Colonial Evils: Cultural and Ideological Conflicts in Chinua Achebe's Arrow of God
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Date
2018-06
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
Chinua Achebe's Arrow of God is a notable landmark in the African literary canon. It is met with global critical plaudits for moving the historical narrative of Achebe's trilogy forward. The novel dramatises the predicament of an Igbo tribe, namely Umuaro, caught amid the demands of two colliding cultures, and explores how the advent of Christianity to Eastern Nigeria destroys the infrastructure of the traditional faith. Therefore, the aim of this study is to cast light on the cultural and ideological conflicts and the evils brought upon the Igbos by the British colonialism. It examines Achebe's postcolonial discourse to account for the tragic experience of Umuaro clan and the downfall of its cultural life. Hence, the first chapter highlights the socio-historical realities that surround the writing of the novel, while the second chapter involves the application of postcolonial literary criticism to analyse the major themes of the work. Thus, the epilogue of Achebe's trilogy openly reveals the trauma that follows the coming of the white man, and the tragedy of the protagonist, Ezeulu, that implies the tragedy of the whole society of Umuaro in particular, and the plight of the African continent in general.
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Key words: colonialism, postcolonial, cultures, ideological, conflicts