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Things Fall Apart Comparative Essay

545 Words3 Pages

Milani S. Archambeau
Landers
English II. Period 7
24 February 2023
The Igbo and the British Both the Igbo and British cultures have contrasts. Both have differences within their societies but they are both civilized. The Igbo are civilized because they have an established government and the British have a government as well. That is not the only similarity that the societies have to show how civilized they are, The British had a religion like the Igbo. These traits that both the Igbo and the British have is what make them civilized. The Igbo have shown how civilized they are with the main character, Okonkwo in “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe. Okonkwo symbolizes the Igbo culture through his traits and actions. He expressed the Igbo culture through how he lived his …show more content…

Most men in the village are seen to not show emotion or else they will be seen as weak. The Igbo people have a culture that is based on the traditions such as a ranking system. Okonkwo represents this with his rankings and expresses how it is important to have a ranking in the village. The British are represented by Mr.Smith and the District Commissioner. How Mr.Smith symbolizes British culture by displaying how he is an outsider of the Igbo culture and convinces the Igbo to convert to Christianity. At first, the Igbo people did not want to believe in their culture and wanted to stay true to their traditions so they sent the Christians to the Evil forest. (Achebe ch.17) The Igbo people sent them to the Evil Forrest because they expected them to not survive in the Evil Forrest. The next day, they survived and surprised the Igbo people. Another figure that represented British culture was the District Commissioner. He represented the British by how he didn’t understand Igbo culture. The Commissioner was sent to enforce British rule upon the Igbo people. This detail from the book shows how the Commissioner is unappreciative of Igbo

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