From When The Emperor Was Divine Essay

Many authors write about unrealistic subjects like flying superheroes, while others talk about more realistic ones like cultural change that can happen at anytime, anywhere in the world. In “Things Fall Apart” and “From When the Emperor Was Divine,” the authors, Chinua Achebe and Julie Otsuka, create many comparisons between different cultures and how they affected the citizens. Culture has changed many times in history and will continue to change throughout the centuries. These changes have affected and interfered with many different cultures in several ways. Cultural changes generate destruction of relationships within communities, division in families, and influence individuals to transition to different customs.
Destruction of relationships within communities is caused by cultural changes. “From When the Emperor Was Divine,” Otsuka establishes that relationships are affected majorly by changes in the cultures. When she mentions that “there were rules about religion: No Emperor-worshiping Shintos allowed” she argues that the Japanese were stripped of their religion so vigorously (Otsuka 542). Relationships throughout “Things Fall Apart” are also majorly affected by cultural change. Achebe establishes through Nwoye and Okonkwo when Nwoye is asked about his

Achebe establishes this when Obierika “remembered his wife’s twin children, whom he had thrown away” (125). He uses Obierika’s family to demonstrate how different the cultures are and how they both affected the people’s lives. .“From When the Emperor Was Divine,” Otsuka initiates that culture divides family. When she made a point that “The men and women would be put into separate camps….They would be stripped of their citizenship,” she makes an observation that the citizens would be divided just because of their culture and beliefs (Otsuka 544). Alterations in culture affect relationships, families, and most importantly one’s