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Ryan Thomas

Mrs. Hoover

Honors 11

April 29, 2018

The Changing of Governments

Throughout Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the idea of government is present. In

the beginning the Elders ruled, and by the end the District Commissioner had all the power. An

imperialism situation gives people insight into the structure of governments and how they

operate. Those who have the power are able to decide what is right and wrong, and those

without are not relevant and can be disregarded. Although the white men viewed the Ibo culture

as inferior, the harsh and unjust treatment of the clans is wrong.

Throughout history, nations and individuals with power set the rules and have generally

given little concern about those lower on the social scale then them. This idea is also present in

Things Fall Apart. The District Commissioner, on behalf of a more technological advanced and

educated society, was able to conquer the native Ibo people with relative ease. When Okonkwo

committed suicide, the Commissioner ordered someone else to cut the body down because he

“must never attend to such undignified details as cutting a hanged man from the tree” (208). In

this one act, the district commissioner clearly perceives himself as to be better than the other

natives and exemplifies his disregard for the morning of the tribe.

By the end of Things Fall Apart, the District Commissioner had consolidated his power

over the tribes. To keep sole control , all he had to do was remain favorable in his homeland.

Since he did not derive his power from the natives, he did not have to treat them equally. When

the clan was ruled by Elders, they were fair because if they were not, they lost their reputation
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and were no longer perceived as wise. If a leader does not get his power from the population he

governs, then he is free to do anything he pleases. The less dependent on the governed the

leaders are, the wose off the majority of the population. By the end of the novel it is apparent

that the District Commissioner had consolidated his power and his rule was virtually

unchallenged. The Commissioner is only dependent on his “great Queen” to keep him in power,

therefore not needing the consent of the natives he governed (140). He is free to treat them

however he pleases, and believes that the best way of governing is to brutally change their

culture. He shows no remorse about Okonkwo's death when he states: “Take down the body”

because the native people mean nothing to him (208).

Education also plays a major role in the changing of governments. Often, leaders are

some of the most educated and wise people in their respective countries and communities. This

was also true in Things Fall Apart, the Elders were considered the wisest of all the tribesmen;

however, they did not have a form of written language. When the first missionaries arrived and

tried to teach the Ibo people how to read and write, “Men would send off there weakest son to

learn the white man's ways” because the Elders were suspicious of anything the white man

brought (160). The natives, lacking a medium to exchange ideas and communicate rapidly, were

easily conquered by the imperialists, and their own form of government swept away. The

Commissioner, who was not reliant on messengers and fables to communicate his ideas, knew

the value of education. He realized those who are not educated, stand no chance against those

who are. He genuinely believed himself to be better than the Ibo people. When Okonkwo died

the Commissioner was able to passively muse about his book, thinking, “One could almost write

a whole chapter on him. Perhaps not a whole chapter but a reasonable paragraph, at any rate”
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(209). He treated the Ibo people almost as if they were animals because he considered them

inferior being sto him, all because of their lack of education

Throughout Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the reader can get a feel of what it is

like to be on the wrong side of imperialism. The idea of a government actively opposed to the

population is so foreign to us living in the United States, that sometimes we forget they exist. It

serves as a warning and reminder, of something we must guard against. Governmental power is

something that should benefit the people not the rulers.