Things Fall Apart African Imperialism

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Cultural Imperialism in Africa European imperialism had a strong influence over African culture in many ways. Essentially all of Africa fell victim to the very influential and dominant European nations. The process of imperialism on these economically and militarily weak countries of Africa was obviously simple for the Europeans. In most of Africa, there were no countries, only clans and tribes, which made the imperialization much easier as well. These imperialist nations, such as Great Britain, France, Italy, and Germany, showed African nations many new ideals and tools that spread like a cultural virus. One very well-known story of this part of history is a book written by Chinua Achebe, titled Things Fall Apart. The book tells a fantastic story of a tribe in Nigeria which becomes a victim of the European imperialists. Achebe does a remarkable job of giving the reader the vivid change from the African tribe before and after the Europeans arrived. Things Fall Apart centers around a Nigerian tribe leader named Okonkwo. Known for his strength, courage, and most of all, pride, Okonkwo is looked up to by most the people in his tribe. Okonkwo doesn’t handle the European invasion as well as others due to his large sense of pride, which ultimately leads to his downfall and death. Christian missionaries were one of the main forms of imperialization used by Europeans. The two missionaries in Things Fall Apart were Mr. Brown and Mr. Smith. It is common in African communities that there are outcasts existing. Outcasts could be anyone that has a disability, a criminal, or anyone that has been exiled. These missionaries would accept anyone that is an outcast and take them under their wing, showing them very appealing tools and technology. Also, the missionaries would give these outcasts an opportunity to work for them. Seeing these outcasts working with new tools,

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