Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe is a very dramatic book which shows direct examples of how the white man did not necessarily benefit native lands as much as they believed. This book shows the struggles of the Nigerian people that were brought on by the British colonization. When the British entered the Nigerian's land, they were not open to the beliefs of the native people. Instead of being a guest in this new country they filled the land with their beliefs and persecuted those who opposed them.
The main tribe that this book describes was a very dominant tribe. It had a reputation of winning battles and not being weak. When the British came in they realized that there would be severe opposition if they rushed right in and decided to push their beliefs on a whole tribe. Instead of doing this, they decided to appeal to the people by offering things they needed. The British opened a trade post in the city and from here, they spread their beliefs and religion. The British slowly moved into the forest to spread their religion further and further into Africa. A once strong and very independent tribe now came under the hand of the white man. As the British gained power in the tribe, they began spreading their form of government through the tribe. The British according to their law dealt with the Nigerians who did not obey these laws. "They had built a court were the district Commissioner judged cases in ignorance" (Achebe,174). The strong men of the tribe were used as servants of the court. Instead of ruling their farms and handling the business of the tribe they were "made to work every morning clearing the government compound and fetching wood for the white Commissioner and the court messengers" ( Achebe,175). These men accepted all of these beliefs for the simple fact that they felt like they needed the white man's help in living their life. The imperialistic government with which the white man brought began to tear this tribe in half.
