Achebe and Fanon on Colonization and Decolonization

Living in the same region for an extended period of time will endow the human inhabitant with a sense of pride in their homeland. When this idea is extended to a certain group of people living in the same area, pride turns into nationalism. The residents not only feel like they geographically own the land, but their history of culture in that given area lends them an emotional connection as well. When people of elsewhere come to take the land from the native inhabitants, many changes occur. In his book The Wretched of the Earth, Franz Fanon gives his insight into how the process of colonization and decolonization happens, and the resulting physical and mental effects on both groups of people. Telling this from a strictly historical and†¦show more content†¦As Fanon states, But the thing he [the settler] does not see, precisely because he is permeated by colonialism and all its ways of thinking, is that the settler, from the moment that the colonial context disappears, has no longer any interest in remaining or in co-existing (Fanon). While the tribe viewed the settlers as nothing more than an unwanted pest and let their guard down, the settlers established a more developed culture right next door and proceeded to take them over right in front of their eyes. As explained by Fanon, there comes a point where the natives either attempt the process of decolonization or give up, and in the case of the Umofia, because their physical leader Okonkwo was absent during the time to revolt, by the time he returned it was too late and the tribe had given in to the white man. Though the full process is not completed in Achebe s book, colonization happens, which, as stated by Fanon, is part of decolonization. Fanon makes the point that decolonization is the process of total upheaval, and more often than not it boils down to violence. He states, That affirmed intention of placing the last at the head of things, and to climb at a pace (too quickly, some say) the well-known steps which characterize an organized society, can only triumph if we use all means to turn the scale, including, of course, that of violence. (Fanon). In Things Fall Apart, though the violenceShow MoreRelatedThe Postcolonial Of Amitav Ghosh s Novels Let Us Begin3362 Words   |  14 Pagespostcolonial readings of Amitav Ghosh’s novels let us begin by understanding what postcolonial literature is. In this chapter, I will try to understand what the postcolonial literature does by theorizing the entire process of imperialization or colonization. In the following chapters I will try to understand the postcolonial perspective in Amitav Ghosh’s fictional works. As Peter Barry observes in his Beginning Theory, postcolonial criticism emerged as a distinct category only in the 1990s. It hasRead MoreHistory And Culture Of The Negritude Movement1658 Words   |  7 Pagesa sign of an awakening of race wistfulness for blacks in the African Diaspora and those in Africa. This new race wistfulness stemmed from the rediscovery of an original self (of the blacks), elicited a group condemnation of Western domination, colonization of the black people, enslavement, and anti-black racism. It seeks to dispel the stereotypes and myths associated with the black people, through acknowledging their achievements, history and culture, as well as repossessing their contributions toRead MoreOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagestwentieth century as a coherent unit for teaching, as well as for written narrative and analysis. Though they do not exhaust the crucial strands of historical development that tie the century together—one could add, for example, nationalism and decolonization—they cover in depth the defining phenomena of that epoch, which, as the essays demonstrate, very often connect in important ways with these and other major developments. The opening essays of this collection underscore the importance of including