Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Things Fall Apart, Chapter 3&4 - 'Fear Okonkwo'

"That was why Okonkwo had bee chosen by the nine villages to carry a message of war to their enemies unless they agreed to give up a young man and a virgin to atone for the murder of Udo's wife. And such was the deep fear that their enemies had for Umuofia that they treated Okonkwo like a king and brought him a virgin who was given to Udo as a wife, and the lad Ikemefuna" (Achebe 27).

Prompt Part I- ​According to the text(s), what effect did imperialism have on people who lived  through it?


In this quote it is clear that everyone in the nine villages all agree that Okonkwo is the best person to send to any rival tribes if they ever have a problem and give them the ultimatum to either go to war with Umuofia or give up a young man and a virgin. Okonkwo has more responsibilities than any of the other villagers because of some of the great things he has done in his past like being known as the best fighter in the land. This is similar to how the Belgian troops who had imperialized Rwanda (a country in Africa) favored one of the two groups the Tutsi's over the Hutu's. The Tutsi's were favored more than the Hutu's they got to rule their land and were assured the best jobs and better treatment from the Belgian's. Although this time of Imperialism in Rwanda may have been great for the Tutsi's, it was not for the Hutu's who ended up growing to grow a powerful hate towards the Tutsi's. Imperialism in Rwanda had different perspectives where one group got to live a great life while the other group did not and had to work as slaves. 

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