Running Head: National Identity & Igbo

National Identity & Igbo

MD. Abdulla Asik

ID: 182013050

University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh

Submitted to: Arifa Rahman

Date: 26.09.2020
Running Head: National Identity & Igbo

National Identity & Igbo

In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart Okonkwo is the main protagonist who struggles

with the cataclysmic changes brought upon by colonialism. At the beginning of the story we see

the rise of Okonkwo and how he comes to secure a respectful position in his tribe. He is a very

prideful man lead by patriarchal ideals traditional norms. He secured a high position in his

society by wining against a champion. He then even strengthened that position by gaining riches

and marrying three women, being a clan leader and a fierce war hero and what not. In the eyes of

his clan and his own Okonkwo is one of the greatest man to ever live in his time.

Now all these achievements certainly do shape a man. And in Okonkwo’s case they made him a

man of extreme pride. Prior being influenced by the British colonialism, Okonkwo’s personal

sense of identity was very strong and dominant. And it is very ironic when you learn this this

sense of hubris is what takes him to his downfall as well. Okonkwo is after all a tragic hero.

When Okonkwo was introduced to the new culture of colonialism, he began to struggle

drastically to cope up with the changes that was brought upon by the British. He believed his

culture is what represents his sense of identity and that if it were pushed away, he would be

nothing without it. He is the kind of man who would cling to his past rather than trying to adapt

to the new ways, even if it means a necessity for survival. So eventually Okonkwo did fell. Now

unlike Okonkwo rest of the villagers has accepted the changes and adapted. Like in the novel

even the village elders and some of the most respected clan members left behind their tradition

and way of life for something new, something that seemed modern and easier. It was a mean for

survival, but at the cost of their own identity. Now Okonkwo fell because he could not let go of
Running Head: National Identity & Igbo

his own personal identity and could not adapt to the new ways. Igbo as a nation fell because it’s

people found an easier option. So I would say Okonkwo’s personal identity is basically a mirror

image of Igbo’s national identity. Because Okonkwo is a relic of the past, who followed the old

igbo traditions and rituals without question, therefore when he fell from grace so was the

symbolic fall of the old igbo culture, which he represented. Because Okonkow is a relic of the

past, who followed the old igbo traditions and rituals with out question, therefore when he fell

from grace so was the symbolic fall of the old igbo culture, which he represented. This is how

the two dots can be connected.

Now here is an interesting fact. In the opinion of Chinua Achebe (2000), “Igbo identity should be

placed somewhere between a tribe and a nation. Since the defeat of the Republic of Biafra in

1970, the Igbo are sometimes classed as a stateless nation”

Now I have found the book An Image of Africa by Chinua Achebe very interesting. The book is

basically about Achebe roasting Joseph Conrad for his book A heart of Darkness and for being a

raciest. Now through this book Achebe portrays facts and presents it in front of the world and

gives them a chance to see the image of Africa from his point of view as well.

Massoud Raja from the Youtube channel Post Colonialism says that, it is because of Achebe, no

one teaches Conrad’s A heart of Darkness uncritically. And even when that happens, they

juxtapose it with Thing Fall Apart. So basically Achebe is intervening in the in the normalized

view of Africa by the Europeans. That is why this text by Achebe is considered a very significant

work of literature. The essay basically begins with Achebe bumping into a man who takes it sort

of hardly when he hears Africa has a history. He somehow finds it hilarious, because that’s how

the African and mainly any countries who are not Europeans are viewed: uncivilized. Nations

without national identity. The reason I have brought up this topic is to show how the Europeans
Running Head: National Identity & Igbo

view on African culture is misinformed and biased. Long before the colonialists came Igbo had a

sense of identity. They had rules, regulations, religion, a governing system. I am not going to

judge whether the system was perfect or not because what is perfect. But anyway this factors did

not weigh much to the Europeans. They saw a culture different from theirs so they labeled Igbo

as uncivilized and savages.

Running Head: National Identity & Igbo

Reference
Minahan, James (2002). Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations: S-Z. Greenwood

Publishing Group