Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart versus Fasting and Feasting by Anita Dasai :: essays research papers

From the title of the story â€Å" Things Fall Apart † and from the name of the author Chinua Achebe ,who is one of the most eminent post-colonial writers, readers can predict what this novel is going to talk about. This book is mostly concerned with the coming of imperialism to a tribe called â€Å" Igbo† in Africa and its social complexity. When I first read this book , I see a lot of similarities and differences in comparison to â€Å"Fasting , Feasting†, which particularly focuses on life in India after the period of colonialism. Anita Dasai , the author, is also a remarkable post-colonial writer so I decided to discuss about the similarities and differences of both books. This paper is going to point out 2 major subjects which these novels share the similarities and differences.The first is the attitudes of native towards the colonizer including the outcomes of cultural clash and second, life of women in both societies. Both Africa and India were invaded by the English Empire during the period of imperialism but the attitudes of the native towards the colonizer are different considering in the books. In Things Fall Apart , the native tribe of Africa or â€Å" Igbo†, which is separated into many villages seems to be violently opposed to the coming of the colonizer and the colonizer too reacts violently.Foe example,when English government had known that his missionary was killed in Abame village,They massacred the village â€Å" †¦until the market was full and they began to shoot. Everybody was killed †or Okonkwo, who was a leader of the African Igbo community of Umuofia couldn’t stand the coming of the Christian religion so he suggested Mbanta , the village of his mother to fight against the Whites â€Å" Let us not reason like cowards†¦If a man comes into my hut and defecates on the floor,what do I do?Do I shut my eyes? No! I take a stick and break his head.† And the situation that was most severe was when Okonkwo killed the head messenger who was sent by English to stop the congregation of Igbo. After that he hanged himself because he knew that the District Commissioners wouldn’t let this pass and they would dishonor him as they had done when they caught him and his friend for destroying a church by whipping him and shaving his head. At first English came with Christian religion and many villagers converted to Christian and forgot their old pagan gods like Amadiora, the god of thunder.