This book is a simple
tale, an extended metaphor for African despoliation, life and politics. The
scenes from the life of Nigeria's Ibo society are painted with an assured,
uplifting clarity and they resonate brightly. Okonkow is an excellent,
wonderful human, central character, strong, proud, wilful and a traditionalist.
He couldn't prevent "progress" as he always won wrestling matches. He
is acutely aware of the pitfalls of forgetting the past but he is blind to the
absurdities, cruelties and sheer backwardness of certain of his tribe's customs
and of his own, sometimes outrageous. Okonkow shows the progress to a
capitalist future is no future, the rural isolation and ignorance of his tribal
is no longer even a viable present.
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