One
of the descriptions of postcolonialism that really tied the concepts together
for me was “Wittgenstein’s metaphor, a rope with many overlapping strands” (pg
191). Unless I am mistaken, this image
is made to illustrate the tangential nature of various cultures that have
already been colonialized. However, for
me, this image was the perfect descriptor of how the British and the Ibo
culture would be able to coexist. One
culture relied heavily on oral traditions while the other has a business-like,
literary approach (as reflected by the structure of the novel—but more on that
later). Neither of these would be able
to eradicate the other without an excess of violence or force that would
ultimately have defeated the purpose of conversion. The only way that they could coexist would be
to exist separately while sharing borders on the topics on which they agree
(like trading). Unfortunately, a method
of coexisting that follows this model requires that neither culture demands
superiority or power. They must both
compromise in order to coexist peacefully.
As
others have already recognized, the oral culture was essential to the Ibo
tribe. In class, we discussed how the
orality of Things Fall Apart actually
begins to fall apart in the second and third portions of the story and they
begin to adopt a more literary feel. As
a reader, this could be a sign that the culture itself was relying less on
their proverbs and histories to gain a sense of the world and more on the
British for access into a more modern era. Or, the reader can assume that the oral
history of the Ibo tribe was not lost, merely moved to a back burner to focus
on the newness of the culture that was forcing its presence into their midst. And yet, the novel ends before the reader can
see how the tension between the Ibo and the British is resolved. The ideal would be that they do not destroy
each other, but find a way to coexist like overlapping strands of rope.
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