"Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things Fall Apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
--W. B. Yeats, "The Second Coming" (Achebe 2).
Achebe uses the opening of W.B. Yeats’ “The Second Coming” as an epigraph to his novel. This isn’t added just because Yeats’ poem is famous. Instead, it actually serves a purpose – chaos is established in the African tribal system due to the hostile takeover of the imperialist bureaucracies. Also, white missionaries enter to convert Africans into Christians – this is the “second coming” in Achebe’s story. It’s important to note that Achebe intentionally leaves out the rest of the poem – this eradicates the potential foreshadowing of the dangers the missionaries will bring upon the tribal systems. The whole struggle is between the Okonkwo – the main protagonist and the whites who attempt to destroy everything Okonkwo’s tribe is known for, no matter how hard he tries to keep the current regime/system going, his clan begins to give in.
It’s evident that in the beginning poem by Yeats is the foreshadowing of destruction – the “chaos” that is to come to Okonkwo’s tribe. Even though, Okonkwo strives for power and strength, he’s simply no match for the whites in his current state. This demonstrates inequality since the tribe can’t fend off the white missionaries who symbol current technology and destruction. “Anarchy” is the introduction of something new, though it’s not a new government in a sense, but a new religion. No one is going to respond to a new change with respect or positivity, instead they see it as negative; however, what can one do when they are clearly inferior? – In their (African tribe) current state they can’t do anything until later when the story begins to reach its falling action. Obviously, the missionaries see the tribe as inferior and due to the widespread of religion in the 1890s, they wanted to capture Africa for themselves and continue spreading Christianity. “The Falcon cannot hear the falconer” is a classic example of the difference the tribe will face when they’re face with new churches being built – they have to watch the burning of their current systems – they’re clearly trapped in a new world, with no hope. Even Okonkwo who’s known as strict and continues to examine power as his father was weak – he wants to demonstrate that he’s superior to his father (who in his opinion destroyed his tribe with his weakness), he’s powerless in the face of the missionaries.
Though this novel isn’t set in the future, it does tell us currently that if one society was to take over another, for example, missionaries attempted to take over the African tribe system. We’re a world filled with war, every country attempts to acquire power in their own way – but what would happen to all those undeveloped countries who are powerless? – They’ll be engulfed in cycle of war, and obviously if they don’t follow the commands of others, they’ll be murdered or incarcerated. In order to establish order – the people with power will treat those who were conquered through inequality – this is evident during WWII where the Japanese who lived in America were accused and imprisoned as being spies. Also, again in the Holocaust where the Jews were imprisoned because of their religious views – they were prosecuted for their beliefs and inferior belief of God. This reveals that the present still has examples of inequality – gender roles, racism, hatred, etc. In the world, these things will never be destroyed because a group of people will continue to follow through with the cycle of hatred and continue that cycle throughout – this is seen in war, everyday life, etc.
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