earticle

영어

Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe's first novel, shows postcolonial conditions in Igboland in Africa. White men bring their religion as well as colonial rulers such as District Commissioners. The white colonialist not only conquers Igboland with guns, such as Abame, but also subdues the tradition of Igbo. Through this conquest and suppression, the colonialist has done the spiritual exploitation. In this process European colonialist mythologize the African past and then excludes it from the history. Okonkwo as a protagonist is an allegory of Igboland. He represents Igbo people and tradition. Poor young Okonkwo becomes a hero in Umuofia through wrestling competition. He has achieved his fame by preserving Igbo tradition. However Okonkwo collapses because of killing a messenger sent by a District Commissioner. Like Okonkwo, the Igbo people are divided and their union fragments into pieces. In this paper I will study the historicized Igbo tradition which Achebe has reconstructed through many episodes or tales of Umuofia. And European colonialism such as christian religion or District Commissioner is also focused on this paper. It can be expected that we/Africans can find a postcolonial vision toward our future from the analysis of the colonized Ihbo society.