Death of a Nation

The 18th, 19th and 20th centuries were a time of great colonization in Africa. European explorers sieged the African continent, trying to acquire the most African land possible. These European explorers brought with them missionaries, who tried to convert the indigenous populations of Africa from their tribal religion to Christianity. Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, describes the white man’s transformation of the Igbo culture. In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo, exhibits an ineffective thinking process shown through his violent actions, Umofia’s negative reactions to his actions, and unnecessary dialogue between him and other Umofian citizens; this ineffective thinking process makes changing lifestyles impossible for Okonkwo, who, because of these events, commits suicide. Aggressive actions of Okonkwo present the extent of this ineffective thinking, which come to cause his death. Okonkwo performs one of his most thoughtless actions during the Week of Peace, a week in which any violence is prohibited. However, Okonkwo breaks the Week of Peace when “he beats [his first wife] heavily” for not returning early enough to cook his afternoon meal (Achebe 29). Failing to think about the ramifications of his decision, he acts on impulse and performs the most violent action possible. Not only does he just beat his wife, but he also does it heavily, showing how he cannot change from his normal personality in the slightest. Inability to change from his normal self for a week foreshadows how Okonkwo will not be able to adapt later on. In this instance, Okonkwo only gets punished a little, but his violent actions later get him killed. When a messenger orders a stop to a meeting in the marketplace of Umuofia, Okonkwo draws his machete and, in a matter of seconds, “Okonkwo’s machete descend[s] twice and the man’s head lay[s] beside his uniformed