When
we as occidentals think about Africa, the first thing that may come
to our minds is uncivilized people and an image of Africans as savage
human beings who behave in a strange way. Probably most of us have
these ignorant thoughts, because there is a world of difference
between their culture and our culture.
Although
we have some ideas of Africa due to movies, documentaries and the
media, we still are ignorant about it and we have a little and
sometimes a mistaken view of Africa, on the grounds that most of the
information that has been shown to us is from the outsider
perspective, apparently the same perspective that Chinua Achebe
realised when he decided to write about African culture.
If
we go back in African history we can notice that well-bred African
empires and civilisations flourished from medieval times. They had
sophisticated systems that allowedthem to organize everything that
was required for communities to succeed.
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However,
in the 1800s European countries tookover of coastal areas in Africa,
despite of this situation, just small areas of the nation were under
control of Europeans. Still, this was the beginning for Europe to
take advantage of Africa. In 1830, the main European powers carved up
the whole nation. Then, after some years, they finally colonized
around 40 states.
So,
after all these events, now we can make a connection between some of
the events above and the opening quote written by Chinua when he
wrote “Turning
and turning in the widening gyre,The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed
upon the world. “ First we
recognize that the first lines belong to the poem “the second
coming” written by Yeats, where William Butler Yeats wanted to show
the cycle that the world and society reside on and also expressed the
disorder and confusion that humanity experience when something
interfere in the natural process of it. Second, the whole quote
represents in some way the chaos that Africa suffered when the
Europeans came over them and interfered in the system that Africans
had. In addition, the part that it says “The center cannot hold”
is a clear representation of the impending breakdown of the African
tribal order, custom and method that no longer can still alive.
On
account on this, I believe that Chinua Achebe through the first
quote, wanted to communicate, represent, describe and proclaim the
real African culture, customs,ethos, values, habits that symbolize
the essence of Africa. Besides, he wanted to show the wrongly point
of view of Africa that Europeans had exposed to the world.
So
I ask myself, why did the Europeans think that people who are
strinkingly different are uncivilized, savage and
primitive?
I strongly believe that the answer to your question is “prejudice”. Not only Europeans think that, we all create a mental image once we meet someone or something that is new. A new person, a new job, a new relationship. We have some expectation, maybe because of other’s opinion and beliefs or just because people tend to have preconceive ideas about something. Moreover, “prejudice” is a reality which is present in a huge variety of context, just think when you see a man dressed like a woman, you think of him as a weird person, since the common thought is that a man is no supposed to dress like that. Think when you see a person with Down syndrome, you automatically think of him as a disable people who may have some limitations. And this happens with all the new people, new cultures, new situations, etc, that we faced every day, my question to you is, how can we stop creating this mental prejudice? How we can face these unknown and different realities, without being different just because we feel that they are different from us?
ResponderEliminarIn the past, some "stupid" people thought that black people did not have a soul, could you believe that? I can not even imagine it.
ResponderEliminarI tally with Evelyn's answer, that the word that fits the best here is prejudice. In every day life, we see people who judge other, (I include myself here) just the way they speak, they walk, they dress and think, because of that we are still in the primitive age.
Who are we? Are we superior that others? I don't think so, we are just human beings with little brains, who cannot see beyond our nose, who are stand just behind the wall of shame, the Wailing Wall.