Table of Contents
Abstract
The representation of colonization is quite evident in the postcolonial works and this research aims to establish a correlation between two different societies exhibited in two different works. Things Fall Apart a novel by Chinua Achebe and Heart of Darkness a novella by Joseph Conrad exhibits similar effects of colonization in the African region. Both provide a clear understanding of the changes in society before and after colonization. Though subjected to outside ideologies, the people had trust in their beliefs. The people residing in the regions mentioned in the books had a firm belief in their overall traditions and culture. Although both the writers have depicted the characteristics of the local people in a contrasting manner, the purpose was clear that they were aiming to oppose the prejudiced view of these people by others. This paper is an attempt to identify the similarities and to study the culture and the superstitions which the people believed in during the postcolonial era by analyzing both the books.
Introduction
Chinua Achebe is considered to be the essential novelist on African identity, nationalism, and decolonization. A titled Igbo chieftain himself, Achebe’s novels focus on the traditions of Igbo society, the effect of Christian influences, and the clash of Western and traditional African values during and after the colonial era. His style relies heavily on the Igbo oral tradition and combines straightforward narration with representations of folk stories, proverbs, and oratory. Things Fall Apart is a 20th century novel by him that chronicles the pre-colonial life in the south-eastern part of Nigeria and the arrival of the Europeans during the late nineteenth century. The complexity of novels such as Things Falls Apart depends on Achebe’s ability to bring competing for cultural systems and their languages to the same level of representation, dialogue, and contestation. The culture depicted in the novel, that of the Igbo people is similar to that of Achebe’s birthplace of Ogidi, where Igbo-speaking people lived together in groups of independent villages ruled by titled elders. The customs described in the novel mirror those of the actual Onitsha people, who lived near Ogidi, and with whom Achebe was familiar.
In the case of Heart of Darkness, one can concur that the portrayal of ‘Others’ as mentioned by Joseph Conrad has always invited mixed reviews. The novella has been faulted by many especially Chinua Achebe himself for its prejudiced portrayal of Africa. In this novella, the superstitions are not mentioned specifically and the portrayal of society is quite demeaning to the African locals. They are described as primitive and savages and made to believe that they will be civilized while they are under colonial rule. The central idea of Conrad’s work was to showcase that there is little difference between the so-called civilized people and those described as savages.
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Both books talk about the subjugation of African tribes from the hands of European powers. While Achebe’s writing presents an African point of view of the story of the colonization of Igbo, tends to extinguish the misconceptions that African culture had been savage and primitive, which was an image exhibited by Conrad in his book.
Results
The portrayal of society depicted in both the books provides a clear understanding of the mannerisms and the functioning of the people during the postcolonial times. In Things Fall Apart, from the title, it suggests the identity issues of Igbo society, which has a great cultural past to boast of, like any other ancient civilization in the world. The culture and the superstitions of the Igbo people are clearly depicted. The people of the Ibo village were afraid of the night time; they believed that the evil spirits come out. They even warned the children not to whistle at night because that might provoke the evil spirits to come out. They also believed that the silk-cotton tree was where the good spirits of children waited to be born. Furthermore, they believed that children can decide until the age of six, if they want to live or not. There was also the Oracle of the hills and caves which was known as Agbala. The people would listen to what the Oracle says because they believed it to be wise. This is evident from the lines, “The Umuofians are so superstitious that they will not make any big political moves without first consulting the gods via the Oracle. The implication is that only the gods can judge whether war is appropriate and justified”.
Things Fall Apart is based on the traditional beliefs and customs of an Ibo village. The Ibo religion played a significant role in the manner they raised their families, communicated, entertained and governed their society. Throughout the novel, we witnessed the remarkable depth of Igbo culture through its functions of religion, politics, judiciary and entertainment. Even though the Ibo people had little contact outside the world, they had developed their own practices that became essential elements in their life. This is evident from the lines, “A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland. Your mother is there to protect you. She is buried there. And that is why we say that mother is supreme. Is it right that you, Okonkwo, should bring to your mother a heavy face and refuse to be comforted? Be careful or you may displease the dead. Your duty is to comfort your wives and children and take them back to your fatherland after seven years. But if you allow sorrow to weigh you down and kill you, they will all die in exile.”
In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, the attempt to define the culture leads to the corruption, greed and evil of the white man. This is evident from the lines, “It was as unreal as everything else – as the philanthropic pretense of the whole concern, as their talk, as their government, as their show of work. The only real feeling was a desire to get appointed to a trading-post where ivory was to be had so that they could earn percentages. They intrigued and slandered and hated each other only on that account—but as to effectually lifting a little finger – oh, no.”
Throughout the novel, the white man is plagued by his comprised definition of culture. The novel also throws light on how ignorance destroys the balance between culture and nature. In the novel, the white man is recognized as the people who work, and those who don’t turn to be the prisoners. In Heart of Darkness, Kurtz has become a devil failure to control his moral restraint. He lets his inner primitive self dance freely in the lap of darkness and became the representative of it. His superstition and evil has become the embodiment of darkness. Psychologically, Kurtz is the symbol of darkness which is veiled under the curtain of civilization. Kurtz is the heart of darkness.
This is evident from the lines, “You can’t judge Mr. Kurtz as you would an ordinary man. No, no, no! Now – just to give you an idea – I don’t mind telling you, he wanted to shoot me, too, one day – but I don’t judge him.’ ‘Shoot you!’ I cried ‘What for?’ ‘Well, I had a small lot of ivory the chief of that village near my house gave me. You see I used to shoot games for them. Well, he wanted it, and wouldn’t hear reason. He declared he would shoot me unless I gave him the ivory and then cleared out of the country, because he could do so, and had a fancy for it, and there was nothing on earth to prevent him killing whom he jolly well pleased. And it was true, too. I gave him the ivory. What did I care about! But I didn’t clear out. No, no. I couldn’t leave him. I had to be careful, of course, till we got friendly again for a time.”
Both novels share an assorted perspective regarding culture and superstition. In Things Fall Apart, the Igbo people had created their own culture away from the outside world and followed it without any second thoughts. But in Heart of Darkness, the definition of culture was somewhere equivalent to greed, corruption, and evil nature. When it comes to superstition, in Things fall apart it was concerned with the evil spirit that the people believed in and that was dangerous for them as well but in Heart of Darkness, Kurtz superstition of being the controller of all the things turned to be the symbol of darkness, veiled under the curtains of civilization.
Conclusion
Both books provide quite a difference in the manner in which the African society was portrayed. While Chinua Achebe managed to convince the readers of the intricacies of the culture of Igbo culture, he also impresses them by putting an unbiased view of the society in front of them. He presents a neutral description of society and allows the readers to form their own opinions. With an African point of view evident in his words, he manages to successfully convey the thought process and the belief system of the Igbo people in the postcolonial era. Achebe intensifies to mirror a sense of identity of the Igbo people with their past and pride in it. It is also intended to make the rest of the world to know about Africa’s rich culture and heritage. The novel puts across, in convincing and authentic fictional terms, that the African societies had a great culture of their own. The issues of identity and culture are successfully portrayed to uphold the systematic process of destruction wrought upon the Igbo identity by the colonial power and alien culture of them.
In the case of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, it would suffice to say that the portrayal of the African people was the reason why it attracted a lot of criticism even from Achebe himself. Conrad just wanted to convey that although the European people considered themselves educated and civilized, in the end, they also become primitive and savage-like exactly what they had thought of the Africans. Conrad referred to the Africans as ‘Others’ and called them out as primitive and savages. He wanted to conclude by comparing the similarities between both the colonizers and the colonized but in doing so he portrays the African society in a negative light. Though in the end he is able to prove with the help of the protagonist that the real heart of darkness refers to the colonizers and their greed but it comes at a hefty price. In the process of blaming the colonizers he inadvertently also exhibits the colonized people as uncivilized which doesn’t augur well to the African readers.
Both the books remain true to their title and while one author manages to exhibit the African society in a more unbiased light, the other compares it to the society of the colonizers. Both Chinua Achebe and Joseph Conrad helped in shaping up African Literature with their postcolonial works. These books were pivotal to understand how society functioned before the colonizers arrived and how much of a change it had on them. Thus the study aimed at providing a clear understanding of the culture and superstitions depicted in Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness is able to provide a conclusion that the books share a different perspective regarding the African society and the belief of the inhabitants over it. It also educates the readers on how the distinct areas continued growing as well as accelerating after being colonized. The basic purpose of the novels was aimed at giving the readers a faithful knowledge about the post-colonial times concerning the two major sections’ culture and superstition, and expectedly it ended very well.
