TOK perspective in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

The novel Things Fall Apart was written in 1958 by Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian writer. During this time, most of Africa was still under colonialist rule; however, in the novel, Achebe focuses on the early experiences of colonialism in the late 1800’s. Achebe’s purpose was to depict the Igbo society with values and conventions that were not barbaric in addition to complex social systems. He did this as a response to the representation of Africa made by the colonialists.

Moreover, as stated by Linda Strong-Leek, this book can be read in many different perspectives for example, from a male point of view and a female point of view. Specifically in this essay, the TOK perspective will be critically explored through the question: to what extent should we accept knowledge by authority? To begin with, key terms from this question should be explained. Knowledge can be defined as a justified true belief and an authority is a person or organization having power or control in a particular sphere. The idea of accepting knowledge by authority is present throughout the novel.

To begin with, we accept the information we receive from authority figures because we believe they are more knowledgeable. For example, we accept the knowledge of our parents when we are children, of our teachers and our doctors in addition to many more like government figures. Since our parents, teachers, doctors, and government figures are more knowledgeable than us we accept the information we receive from them. This can also be seen in the text through, for example, the authority figure of the Oracle of the Hills and Caves. There are many occasions in which the village of Umuofia accepts the knowledge and the decisions taken by the Oracle. For instance, Ezeudu states, “Yes, Umuofia has decided to kill [Ikemefuna]. The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves has pronounced it” (57). This demonstrates an occasion where the entire village accepts the knowledge of the Oracle and Ikemefuna is murdered. Inclusively, the Igbo people “rely on their oracles to advise them on what to do when faced with new, strange situations. As the Oracle has access to divine information, he offers correct information” (Shmoop). This shows how in the same way as we trust the medication our doctor prescribes, the Igbo society accepts the information that the Oracle provides.

However, the government’s information can be incorrect. They could be manipulating society for their own purposes. For example, when using euphemisms, like terrorists instead of freedom fighters, they are simply altering the language they use and distorting the message that is perceived by the audience. Governments or authorities often use language and euphemisms to justify their ideas, make policies seem more acceptable, convince the public of their viewpoints, or attack opponents. We should not solely accept knowledge from authority figures because they are an authority due to the fact that they can be bias, manipulative and even incorrect.

This idea can also be seen in the novel when the District Commissioner “sent his sweet tongued messenger to the leaders of Umuofia asking them to meet him in his headquarters”(193). He then proceeded to share the information that he wanted to know what happened in his absence and he brought twelve men in supposedly so“ they too can heat your grievances” (193). However, the knowledge that the leaders of Umuofio had received from this authority figure was a manipulation and they ended up handcuffing them, shaving their hair, starving them and beating them with a stick. We can see how the information that we accept from authority figures is not necessarily true and thus, we should not always trust them.

In conclusion, there are many occasions where we accept knowledge that we receive from authorities. However, this information cannot necessarily be trusted due to external factors such as bias and manipulation. In the novel Things Fall Apart, the role of authority can be represented through the Oracle in addition to the idea of misuse of authority for personal gain through the District Commissioners torture of the six leaders. In conclusion, we should, to a certain extent, accept knowledge from authority due to fact that some people of authority are more knowledgeable. However, one must not accept this knowledge solely because of their authority; one must use reason, perception, and past events to evaluate the knowledge of the authorities to come to an understanding of that knowledge.

Bibliography

 "Things Fall Apart Religion Quotes Page 7." Shmoop. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. <http://www.shmoop.com/things-fall-apart/religion-quotes-7.html>.

Reflection of the Simulation

What did you learn about your character and other characters from participating in the role-play?
I think that most the time, people would exaggerate the views of their character. For example, Chielo’s appraisal for the Oracle and Reverend Smith’s love for God was definitely exaggerated in the activity. However, I thought that it did give us a deeper understanding of the characters and their opinions and a better idea of where they stand in comparison to all of society. It is very important to understand that every character in this book has a different perspective and they each represent a larger community of people who think the same. By having this role-play, we heard from the different points of view thus expanding our opinions of the subject. Specifically, by having to represent a specific point of view, I started really thinking like my character would and putting myself in their shoes thus expanding my knowledge of my character and her relation to the other characters.

Why did certain characters act the way they did during our experience in the Village of Umuofia?
Throughout the discussion, people’s views were mostly divided into two categories: those who supported the Christian beliefs and those that did not. The largest conflict was between Christian views and the Igbo peoples view. However, there were also gender conflicts and times when Okonkwo defended his views while others criticized him. For example, when discussing Okonkwo’s actions in Peace week, there was a difference in actions dependent on the gender.

How was your experience similar to and different from the novel?
It was more concentrated on a specific character and her relation to the other characters. The plot plays a role however characterization is more important in this activity. Not only are we worried about my character in the story but about how she would react to events that she did not take place in. Ekwefi, my character, did not have a large opinion throughout the novel about Christianity and when asked to discuss about this, I was forced to think like her.

How has your experience in the Village of Umuofia “virtual reality” changed or enhanced your understanding of the novel and the historical events on which it is based?
As mentioned before, I believe that this activity further expanded my knowledge of characters and specifically their reactions to different parts in the novel. Also, the interactions between characters became more in depth. In relation to the historical events, I don’t think this activity enhanced my understanding. 

Character Analysis of Ekwefi Things Fall Apart

Key quotes with analysis

“’Ezinma is dying,’ came her voice, and all the tragedy and sorrow of her life were packed in those words.” (76)

In this quote, the reader learns that Ekwefi has had a difficult life, and that the loss of her daughter, Ezinma, would be yet another devastation. The author shows sympathy through a tone of despair. Furthermore, the use of diction creates an image of emotional fear and pain through the words “tragedy” and “sorrow”. Achebe’s use of creates sympathy, and for some empathy, within the reader and appeals to the universal fear and pain of a mother losing a child.

“Okonkwo turned on his side and went back to sleep. He was roused in the morning by someone banging on his door. ‘Who is that?’ he growled. He knew it must be Ekwefi of his three wives Ekwefi was the only one who would have the audacity to bang on his door.” (75)

Ekwefi out of his three wives is the one who has suffered the most; therefore she is a woman who possesses a lot of emotional strength. She gave birth to ten children and out of the ten only one survived. Burying your own children is the worst emotional pain a woman can go through. Ekwefi is also a woman who is not afraid of Okonkwo, as his other two wives are. In chapter 9, on page 75 we have an example of her fearlessness towards Okonkwo. Okonkwo accepts Ekwefi and does not scold her for banging on his door and waking him.

Relationship of character to others within the novel

Ekwefi with Okonkwo:

Ekwefi fell in love with Okonkwo when she saw him beat Amalinze the Cat. Even though she was truly in love, Okwonko was too poor to marry and so she married another man. Years later, she escaped her marriage and became Okokwo’s second wife. She and Okonkwo struggled having children that survived and lived past early childhood, yet after nine child deaths, Enzima, her only daughter came along. Ekwefi is important in Okonkwo’s life but she is the second wife, which means she is the second most important.

Ekwefi with Enzima:

Enzima is the only child of Ekwefi that survives and makes it past 10 years, which is a sign that she will be healthy. Ekwefi has a lot of anger and resentment because of her lost children yet she treats Enzima like a gem and like an equal, they seem to act more like sisters than like daughter and mother.

Reaction/response of character to key events within the text

“Love at first sight” with Okonkwo: Rather than following her emotions, Ekwefi was stopped by the superficial fact that he had no money and instead she married another man.

Death of nine children: She and Okonkwo kept trying to have children regardless of the fact that nine had died before reaching the “healthy age” of ten. This turned her into a bitter and angry woman for a long time, until Enzima came along.

Visual representation of the character. 

Response to "English and the African Writer," by Chinua Achebe

In his essay, "English and the African Writer" Chinua Achebe reflects on the role of language and power, focusing on the paradox of using the language of the oppressor to express the people being oppressed. Achebe also justifies his use of English as a mean of communication in his novel Things Fall Apart.

The usage of English language in African Literature, including Achebe’s book Things Fall Apart, is conflicting since the ideas cannot be communicated naturally. For example, when Achebe refers to the term agbala, it has many different meanings that have to be explained since there is no exact translation. When explained, it looses its nature and seems strange. This strangeness causes a separation with the reader, which further contributes to the separation that we already have with Africa. James Baldwin asserts that “[english] reflected none of my experiences”.

However, in Achebe’s essay, he states that this English can be modified so it is able to “carry the weight of African experiences”. He believes that inside English, writers can find a sense of identity. Writers, who choose to publish in the colonial languages of English and French, are not, Achebe believes, "unpatriotic smart-alecs," they are in fact, "by-products of the same process that made the new nation-states of Africa”. He further argues that colonialism “didn't give them a song, it gave them a tongue”, which means that the process of colonialism, despite its ills, gave rise to a language to talk to each other.

We can conclude that Achebe's main purpose was to communicate the idea that writing in English provides a worldwide audience and can be altered to suit its African surroundings.

Kola Nut in Things Fall Apart

In Chapter 3, on page 7, in the novel Things Fall Apart, we are introduced to kola nut, which is a very significant object in the Ibo culture, as “who brings kola brings life”. Kola nuts, as well as palm-wine, is constantly mentioned in the book, especially during ceremonies, to focus on the traditional hospitality of the Ibo people. When Okoye came to see Unoka, to collect his debt, they did not start talking about it immediately and instead, Unoka proposed his guest kola, because it was a symbol of hospitality. They started arguing, because they couldn’t decide on who was to break the kola nut, until eventually Unoka “accepted the honour of breaking the kola”. This phrase included by Achebe in the beginning of the novel, when kola nuts are just introduced signifies how honorable and respectable it is, for a person to break a kola nut. Breaking a kola nut is a very spiritual process, as when Unoka broke the kola nut, he “prayed to their ancestors for life and health, and for protection against their enemies”, and Okoye drew some lines and his big toe on the floor, just for this short “ceremony”. Only after they have eaten, Okoye reminded him why he came to see Unoka. By this, the reader can see that kola nut is a very significant object in the Ibo culture, as it is also a symbol of respect to the guest and is offered on a regular basis, just like in other cultures, you offer your guest something to drink when they visit you, but however, the process of breaking it is more honorable and more spiritual. he host passes a plate of kola nuts to the most senior member of the group present, who passes it to the next senior member and so on until it returns to the host. Once the host regains the plate, he gives one of the nuts to his visitor and say, “When the kola nut reaches home, it will tell where it came from.” This is a proverb meaning that this person will have to show the people at home this nut as proof of his visit. After this, the oldest man present blesses the nuts by saying, “Whatever good he is looking for, he will find.” Then either the host or a selected person will break a nut, followed by people close to him breaking the others. The significance of breaking this nut is that the more pieces it breaks into, the more prosperity the host and his gusts receive; however, if it breaks into only two parts, it shows that the host has some sort of sinister motive.

Chi in Things Fall Apart

The concept of chi is discussed at various points throughout the novel and is important to our understanding of Okonkwo as a tragic hero. The chi is an individual’s personal god, whose merit is determined by the individual’s good fortune or lack thereof. Along the lines of this interpretation, one can explain Okonkwo’s tragic fate as the result of a problematic chi—a thought that occurs to Okonkwo at several points in the novel. For the clan believes, as the narrator tells us in Chapter 14, a “man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi.” But there is another understanding of chi that conflicts with this definition. In Chapter 4, the narrator relates, according to an Igbo proverb, that “when a man says yes his chi says yes also.” According to this understanding, individuals will their own destinies. Thus, depending upon our interpretation of chi, Okonkwo seems either more or less responsible for his own tragic death. Okonkwo himself shifts between these poles: when things are going well for him, he perceives himself as master and maker of his own destiny; when things go badly, however, he automatically disavows responsibility and asks why he should be so ill-fated.

Adichie's TED Talk Response

In Chimamanda Adichie’s TED talk, she talks about the power and danger of a single story. She starts of by explaining how, when we are children, we are vulnerable to stories and what we hear become our reality. So, what happens when we only hear one side of the story? Single stories have many unintended consequences and cause a disconnection from reality. For most of us, due to many factors, this happens with Africa. These factors include popular images depicted of Africa, western literature and other forms of media. Because of these, how we view Africa is biased and inaccurate. This is similar to the idea that Peruvians ride llamas and don’t have electricity. Again, this is a single story. These are stereotypes and stereotypes are incomplete. For this, it is very important that we break these labels and have a balanced story. In her TED talk, Adichie said, “single stories rob people of dignity and emphasize our differences”. For these reasons, I believe that it is so important that we are reading Chinua Achebe.