Assessing Colonial Evil through Igbo (African) Experience in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart

Abstract

The African past is predominantly characterized by the colonial episode. The Igbo of Southeast Nigeria shares equally in this unique experience. In his epochal novel Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe weaves a political critique of colonialism and colonial invasion in Igboland through their lethal effect on what should have been authentic Igbo cultural heritage. It is an experience that questions the motif of the colonizers, of bringing ‘enlightenment’ to the African peoples.  Their coming, it is claimed, is meant to satisfy solely their imperial and capitalist intent. But the colonizers themselves argue that their motif is genuine, and that it is for the benefit of the found colonies. This is hotly contested as portrayed by Achebe in his Things Fall Apart; for he (Achebe) leaves no one in doubt that colonialism portends more evil than good in many respects. But what constitutes this evil? This article dares to name this a ‘moral evil’. We argue that this is perceivable in the aftermath of cultural contact between the colonizers and Igbo nation in Things Fall Apart. We deployed the hermeneutical approach in navigating this colonial experience.