The Advancement of Umuofia
...of abuse toward women from their husbands. From a European standpoint, and more specifically a British standpoint, the practices, taken out of context, seem horribly, horribly, offensive, and basically serve as the grounds for the immediate entry of British resources in order that these people might learn some sense of civilization. Certainly, nothing that the British could do could possibly make the people of Umuofia any worse off than they were before, at least as far as the British were concerned. The Umuofians, however, did not see this British project of colonialism in the same light. Umuofians, for obvious reasons, did not see themselves as uncivilized, and therefore did not see the importance of any change. Toward the end of the book, many of the characters, including Okonkwo, wanted to go to war with the white man, especially because of the way they were treated when the white man put them in jail. The essence of the book, Things Fall Apart, then seems to be a conflict between change and tradition. Some characters, mostly those who did not fit into Umuofian society in the first place, were very willing to give up their traditions and beliefs in exchange for change and a chance to improve their status. Okonkwo’s son Nwoye is a prime example of this aspect of this struggle. Frustrated by his poor relationship with his extremely demanding father, Nwoye embraces the missionaries that come to Mbanta, and uses their presence as an opportunity to find his own faith, as well as step out of his role as his father’s son. Okonkwo is quite the opposite of his oldest son Nwoye, and he considers his son to be too feminine and he eventually disowns him. Okonkwo’s view of masculinity and what a man should be is traditional for an Umuofian, but strange to look at from the perspective of an outsider. Okonkwo’s point of view in regards to manliness is evident throughout the book, but is particularly unavoidable when he is considering the possibility of war with the white colonists. “He thought about wars in the past. The noblest, he thought, was the war against Isike. In those days Okudo was still alive. Okudo sang a war song in a way that no other man could. He was not a fighter, but his voice turned every man into a lion” (141). Okonkwo respects an image of man that by this time was foreign to the British. The British point of view is cast in two different lights by Achebe. As is mentioned in the biographical note, Achebe’s goal was to present the white man as a multidimensional being, rather than fall into the trap of white always being bad. Through the sympathetic, seemingly understanding character of Mr. Brown, Achebe gives his reader a chance to see that not everyone from Britain had bad intentions or was so ignorant that they disregarded the culture of Umuofia. The character that possesses these characteristics is of course the District Commissioner. He was ruthless and showed little merc...