Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

"'Does the white man understand our custom about land?'

'How can he when he does not even speak our tongue?  But he says our customs are bad; and even our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad.  How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us?  The white man is very clever.  He came quietly and peaceably with his religion.  We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay.  Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one.  He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.'"

My goal in February is to read books that feature protagonists who are different from myself.  Things Fall Apart, an African novel featuring a Nigerian protagonist, definitely falls into that category.  This is another book that I've had sitting on my shelves for years now and never got around to reading (I'm saying that a lot this year already and it's only February).  This is also my Back to the Classics book for the "Classic by a Non-White Author" category.

Things Fall Apart tells the story of Okonkwo, a leader in the fictional Nigerian village of Umuofia.  The novel is split into three parts.  The first part is about Okonkwo's life and the customs of his village, while the second and third parts discuss the impact of colonialism and Christian missionaries on his country.  From the start of the novel, Okonkwo is shown to be a man of many accomplishments.  He is a wrestling champion, a successful farmer and a fierce warrior.  He is very wealthy and has three wives and many children.  Others in his village look up to him.  His success is all the more impressive because he had to earn it all by himself.  His father, whom Okonkwo considers to be a failure and a disgrace, didn't like fighting or wars, wasn't successful at providing for his family, and died in heavy debt.  His determination to follow a different path led him to become an extremely hard worker and to embrace the African idea of masculinity to the fullest.  He clings to this ideal to the point where he regularly beats his wives and children to ensure they live up to his high expectations.  Life in Umuofia follows set patterns dictated by the traditions of the various tribes, and the novel shows the reader many different daily routines, religious beliefs and government processes that take place in the village throughout part one.

Things take a dark turn for Okonkwo in parts two and three of the novel when he accidentally kills the son of an tribal elder when his rifle misfires. The punishment for this crime is a self-imposed exile of seven years.  Okonkwo loses everything he had built during his time away.  His farm and home are destroyed by the tribe and he loses his place as a leader for his people.  When he is finally able to return, things in Umuofia are different.  Christian missionaries have established churches and have begun converting villagers.  These missionaries have also introduced their own government, which they use to imprison, whip, and execute Africans who don't follow their laws.  Okonkwo, as a man who has always clung fiercely to African traditions, rejects the changes these intruders have brought with them.  He is completely unable to adapt to this new way of life, but it's too late to change anything because the missionaries have converted too many Africans to their side.  This realization inevitably leads to a sad ending.

I really liked this novel, but in a quiet way.  It's not exactly a page-turner because the narration is very neutral and detached.  As a reader, I didn't come to care for any of the characters in particular (and in fact, I actively disliked Okonkwo at times), but I found that that didn't matter so  much.  The descriptions of life in Nigeria were so completely foreign to me that I was continually learning something new. The desire to see outside my own culture was the main reason I choose this novel in the first place, so I was happy with that.

I quickly found that part of reading a novel set so completely outside of my own experience is learning to accept the practices and beliefs of others for what they are. I had to continually remind myself not to judge Okonkwo's culture by the standards of my own. This was a good mental exercise and I was mostly successful at it.  However, I remained uncomfortable with the violence against women and children that was shown.  A prime example is the treatment of twins in Umuofia.  The birth of twins was regarded as a bad omen.  If a woman gave birth to twins, both children would be placed into an earthenware pot and left in the evil forest to die.  This seemed ridiculous and cruel to me, but it was a deeply held religious belief in the village. 

Thinking about this led me to wonder how much of another culture's practices outsiders should tacitly accept out of respect for the differences between countries.   In the end, I reconciled my feelings by personally disagreeing with some of the traditions of the villagers, but acknowledging their right to live by their own belief system.  Not doing so only brings instability and heartache to a region, as when the Christian missionaries in Things Fall Apart began trying to control the people of Umuofia using their own system of laws. 

The ending of this novel was very powerful.  Without spoiling anything, it is constructed in a way that is stunningly ironic and encourages the reader to reflect back on the journey they've taken with Okonkwo throughout the story.  I was thinking that I would rate this novel a 3/5 as I was nearing its conclusion, but the final pages pushed it up to a 4/5 for me.   

Things Fall Apart illustrates the problems that many Africans faced throughout the 19th century as colonialism touched their continent. Its simple and poignant narration presents the reader with a picture of a rich and vibrant culture, then shows how easily it falls apart when outsiders arrive to exploit it.  This book is important to read as not only a lesson in Nigerian culture, but as a cautionary tale of what happens when one country forces its will on another. It shows us why we must make an effort to understand and respect those who are different from us.  I highly recommend this classic and important novel.  It you're anything like me and don't have a lot of experience with African customs, it will be a very different and rewarding reading experience.