Brave New World Chapters 17-18: The Cost of Peace

"'The greatest care is taken to prevent you from loving too much. There's no such thing as a divided allegiance; you're so conditioned that you can't help doing what you ought to do" (Huxley 237).

The World State is obsessed with peacekeeping. Everything they do is done in an effort to maintain the stability of the society in Brave New World. There are no wars, and everyone seems to be happy and getting along. While this first appears to be a benefit to humanity, it is actually hurting it. The government manipulates all of its people through sleep conditioning. As a result, they do not love, so they are not passionate enough about anything to fight. No advancement is made that is not in the governments best interest, because all the people are trained to agree with each other. Many of the best works and ideas have stemmed from people working together who all have different viewpoints. Though these differing views may lead to fights, the end result is almost always worth it. In Brave New World, however, this capability was taken away from the people, and while they may live in peace, it has taken all the excitement out of humanity.

Brave New World Chapters 15-16: Bottled

"'[An Epsilon] can't help himself; he's foredoomed. Even after decanting, he's still inside a bottle - an invisible bottle of infantile and embryonic fixations'" (Huxley 222).

The government in Brave New World controls absolutely everything having to do with its citizens, even how they are born. They are grown in bottles and carefully monitored. While this could be used for good, the government abuses it. An advancement like this could be used to eradicate disease and make sure all babies are born healthy, but the government uses it to separate its citizens into different castes. They do this by damaging the ones deemed lower level beings by splitting the eggs many times to make tens of identical twins and adding alcohol to their bottles to lessen their intelligence. This does not benefit humanity because most citizens are being harmed. Only the lucky few, Alphas and Betas, are raised in the most favorable conditions. Even they, however, are manipulated by the government and are heavily conditioned to not use their intelligence to be an individual or go against the norm.

Brave New World Chapter 13-14: Death Conditioning

"The savage stood for a moment in frozen silence, then fell on his knees beside the bed and, covering his face with his hands, sobbed uncontrollably . . . Undoing all their wholesome death-conditioning with this disgusting outcry" (Huxley 206).

Scientific and technological advancements did not benefit humanity because they turned humans into robot-like creatures. With these advancements, people were conditioned to view death as something that just happened and did not affect them at all. They were conditioned not to love anyone and to reject the ideas of marriage, parents, and families. As a result, death meant nothing to them. They did not love anyone, so they did not care when anyone died. Love has been a major life force for all people, but the conditioning methods used in Brave New World took this away from people. When someone you love dies, you grieve their death, and then you heal. In the World State, however, people are conditioned to not care about it at all and not even worry about what will happen to them when they die. These scientific and technological advancements did not benefit humanity in any way, and instead took a vital part of life away from it.

Brave New World Chapter 12: Avoiding Reality

"Punctured, utterly deflated, he dropped into a chair and, covering his face with his hands, began to weep. A few minutes later, however, he thought better of it and took four tablets of soma" (Huxley 176).

Scientific and technological advancements are not a benefit to humanity because these advancements have made the people completely dependent on the government and its technology. Sadness is a normal human emotion that everyone expects to experience at some point in their lives. In Brave New World, however, the people refuse to deal with any emotion other than happiness. When they are upset, they simply take soma, as hypnopaedia conditioned them to do so. While the citizens think they are happy, they are simply living a bland life free of all emotions and typical life experiences. Due to their reliance on soma to take away anything that does not make them feel good, they are unable to truly appreciate the good things in life. They do not know true happiness, because one cannot truly know happiness without first experience sadness. In addition to this, they have become extremely reliant on the government. They have been conditioned to not let themselves feel negative emotion, so they do not know how to handle it when something bad happens. As a result, they totally depend on the soma provided to them by the government. These advancements did not benefit humanity because it took away most of the emotions felt by humans and made them slaves to their own government.

Brave New World Chapter 11: Soma Holiday

"Surprisingly, as everyone thought (for on soma-holiday Linda was most conveniently out of the way), John raised objections.
     'But aren't you shortening her life by giving her so much?'
     'In one sense, yes,' Dr. Shaw admitted . . . 'Soma may make you lose a few years in time,' the doctor went on. 'But think of the enormous, immeasurable durations it can give you out of time. Everyone soma-holiday is a bit of what our ancestors used to call an eternity'" (Huxley 154).

Scientific and technological advancements do not benefit humanity because they are actually shortening the lives of the people. Everyone in the World State has been conditioned to rely on soma to take away all negative feelings. The citizens consistently take this drug every time they begin to feel any anger, sadness, or other potentially dangerous emotion. This drug, however, is hurting them. It is shortening their lives by who knows how many years, but they have been trained to not care. Thanks to the government's hypnopaedic teachings, and the pleasant effects of the drug, the people have become totally dependent on soma. This is not beneficial to humanity because these drug has made people mindless, dependent drones who rely on soma to keep them happy and living. It has made everyone in society completely incapable of handling emotions, as whenever they feel anything but happy they simply pop a pill. As a result, all the citizens have become numb to all emotion, all while shortening their lives.

Brave New World Chapters 9-10: Bloomsbury Centre

"Above these again were the playrooms where, the weather having turned to rain, nine hundred older children were amusing themselves with brick and clay and modelling, hunt-the-zipper, and erotic play" (Huxley 147).

Scientific and technological advancements did not benefit humanity because they created as a way to distract society. From birth, hypnopaedic lessons are used to permanently put certain sayings into everyone's heads as a way to condition and control the population. Part of these teachings encouraged sex and other erotic play, starting at a very young age. By hypnopaedically teaching everyone that they should be participating in such activities, it becomes ingrained in their minds that this is an everyday part of life, almost a routine. As a result, the population of the World State is totally distracted. Everyone and everything is sexualised, even the children. They are so focused on sex and using drugs to suppress all feelings, as they were taught in their sleep, that they are blind to the injustices happening around them. The government uses this to their advantage to manipulate the people and get away with things that a society like ours would see as abominations. The scientific and technological advancements in Brave New World did not benefit humanity, as they are used only to distract the people living in the World State.

Brave New World Chapter 8

"Sometimes, for several days, Linda didn't get up at all. She lay in bed and was sad. Or else she drank the stuff that Pope brought and laughed a great deal and went to sleep . . . often she forgot to wash him, and there was nothing to eat except cold tortillas" (Huxley 127).

As science and technology advanced, society like we currently know disappeared. There was no marriage, no families, and no natural birth. All births were controlled by the government. Special chemicals, and in some cases, toxins, were added to the test tubes to predetermine how every person in society would turn out. Part of this manipulation was that intelligence was controlled to leave everyone like infants. They were hypnopaedically controlled to be completely dependent on the government. Linda grew up like this, but then accidentally got pregnant and had a child. Because of the environment she was raised in, she had no idea how to take care of a child and was unable to understand the basic functions of society. She could not grasp the concept of marriage and raising as child, and, as a result, the life of her son, John, was negatively affected. Scientific and technological advancements do not benefit humanity because it allowed their intelligence to be manipulated to stay at an infantile level and left them unable to care for themselves or others.

Brave New World Chapter 7: Sixty is the New Thirty

"'That's because we don't allow them to be like that. We preserve them from diseases. We keep their internal secretions artificially balanced at a youthful equilibrium . . . Youth almost unimpaired till sixty, and then, crack! the end'" (Huxley 111).

Advancements in medicine allow people to live longer and healthier lives; however, where does one draw the line? The science and technology in Brave New World have allowed people to override nature and avoid aging. They are pumped with medicines, hormones, and other chemicals to keep their bodies youthful. Then, once they reach a certain age, they are killed. This is not beneficial to humanity because it has turned the members of the World State into robots. These citizens are no longer human, as they have been pumped with so many drugs and hypnopaedic sayings that they are left with no freedom or individuality. Rather than letting nature take its course, the members of the brave new world use science to manipulate their bodies to keep themselves from looking older. Scientific and technological advancements are not beneficial because they take all the humanity out of society, leaving its members easily controlled, lifeless, youthful robots.

Brave New World Chapter 6: The Savage Reservation

"'And remember,' he added reassuringly to Lenina, "they're perfectly tame; savages won't do you any harm. They've got enough experience of gas bombs to know that they mustn't play any tricks'" (Huxley 106).

As science and technology advanced, the traditional way of life vanished. People no longer got married, there were no families, and babies were now created in test tubes instead of naturally. All of society viewed the ideas of the past and words like family and parents as smut, and found it nearly impossible to imagine a life where these things were normal. There was a place in New Mexico, however, known as the Savage Reservation. The "savages" were simply people who never gave up the old ways. They get married, have families, and give birth the natural way. They do not rely on soma and other technology to distract them and keep them happy. They experience all the ups and downs of life, as humans are supposed to do. The citizens of the brave new world are so easily manipulated by the government through science and technology that they were lead to believe that those who lived life the natural way were terrifying savages that needed to be controlled and kept in a reservation separate from the general population. Scientific and technological advancements did not benefit humanity because it pushed society away from the natural ways by the government so that they could be easily controlled.

Brave New World Chapter 5: Products of Conditioning

"'And if you were an Epilson,' said Henry, "'your conditioning would have made you no less thankful that you weren't a Beta or an Alpha'" (Huxley 74).

The government using hypnopaedia to control all of the citizens in society. After they manipulate their births to place them in a specific caste, they use sleep teaching to ingrain certain messages into their brains. Everyone is sleep taught to believe that their caste is the best one for them. This scientific and technological advancement does not benefit humanity because it squashes all the peoples' ambitions. If they think they are in the best place in society, they will never have a desire to work towards something. Hypnopaedia hypnotizes people and tricks them into believing they are where they belong. It takes away their ability to think freely, because the phrases are repeated to them so many times that they eventually accept them to be undeniable truths. The government uses this to have absolute control over its people. The people can never overthrow the government because they are hypnotized and so distracted that they do not realize anything is wrong.

Brave New World Chapter 4: Hypnopaedic Prejudice

"For Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons had been to some extent conditioned to associate corporeal mass with social superiority. Indeed, a faint hypnopaedic prejudice in favour of size was universal" (Huxley 65).

The government in Brave New World controls how every person is born and then conditions them to fit into society. The aim of this was to give everyone a place in the world to make them feel equal and safe. Everyone was assured that their caste was the best fit for them, and were conditioned to believe certain things about the other castes. This did have its downfalls, however. For example, it was an accepted fact the the alphas and betas were bigger than the rest of the castes. Although everyone was conditioned to love their place, some people did not quite fit into the stereotypes of their cast. As a result, some people began out of place. This threatened the stability of the system, so it was encouraged to take soma to avoid all emotions. As a result the people lived in a constant state of numbness. Scientific and technological advancements did not benefit humanity because they tricked people in believing they were happy, when in reality they were not.

Brave New World Chapter 3: The More Stitches, the Less Riches

"One hundred repetitions three nights a week for four years, thought Bernard Marx, who was a specialist on hypnopaedia. Sixty-two thousand repetitions make one truth. Idiots!" (Huxley 47).

Scientific and technological advancements hurt humanity because these "advancements" are allowing them to be manipulated and completely under government control. The government uses hypnopaedia, or sleep teaching, on its citizens to ingrain certain beliefs into people to train and control them. These phrases are repeated so many times, that the people reach a point where it is not something that can be disputed - it is pure fact. This is dangerous because using this form of manipulation, the people have no control over their lives and it is completely up to the government to decide how they act and what they believe. People are not allowed to think for themselves, and when they start to, the other citizens think something is wrong with them and give them soma, a drug, to sedate them back into their stable reality. The government's main goal is stability, and they use this technology to keep their people hypnotized and under their complete control, sucking all the individuality and freedom from society. 

Brave New World Chapter 2: Deltas Wear Khaki

"Till at last the child's mind is these suggestions, and the sum of the suggestions is the child's mind . . . The adult's mind too - all his life long . . . But all these suggestions are our suggestions!" (Huxley 28-29).

Scientific and technological advancements do not benefit humanity because hypnopaedia, or sleep teaching, is being used to to manipulate the population to follow the government's wishes. From birth, children are conditioned to follow certain rules and behave a certain way. This practice takes away all individuality and gives the government total control over the population. Not only does this practice limit humanity's individuality and free will, but it also breeds hatred. Children are conditioned to only like those in their own caste. For example, the betas are taught that the alphas work too hard, betas are the best, and the gammaas, deltas, and epsilons are stupid. While the government believes that hypnopaedia is beneficial to society because it makes the population easy to control, it is hurting humanity, as it limits them and does not allow them to grow.

Brave New World Chapter 1: The Embryos

"On Rack 10 rows of next generation's chemical workers were being trained . . . The first batch of of two hundred and fifty embryonic rocket-plane engineers was just passing the eleven hundred metre mark on Rack 3" (Huxley 17).

Dispute: Scientific and technological advancements benefit humanity.

In this chapter of Brave New World, Huxley explores the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Center. Here, all births are controlled; however, these "births" are actually fetuses that were grown in test tubes. This unnatural birthing method does not benefit humanity because the government controls every aspect of the peoples' lives. Everyone's life is predetermined, and they are conditioned for a specific place in society while growing in the test tubes, leaving nothing up to nature. People have no choice in their careers or environments, and there is no way for them to work toward a better life. Whatever caste and job they are made to be born into is what they are stuck with for the rest of their lives. One egg is split up into up to ninety-six separate embryos, creating millions of identical twins. This greatly diminishes individuality, since so many people are so similar. Also, this process puts a lot of strain on the embryos. As a result, the embryos require a lot of medical care to keep them alive and growing into functioning human beings, making everyone very dependent on the government. The scientific and technological advancements in Brave New World do not benefit humanity because they take away from people's individuality and allow the government to control everything.

Things Fall Apart Chapters 24-25: The Death of Okonkwo

"'That man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself; and now he will be buried like a dog . . .'" (Achebe 208).

Part 1: According to the text(s), what effect did imperialism have on people who lived through it?

When the white men came to Umuofia, some people in the tribes found solace in their ways and appreciated their presence. As a result, the white men took them in and treated them fairly well. However, those who did not appreciate the white men's ways were not treated as nicely. Okonkwo in particular was angered by the white men, and was very defiant. He refused to accept their presence and forbid his other sons to be like Nwoye and change to follow their beliefs and customs. Since he was so defiant, the white men eventually got tired of him and arrested Okonkwo with five other village leaders. While he was arrested, he was beaten, starved, and not even allowed to go outside to use the bathroom. When Okonkwo was finally released, he was angered by the fact that Umuofia was not preparing for war. He was so damaged by his time in prison, and so upset that no one else wanted to fight, that he beheaded the head court messenger of the five that just arrived in the village. When he saw that even this did not make his people want to go to war, he walked away and was later found hanging from a tree. Imperialism affected the people who lived through it because their presence led to the suicide of Okonkwo.

Things Fall Apart Chapters 22-23: Mr. Smith

"Mr. Brown's successor was the Reverend James Smith . . . He openly condemned Mr. Brown's policy of compromise and accommodation. Mr. Smith was greatly distressed by the ignorance which many of his flock showed even in such things as the Trinity and the Sacraments" (Achebe 184).

Part 1: According to the text(s), what effect did imperialism have on people who lived through it?

Like most imperialists, Mr. Smith was focused on spreading his ideas and abolishing the ways of the indigenous people. He believed he was superior and that he knew best, so he tried to force his ways onto the others. Unlike Mr. Brown, he was very over-zealous and believed that even the converts were not devoted to their religions enough. He refused to see the views of the other side and believed only his way was right. This imperialism affected the people who lived through it because another culture and belief system was being forced onto them. Their beliefs were being challenged and they had to try to defend them. This negatively impacted their lives because they had to put time and effort into defending themselves and proving their beliefs were valid. Also, the clans were being divided because some found comfort in the new religion, so unity was being destroyed and the tribes were on the brink of war.

Things Fall Apart Chapters 20-21: Mr. Brown

"Mr. Brown preached against excess of zeal. Everything was possible, he told his energetic flock, but everything was not expedient. And so Mr. Brown came to be respected even by the clan, because he trod softly on its faith" (Achebe 178).

Part 1: According to the text(s), what effect did imperialism have on people who lived through it?

The word "imperialism" has a negative connotation. Upon hearing the word, people immediately thing of white men coming into to other countries and destroying the cultures of the indigenous peoples and pillaging their homes. In this chapter of Things Fall Apart, however, one imperialist had a very positive affect on the villagers. With him he brought to the town a trading store and and increased flow of money, reducing the cost of goods. While he did try to convert the clansmen, he was very respectful of them and did not want to force his beliefs onto anyone. It was his mission to gain more followers, but he did so with crushing the culture of the Igbo people. Also, unlike most imperialists, he tried to understand the beliefs and cultures of the people he was trying to convert. He was very careful to avoid being overly zealous and even met with the leaders of the clans to discuss religion and learn about why they believed what they did. While imperialism is usually seen as a negative thing, Mr. Brown is one rare example of how imperialism has the ability to help others.

Things Fall Apart Chapters 17-19: Mr. Kiaga

"'They also said I would die if I built my church on this ground. Am I dead? They said I would die if I took care of twins. I am still alive'. . . The two outcasts shaved off their hair, and soon they were the strongest adherents of the new faith" (Achebe 157).

Part 1: According to the text(s), what effect did imperialism have on people who lived through it?

As the imperialists continue to settle in the villages, their influence is growing. They are sending missionaries to different clans and have set up a church. The church, however, is set up in the Evil Forest. The clansmen were sure that the white men would die within a few days, but nothing happened to them. Everyone in the villages was terrified of the Evil Forest and avoided it out of fear of death, but seeing the white men survive it made them question the white men's power and the danger of the Evil Forest. This led to a few of the villagers converting to Christianity. In addition to this, it was Igbo legend that twins were dangerous and needed to be disposed of immediately after birth, but Mr. Kiaga had been taking care of twins for a while and was still perfectly fine. This convinced the outcasts that they could join society without being punished by the gods. The imperialists affected those who lived through it because it caused the villagers to question their old beliefs and convert to Christianity.

Things Fall Apart Chapters 15-16: The White Man

"But there was a young lad who had been captivated. His name was Nwoye . . . The hymn about brothers who sat in darkness and in fear seemed to answer a vague and persistent question that haunted his young soul" (Achebe 147).

Part 1: According to the text, what effect did imperialism have on people who lived through it?

When the imperialists first arrived, they destroyed the entire village of Abame. After that, they moved on to the other villages in the area and started to teach them their ways. They told the clansmen that their beliefs were wrong and that their gods did not exist. While they caused a great deal of terror and destruction and demolished the belief system of the villagers, some people found solace in the imperialists. Nwoye found comfort in them, and quickly converted, becoming one of them. Their belief system and cultures made sense to Nwoye, and seemed to explain many of the terrors in his life. When people think of imperialists, they think of greedy white men carelessly destroying villages and squashing the cultures of the people native to the land. While this is true for the most part, some people, like Nwoye, appreciated the different belief system and welcomed their ways.

Things Fall Apart Chapters 13-14: The Blood of a Clansman

"They set fire to his houses, demolished his red walls, killed his animals and destroyed his barn . . . They had no hatred in their hearts against Okonkwo . . . They were merely cleansing the land which Okonkwo has polluted with the blood of a clansman" (Achebe 125).

While the entire clan was at the funeral of Ezeudu, Okonkwo's gun exploded and a piece of iron pierced the heart of a young boy, killing him. As a result, Okonkwo was banished from his village for seven years. Before he left, a large group of men dressed in garbs of war set fire to his houses, demolished his red walls, killed his animals, and destroyed his barn. It was not out of hatred for Okonkwo, it was simply the justice of the earth goddess. This is similar to imperialism in that imperialists usually did not destroy villages out of spite, they simply thought it was for the best. Imperialists viewed Africans as savages that needed to be saved, and did so by forcing their own cultures and beliefs onto them. The group of men had nothing against Okonkwo; they acted out worry and did what needed to be done for the benefit of the clan. They destroyed his belongings in order to cleanse the land that Okonkwo had soiled when he accidentally killed a member of his own clan.

Things Fall Apart Chapters 11-12: The Power of Storytelling

"Low voices, broken now and again by singing, reached Okonkwo from his wives' huts as each woman and her children told folk stories" (Achebe 96).

An integral part of Igbo culture is storytelling. Stories are used to teach morals to children and to explain the events of the past. However, most of these stories never got outside the tribes. The imperialists had their own stories of Africa, and wrote many books about the different countries and the people living in them. Almost no stories were told from the African point of view, so the people outside of Africa had a very skewed vision of what life in Africa was really like. When the imperialists arrive in Umuofia, they will most likely be very surprised by the level of sophistication of the Igbo culture. Their attempts to mold the civilization to fit western standards will probably be met with quite a strong degree of defiance, because the Igbo people are very set in their ways. The Igbo are a very superstitious people, and have many customs and traditions that dictate how they live their daily lives. Despite this, the imperialists will try to change that to get the Igbo people to follow their lead.

Things Fall Apart Chapters 9-10: The Medicine Man

"The medicine man then ordered that there should be no mourning for the dead child. He brought out a sharp razor from the goatskin bag slung from his left shoulder and began to mutilate the child. Then he took it away to bury in the Evil Forest . . ." (Achebe 78).

When imperialists come to a new country, they often feel it is their duty to "enlighten" the inhabitants and save them from their "primitive" ways. Anything different from their own spiritual and cultural beliefs was seen as wrong and imperialists believed that other races desperately needed help from the white men. When imperialists came and saw things like a medicine man, it scared them because it was different. In western culture, the thought of not mourning a dead child and then mutilating it would be seen as an abomination. Imperialists did not understand that different did not mean immoral or wrong. As a result, they destroyed the cultures of many of the indigenous peoples of the countries that they invaded. This was all a part of their "white man's burden." They felt that it was their job to "clean up" the other races and mold them so that they fit with western culture. The imperialists in Things Fall Apart will most likely react the same way, as cultural aspects like the medicine man will probably scare them.

Things Fall Apart Chapters 7-8: The Death of Ikemefuna

"That boy calls you father. Do not bear a hand in his death . . . Yes, Umuofia has decided to kill him. The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves have pronounced it" (Achebe 57).

Part of the customs and traditions of Umuofia is to have an oracle. The villagers are very trusting of their oracle and rely on him or her to guide them and tell them what will happen. In this chapter of Things Fall Apart, Ogbueli Ezeudu pulls Okonkwo aside and tells him that it has been decided that Ikemefuna will be killed and that Okonkwo should not be a part of the killing. It was part of the custom of Umuofia to take someone outside of the village to be killed, so Ikemefuna was told that he was going home and then he and nine other villagers set out to journey to his home. While Ezeudu told Okonkwo to abstain from participating in Ikemefuna's death, Okonkwo did not want to be seen as weak, so he took a turn in cutting Ikemefuna. This passage revealed a lot about the customs of Umuofia because it showed how big of a role the oracle plays in the lives of the people. The villagers are very superstitious and listen to everything the oracle says. Also, almost all aspect of their lives involves some sort of ceremony. The killing of Ikemefuna revealed a lot about Umuofia's traditions because every part of his death was based on the words of the oracle and the customs involved when someone is to be killed.

Things Fall Apart Chapters 5-6: The Banana Tree

"'Who killed this tree? Or are you all deaf and dumb?' As a matter of fact the tree was very much alive. Okonkwo's second wife had merely cut a few leaves off it to wrap some food, and she said so. Without further argument Okonkwo gave her a sound beating and left her and her only daughter weeping" (Achebe 38).

Part II​ - ​How is imperialism​ encouraged by patriotism​, religion​, &/or a sense of cultural​/ racial superiority ​in Chinua Achebe’s ​Things Fall Apart​ ​/ the past​.

Imperialists think that their ways are superior and that it is their duty to enlighten those who they think have primitive beliefs. They see what they want to see in order to have a justification for their actions. In this chapter of Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo was angry and looking for something to take it out on, and eventually settled on the subject of a "dead" banana tree. The tree was perfectly healthy; it was simply missing the few leaves that his second wife had used to wrap food. Okonkwo then decided to beat her for "killing the tree." Just like an imperialist, Okonkwo thinks that he is superior and always right. The tree was fine, but since he thought something was wrong with it, it must be dead. Also, Okonkwo saw what he wanted to see so he would have a valid excuse (in his mind) to take out his anger by beating his wife. Even though the other wives wanted to say something to defend the second wife, they were too afraid, so they stayed quiet. This is another parallel to imperialism because usually the inhabitants of the country being invaded by imperialists are too weak or too scared to fight back. Imperialism is encouraged by Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart through his feelings of superiority.

Things Fall Apart Chapters 3-4: The Week of Peace

"To show affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was strength" (Achebe 28).

Prompt Part I: According to the text, what effect did Imperialism had on the people who lived through it?

Imperialism eradicates the cultures and beliefs of the countries that fall victim to it. The invaders show no weakness. Instead, they assert their power and force the citizens of their conquered countries to fulfill their every wish. In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is an imperialist. He is feared by everyone who knows of him, and constantly searches for ways to display his power. He shows no compassion or love for his wives or children. He often berates and beats them in an attempt to exercise control over them and exhibit his power. Imperialists think they are superior, just like Okonkwo. Okonkwo completely disregarded the traditions of the Week of Peace by beating his wife, showing that he feels he is above the other villagers and that he thinks the rules do not apply to him. He uses his wealth and power to get out of the situation by simply fulfilling the priest's demands, refusing to let the others see the remorse he feels for his actions. Finally, imperialism effected the people who lived through it because it made them afraid and took away some of their freedom. The other villagers lived in fear of Okonkwo, and put a great deal of effort to make sure they acted in a way that did not upset him.

Things Fall Apart Chapters 1-2: The Threat of War

"An ultimatum was immediately dispatched to Mbaino asking them to choose between war on the one hand, and on the other the offer of a young man and a virgin as compensation" (Achebe 11).

Prompt Part II: How is imperialism encouraged by patriotism, religion, and/or a sense of cultural/ racial superiority in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart/the past?

Despite being a part of the same country, the clans of Mbaino and Umuofia were not allies. The powerful Umuofia made its neighbors anxious. This led to tense relations between the clans, and war was common. When a woman from Umuofia was murdered by the people of Mbaino, Umuofia threatened Mbaino with a war unless the Mbaino turned over a young man and a virgin. Umuofia was so threatening and powerful, that the Mbaino chose to send two of their people to Umuofia in order to avoid war. Umuofia's sense of superiority encouraged imperialism because they were able to hold their power over the other clans to spread their influence throughout the country. By using fear, Umuofia was able to persuade the other clans to do whatever they wanted, because no one wanted to go to war with the powerful Umuofia. Imperialism is all about a nation spreading its culture and ideas, that they feel are superior, to new places that they think have primitive beliefs. Powerful nations infiltrate small ones and control them, forcing their beliefs onto the population as a result. Umuofia does just this by using their threatening power to assert their dominance over the surrounding clans.