Thought on Thing Fall Apart

Things Fall Apart in truth has been in truth been not the greatest or most interesting read for me. I understand why the book could be considered a window into the lives of the colonized before the British arrived and changed everything. But the book in truth although I understand it’s purpose in drawing me closer to the struggles of the Igbo people as they were colonized by the British and the oppression they must have dealt with but I feel as if the detail in which their culture is described had only drawn me further away from their plight. The descriptions of the mutilation of baby corpses and murder of twins only disturbs me and to be honest drives me towards seeing the British less like villains but more like well intentioned people who had the wrong solution. I understand that I am biased against the Igbo culture because I see it as savage but it still doesn’t help me come to accept the atrocities within Igbo culture as just a little imperfection within their culture without leaving a sour taste in my mouth. However I do enjoy Achebe’s creation of the character of Okonkwo who unlike many protagonists in some novels is imperfect and flawed in many different ways, from the way he beats his family, to the way he lashes out and yells in public, it makes the character more believeable instead of the image of a perfect hero. However even with Achebe’s excellent and though development of his characters as realistic and dynamic just as real people are, I struggle to understand how Igbo culture should be defended and only reinforces my belief that even though the British commit numerous atrocities they are not aby worse than the Igbo themselves.