Things Fall Apart
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What would our world be if Industrialized
European countries never colonized Africa?
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Why do we have misconceptions of Africa as
being poor, desperate, and dangerous?
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I can describe and analyze complex characters and
explain how they enhance the plot and themes of the
text: a) characterization b) character motivation c)
character conflicts (man vs. self, man vs. man, man vs.
nature, man vs. machine)
I can come to a discussion or presentation prepared,
having read and researched material and explicitly
draw upon that preparation to defend my opinion.
I can determine an author’s point of view or purpose
in a text and analyze how the author uses rhetorical
devices
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By the mid-1800's, most of the European
countries had industrialized.
This means that they had gone through the
Industrial Revolution.
Industrialized nations had cities, factories and
advanced technology.
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At the same time, many Europeans started
to believe that they were better than other
nations because they had technology that
the rest of the world didn’t.
This feeling of strength led European nations
to believe that because they can take over
other parts of the world, they should. This
idea is called Social Darwinisn.
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Social Darwinism is based on scientist Charles
Darwin’s idea “survival of the fittest”, which
means that only the strongest will survive.
Europeans used this idea of Social Darwinism
to justify or defend their taking over other
nations by force
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The need for natural
resources and the idea
of Social Darwinism led
to the Scramble for
Africa.
Many European
countries took over lots
of land in Africa. When
one country takes over
another country by
force, it is called
imperialism
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1. Loss of independence: Africans lost control
over the large majority of their land and in
many cases lost control of all political, social
and economic decisions.
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2. Loss in population_: Death- the African
population was seriously decreased by
resistance wars and new diseases such as
smallpox that arose in Africa because of
Colonization.
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3. Loss in Culture: European countries did not
only take over African Land—they took over
African life completely. These changes
affected African culture, spiritual beliefs,
practice and customs. Europeans did not
believe the culture of Africa was “civilized” so
they attempted to change that during
colonization.
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4. War: Dividing that African continent.
Europeans created their own new boundaries
that sometimes split African tribes or forced
two warring tribes to be a part of the same
nation.
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1. Humanitarian efforts improved sanitation
and brought schools and hospitals to Africa.
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2. Economic Expansion- European
colonization brought African natural
resources and products to the international
market where they were highly valued.
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3. Increase in Technology- European
industrial revolution inventions such as
railroads, dams, telephone/telegraph lines
were brought to Africa during the age of
imperialism.
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Things Fall Apart is set in the 1890's and
portrays the clash between Nigeria's white
colonial government and the traditional
culture of the indigenous Igbo people.
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Achebe's novel shatters the stereotypical
European portraits of native Africans.
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He is careful to portray the complex,
advanced social institutions and artistic
traditions of Igbo culture prior to its contact
with Europeans.
Yet he is just as careful not to stereotype the
Europeans; he offers varying depictions of
the white man, such as the mostly
benevolent Mr. Brown, the zealous Reverend
Smith, and the ruthlessly calculating District
Commissioner.