When a culture is introduced to different ideas, one may contemplate their sense of identity which will then illustrate the impact that the concept had as a whole.. In the novel, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe uses his character, Okonkwo, to dramatize the effect western colonization had on the Igbo community simply through his reaction to the sudden change. Western colonization ultimately fuels Okonkwo ’s fire of anger. For example, when the missionary was speaking to the people of Mbanta, Okonkwo only stayed to listen because he thought that it “…might come to chasing the men out of the village or whipping them…”(146) Okonkwo obviously wants nothing to do with the white men, and boldly shows how he feels about it. Each day, Okonkwo is s reaction of anger is Achebe’s way of displaying the effect western colonization had on the Igbo people. He showed the audience that it was difficult to live through such a change when they had been practicing different beliefs their whole life. s actions because of this, displayed an angered mood, which ed show the theme and how Okonkwo felt about the new culture ideas. The clash of cultures causes some unwanted changes, and conclusively brings forth the idea that as a culture changes, the people change too. Okonkwo was so stubborn and stuck on his beliefs that he had to kill himself because he had too much pride built up to change like the rest of his people. The cultural collision leads to Okonkwo’s self-destruction and points out that because of his anger, Okonkwo was left with nothing in the end. The novel’s meaning as a whole comes to light through Okonkwo, and leads the audience to the conclusion that no matter how hard you try to keep things the same, things will always fall apart. Throughout the latter end of the novel, Okonkwo’s reaction to western colonization is used to adequately show the true meaning of the work. During his time, he refused to conform to the new customs as others did around him, and this led to his death. Achebe uses fictional Okonkwo for much more than what it seems. He was used to depict a deeper meaning to the novel as a
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