Stereotypes

Stereotypes

By stereotyping people infer that a person has a whole range of characteristics and abilities that we assume all members of that group have. Stereotypes lead to social categorization, which is one of the reasons for prejudice attitudes. Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, describes the clash between Nigeria’s white colonial government and the traditional culture of the indigenous Igbo people. The book is about a man named Okonkwo, who struggles with his inner fear of being weak and a failure, although he is known by his people for being a strong, powerful, and a fearless warrior. As the two significantly different cultures collide, the people form stereotypes, fixed over generalized beliefs, about the other culture. The Igbo and the Europeans stereotype each other because of ignorance and misunderstanding. Achebe illustrates both the African and the European’s stereotypes of the conflicting cultures.

When the missionaries come to the Igbo village, the Igbo people have mixed feelings towards the new people. Some do not see the Westerners as a danger because they provide a new way for the villagers to profit through trade, schooling, and hospitals into Umuofia. On the other hand, some Igbos found the newcomers threatening because they felt the Europeans were going to change their culture. Okonkwo said, "'The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart'" (152). Obierika and Okonkwo take note of how the white man came to their land peacefully and quietly at first but are now taking over by imposing their government and their rules onto Igbo society. Okonkwo thought that the people of his village were being too kind to the strangers. He thought that the villagers needed to drive the Westerners off their land with force. Achebe narrates, "We have heard stories about white men who made the powerful guns and the strong drinks and took slaves away across the seas, but no one thought the stories were true" (122). The people who believe that the westerners are a threat later feel regret for their willingness to trust the new people. The Westerners completely disregard the Igbo people’s culture and develop their own stereotypes.

The Europeans see the African tribe to be primitive, or even savage, and there are two ways they interact. The first is not seeing the need to compromise on