"'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.
No comments:
Post a Comment