The Cultural Impact upon Human Struggle for social Existence in Chinua Achebe’s "Things Fall Apart."

Abstract

This paper aims at introducing an insight into the nature of cultural conflict as depicted in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. This study shows how the African black culture represented by Ibo tribe comes into disagreement with the white one imposed by the British imperialism. The greatness of Achebe lies in the vivid description of place which is Nigeria and people who are the native Africans and how he was able to show the inner conflict that took place inside the major characters, like Okonkwo, in their pursuit of mere existence within a declining culture in the face of a tyrannical white one .The conflict has two aspects; an internal which can be traced within the same culture among its members and sometimes inside a specific character, on the other hand an external conflict took place between two cultures the African and the British one. The pursuit of mere existence is the dominant theme within this novel. It may be argued that Okonkwo's pursuit of existence represents the African culture itself in its endeavor for survival in the face of a domineering British one. Despite the fact that Okonkwo dies at the end, but it is quite evident that the African culture continued its struggle for existence in the hearts and minds of the new generation. All search for existence whether on individual level or cultural level. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]