Colonization in Chinua Achebe's novels things fall apart and no longer at ease

Many novels display an intense interest in culture, traditions and the conflict between two different cultures. Colonization is a topic which is also a major concern of contemporary literary criticism and cultural history at large. The present study is concerned with the issue of Colonization in Chinua Achebe's novels Things Fall Apart (1958) and No Longer at Ease (1960). Chinua Achebe's novels are important to the emergent principle of modern African literature. His novels provide an image of an African society, represented both as a living entity and in its historic circumstance. He also provides an image of a social structure modelling the institutional foundation of the re-establishing of African meanings and values. This study is divided into five chapters. Chapter one which is the introduction examines the reasons behind writing this study and review of the literature which illustrates the approaches and arguments of scholars and authors in this area. Chapter Two has three sections. Section one is devoted to uncovering the process of colonization, and its impact. In Section Two the topic of colonialism is discussed in relation to its role in creating the idea of culture diversity. Since the issue of colonization is related to identity, Section Three is devoted to tackling this important issue. Chapter Three is dedicated to the study of Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart. It also has three sections. Section One is dedicated to a discussion of the issue of colonization in the novel, while Section Two is concerned with the relationship between the colonized and colonizer. Section Three examines the issue of racism in the novel. Chapter Four of the study examines Achebe's novel, No Longer at Ease. As in the other chapters it is also divided into three sections. The first maps the clash between traditions in the novel. The second section studies the conflict of identities. The last section of this chapter is dedicated to dealing with self-destructive tendencies in the novel. Chapter Five concludes the thesis summing up the findings of the study, and is followed by a list of consulted.