Having discussed both the postcolonial and feminist perspectives, I feel that the postcolonial lens in the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, will present an appropriate angle in attacking this prompt. My decision came about because of the discussions in class discussing both postcolonial theory as well as Feminist theory. I discovered that postcolonial theory left a stronger impression and made me more interested in developing an essay revolving around this subject that really had an impact on me. I feel that postcolonial ideas and theories are interesting due to the process of how they develop and what pushes these theories to evolve and mold over a course of time.
Postcolonial theory presented in the handout we were given in class, explained how society has a way of grouping people into categories based upon their social power apparatus in society. Developing an understanding of what this means, I found a quote to connect this theory to the text, “Likewise, the assumption that Western Europeans, and in particular, the British people, were biologically superior to any other race – a term for a class of people based on physical, cultural distinctions, or both – remained relatively unquestioned.” This quote ties into Things Fall Apart because it deals with different social inequalities in the novel and shows how power has the impact to set guidelines that seem to be imbedded in stone because no other lower class will question the high classes' ways because they feel that the higher class has it all figured out and it should not be questioned by a lesser point of view. This also shows how power has the ability to alter society's opinions and make them believe whatever the person in front of them is believing. The idea that postcolonial ideas never seem to be questioned because of a higher power in society will be a main topic in my writing. I will discuss how postcolonial theory ties into the novel Things Fall Apart.
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